High Noon

During these 90 minutes, Gary Cooper will try to get help from the local population, old friends, and a man who wants to be the next sheriff (Lloyd Bridges). But it will not be an easy task. Add to that the fact that his brand new wife abhorres violence, and threatens to leave him less than two hours after the marriage - in fact she says she'll leave in the train that brings the outlaw Miller to town.

People think this is a western classic. Wrong. "High noon" is surely a classic, but not a western. It only happens to be set in the old west. To say the truth, "High noon" is more like a thriller with a Hitchcockian feeling to it. The western setting (violence, lack of respect for the laws, gunfights, dry and sun-scorched landscape, etc.) is present to add to the mounting tension and suspense that grow with each shot depicting the face of a clock and the relentless passage of time towards noon and the train arrival.

What makes this movie great is the seemingly dead-end situation, the great dialogues, and very good acting by Gary Cooper (which earned him an Oscar, when the Academy Awards were not given for political reasons), Grace Kelly, Lloyd Bridges, among others (and Lee Van Cleef, the infamous "Angel Eyes" from "The good, the bad and the ugly" - he doesn't say a word, but those eyes are surely creepy).

I will not give "High noon" five stars because I felt the script could be a little more developed. The ending is too rushed and kind of unsatisfying. But this is an excellent movie nonetheless. And, I say it again, this is not a "western" in the common sense of the genre.

Grade 8.0/10

A seemingly unusual cast includes Gary Cooper ("Sergeant York", "Pride of the Yankees") as the good-guy out-going marshall, Grace Kelly ("Rear Window") as his new wife, Lloyd Bridges ("Sea Hunt", "Airplane") as the deputy, Lee Van Cleef (the "bad" of "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly") as one silent badguy, Lon Chaney ("The Wolfman"), and Henry Morgan ("MASH").

The movie proceeds in nearly real time - it starts about 10:30 AM and ends shortly after noon - and clocks are increasingly prominent in nearly every scene. The leader of the badmen, Frank Miller, who was sent to prison by the marshall under a death sentence but was released, is now coming to town on the noon train to kill marshall Kane. Three of his friends are waiting at the station to greet and assist him in killing the marshall. That same morning, Kane is getting married to a violence-abhoring Quaker woman and is going to give up being marshall because of it. After learning Frank Miller is coming to town, the wife convinces Cane to essentially skip town and they leave, but the marshall gets his sense of duty back and returns to town. He and his wife argue, and she is determined to leave on the noon train. The judge also packs his things and leaves town. The marshall's deputy also quits. Kane goes around town trying to organize a posse, but only one capable man volunteers (the other is a one-eyed drunk) but he subsequently backs out.

Cane is forced to face the men alone. I won't spoil the ending.

At a time when movies (even bad ones) were being made in color, "High Noon" was shot in black-and-white, trying to get an unglamorous look to it modeled after Matthew Brady's photographs of the civil war, and succeeds. There is no beautiful sky and clouds, or cactus and sunsets. It is great cinematography however. Oscars for Best Actor, Editing, Song and Score.

Reasonably-priced DVD picture and sound are good. It has an average commentary by daughter of actor, son of singer, son of writer and son of director. Also has a short documentary, a fair behind-the-scenes, and a 5-plus minute radio interview with singer Tex Ritter.