High Noon Movie Review

High Noon Movie Review – Beloved by both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, the convention-defying 1952 film is like a political Rorschach test

Among the most notable fans of High Noon, Fred Zinnemann’s unusually cautious and politically charged western, are two US presidents: Ronald Reagan, who considered it his favorite film, and Bill Clinton, who reportedly hosted 17 screenings of it in White House. It’s not hard to see how heads of state might see themselves in Gary Cooper’s Will Kane, a small-town marshal in the New Mexico Territory determined to do what’s right, even if it defies the will of the people. And while it’s fun to imagine any of these men refusing to act for political reasons, there are certainly times when any leader feels isolated from his constituents or forced to make a difficult choice between unpalatable alternatives.

High Noon Movie Review

But getting Kane right is only half the story, which makes it all the more revealing that men like Reagan and Clinton embraced the film so wholeheartedly. The second, darker proposition of High Noon is that citizens are unworthy of such principled representation. When ordinary people are asked to make sacrifices and take some responsibility in their public lives, ordinary people will often retreat into craven self-interest. It’s like an inversion of another president, John Kennedy’s, famous line: they will ask not what they can do for their country, but what their country can do for them. Kane ultimately risks his neck for a city not worth saving.

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Now on its 70th anniversary, High Noon stands out as the proto-anti-Western, questioning the conventions of a genre long before it was fashionable. Aside from a couple of minor fights, there is no violence until the climactic showdown promised by the title. It’s not so much a Western as a drama set in the Old West, though it nonetheless brims with tension and danger, as Kane desperately tries to save himself from a grim fate—one with implications far beyond his own future. “When he dies,” says one character, “this city dies too.”

The action takes place in real time, so while there’s little action in High Noon, the race-against-the-clock conceit raises the stakes considerably. For Kane, it should be a blissful, carefree final day in Hadleyville. After a successful run as town marshal, he passes on his tin star to his successor and embarks on a new life with the young, beautiful Amy (Grace Kelly), whom he marries that morning in front of a justice of the peace. Before the happy couple can leave, however, Kane learns that Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald), an outlaw he had sent to prison for murder, has been granted an early release and would arrive in Hadleyville on an afternoon train. revenge. Waiting at the station are three of Miller’s rough-and-tumble allies—one played by the legendary Lee Van Cleef (“The Bad” in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly)—and Kane’s chances of defeating them all on his own are slim to none.

Most of High Noon, then, is Kane wandering around the city looking for enough men to form the 12-14 person required to eradicate the threat. His most obvious right-hand man is his young deputy Harvey (Lloyd Bridges), a hot-tempered hotshot still bitter about Kane handing him over as his successor. All the drunks and scalawags at the saloon are either too drunk or cowardly to volunteer, or they hold some grudge against Kane from his tenure. The congregants at the church are more sympathetic to Kane’s cause, but some wonder why they are being asked to do the job as lawmen or why Kane doesn’t just leave town as planned. If Miller’s beef is with Kane, his departure would save them all from danger, right?

Perhaps most bitterly of all, Kane’s new wife also abandons him. After being married for less than two hours, Amy wants to leave on the same train that Miller is due to arrive. Her motivation is more complicated than it seems, but the film’s most intriguing character is Kane’s ex, Helen Ramirez (Katy Jurado), who has been able to carve out a place for herself in Hadleyville’s business community as a Mexican woman, which speaks to her tough. , cunning personality. Helen will also leave town, but she has a stronger sense of what Kane’s final stand means than the other citizens. The film’s ending hinges on her moral resolve.

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High Noon politics is like a Rorschach test. Through one lens, it could be seen as criticism of McCarthyism or a pacifist’s plea for non-violence and civic duty, arguing against the use of force until absolutely necessary. By another, it’s a rocky defense of law and order, with Kane’s marshal representing the thin blue line between a safe, civilized society and the bloody chaos of the Old West. (Director Howard Hawks hated the film so much that he made Rio Bravo, perhaps his greatest Western, as a rebuttal.) The film’s liberal producer, Stanley Kramer, spent a career trying to raise social consciousness on issues such as racism (Guess Who’s Coming) to noon), evolution (Inherit the Wind) and political justice (Judgment at Nuremberg), but High Noon is too ambiguous for the soapbox.

After 70 years, High Noon remains an essential American conversation piece, set at a moment in the country’s development where the Wild West was being tamed and towns like Hadleyville had to choose between self-interest and civic duty. Hadleyville may struggle to pass that test, but sturdy leaders like Kane have the potential to pull the masses in the right direction. In this still young and volatile nation, there will always be high dinner somewhere. There is a minimum of 75 characters for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please tick the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. Linking or other HTML is not allowed. Your review may be edited for content.

Cast: Eve McVeagh, Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Harry Morgan, Ian Macdonald, Katy Jurado, Lloyd Bridges, Lon Chaney Jr., Otto Kruger, Thomas Mitchell

Summary: This classic 1952 western stars Gary Cooper as newlywed lawman Will Kane, who is about to retire as a small-town sheriff and start a new life with his bride (Grace Kelly) when he learns that gunman Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald) ) is due to arrive at lunchtime to settle an old score.

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Meaningful in its implications, as well as loaded with interest and suspense, High Noon is a Western to challenge Stagecoach for the all-time championship. (Review of Original Release) Read the full review

Not a frame is wasted in this taut, superbly directed, masterfully acted film, the first so-called “adult Western”. (Review of Original Release) Read the full review

A fantastic piece of filmmaking. It is tense, believable as it unfolds. It is charismatic, with a slow build of tension in near real time that finally explodes in an explosion of violence. Read the full review

The Western may be one of the few truly American art forms, and High Noon shows just how much potential it can encompass. Read the full review

Do Not Forsake Me, Comrade”

Possibly the most Rorschachian film of all time, a text that only contains symbols that effortlessly resonate with any political present and gain a foothold in your social sphere whether you’re a free radical or a reactionary wing nut. Read the full review

Some of the results are bogus, but the memorable theme song and some equally memorable characters (by Thomas Mitchell and Lon Chaney Jr. more than Lloyd Bridges and Katy Jurado) help. Read the full review

Classic westerns like High Noon should be what westerns are right now. There aren’t that many western movies, but I tend to want to enjoy every bit of this movie again because I loved every single bit of it.

Good movie. Hardly a wasted minute in the entire film. A lesson that can be learned by current directors !! Brilliant soundtrack by Dimitri Tiomkin and sung by Tex Ritter. Gary Cooper always portrayed a more genuine cowboy than anyone bar none.

Inside High Noon” Filmmaker John Mulholland

A edgy, deeply wounded western drama with a dizzying and impressive lead performance from the legendary Gary Cooper.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. An unorthodox and small-scale western drama about a newly ordained and recently retired marshal (Cooper) who must fend off a vengeful quartet of gunmen all by himself after the townspeople dismiss his request for help. Directed by Oscar-winning director Fred Zinnemann (JULIA 1977, 8/10; FROM HERE TO ETERNITY 1953, 7/10), HIGH NOON takes a short 85 minutes that neatly synchronize with the action, after the arrival of the culprit to the gangsters, a heroic face- off settles the old scores with an annihilation of both sides. It is a 1 Vs. 4 predicament for our lone hero when numbers matter, Zinnemann launches an absorbing direct path to develop how the weathered but happy man suddenly plunges to his senses in less than 90 minutes (with the help of Dimitri Tiomkin’s stunning Oscar-winning score), his wife (Kelly) threatens to leave him after her persuasion falls flat, his deputy marshal (Bridges) hangs up over some trivial jealousy issues,