High Noon

"High Noon" is the classic western movie about a marshall facing down four badmen alone after the townsmen refuse to help him. Although it has a western setting, it could have easily been most any other locale because the psychological and social aspects are the important themes, not the old West, or riding horses. Made during the time of McCarthy and the Communist witch hunt, many have read political undertones into the movie.

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.

The film is hands down my favorite western and features many of the genre conventions, but also brings many progressive sensibilities to the genre. It is primarily a psychological western, not the shoot um ups that reigned in the past. What makes high noon such a masterpiece is the incredible perfection of its craft. It is truly one of the most tightly constructed films ever made. Not a single frame is wasted in the telling of its story and its conveying of mood. The film should be mandatory viewing for budding filmmakers, so they can learn the importance of lean, fat free editing. Kurosawa said he only shot footage so he could edit and high noon is truly a brilliant example of the power of concise editing. Many films today love to draw out their endings with multiple resolutions, high noon proves the power of speed and simplicity in its powerful closing scene.

The high noon dvd is presented in full frame format since the film was not shot in widescreen. Picture is amazing for a film that is over 50 years old. Contrast and sharpness are gorgeous and the print is one of the best of a film of this age. Sharpness is truly stunning. Shimmering and flicker is present on some objects and there are occasional tiny spots on the image. The spots were so small and infrequent i didn't even notice them ever until a second viewing. Shimmering on trees is present quite a bit especially if you have a cheaper dvd player. These are minor points, because i was stunned at the beauty of the tranfer.

Sound is presented in regular and enchanced audio. Regular sometimes has cooper's dialogue a little low. Enchanced has more kick, but they may have toyed with the original mix. A commentary is including with relatives of the cast and crew. I didn't listen to all of it, it is presented in a group conversational manner.

Extras are interesting with a informative leonard maltin backstory on the film. I'm not a maltin fan and find his narration annoying, but he points out intriguing notes on the film's production. The best part is oncamera interviews from several years ago with zinneman and other real cast/crew member. Zinneman tells a great story about how the train ran over the camera when they were shooting the railroad track shots. Also another weird note is that the cinematography floyd crosby is david crosby's father! David is interviewed about his dad's work. A new series of interviews are collected with the surviving children of the cast/crew in the "behind" doc. Cooper's daughter is very obviously reading a teleprompt and i quit watching at that point. There is a radio show with tex ritter, he talks about having never played the bad guy and being in 80 westerns. I didn't finish the show.

The movie is by my money the best western ever made because of its extraordinary concise editing and fat free storytelling. The dvd is great with knock out picture for a film over 50 years old and a good documentary on the making of.

I saw this at age 8 when it was a brand-new, my-gosh piece of controversy. In fact, I saw it six times and the house was packed at each showing. Many powerful images have stayed in my head since then, and they are just as impressive today. Recall that the "controversy" behind this classic was its timing at the height of McCarthy's Red scare; the writers and directors, their creativity stymied by myopic thinking and fears of the day, pulled quite a stunt; the hero Will Kane marches to a different drummer in the face of a skittish and conformist environment. Politics aside, of course, this is just a rattling good movie. It started a new trend, which in those days was referred to as the "adult" Western, which in turn meant it dealt with ideas, principles, real-world emotions, not just horses and guns. Take it as an allegory of 50's culture or as a great Western, it works either way. Even its presentation style was a rule-breaker: starts with Tex Ritter droning "Do Not Forsake Me O My Darlin'" in the background, after which every Hollywood Western had to have a Western singer in the credits (unfortunately, it was usually a near-screaming, echo-chambered Frankie Lane with a blaring symphony orchestra backup! Good grief). The 1952 masterpiece was followed by countless imitations -- and how many Eastwood movies feature High Noon-style confrontations ? It's a landmark film so well done, it defies imitation. The DVD print is quite good, but the "digitized" sound is awful, as usual (turn it off, play it in the original mono). Catch the fight scene with Cooper and Bridges, and the scenes with skillful Katy Jurado and her competing suitors; it doesn't get any more real than this, and veteran director Zinnemann outdoes himself here. Every performance is tight and right-on. And note: the action occurs in real time. You can synchronize your wrist watch to the brief glances at the clocks on the walls. And dig that camera work; black and white was an art in those days, and has become a lost art since. A stirring, original, and unique work in every way. Some good features on the Collectors Edition.