GamerTab That was an excellent one.

AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

tomsview A recent book about the making of "High Noon" had me rummaging in a box of DVDs in my garage for the movie. The book was "High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic" By Glenn Frankel. I bought it after reading his "The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend". Both bring their respective films to life with background on the personalities involved and the times in which they were made."High Noon" opens as Will Kane (Gary Cooper) is about to leave town after marrying Amy Fowler (Grace Kelly), his young Quaker bride, and retiring as town marshal. However an old enemy is due on the noonday train to join three mean-looking dudes waiting at the station. Will won't cut and run. He tries to organise a posse, but he finds everyone is busy all of a sudden. He will have to face the four gunslingers alone. Shakespeare couldn't have created a more classic scenario.It seems producer Stanley Kramer didn't really appreciate Cooper's naturalistic acting. Not many would agree. If any role suited Coop's style it was this one - despite being old enough to be Grace Kelly's father. Grace in her first big role showed that a tight bodice with matching bonnet could be as sexy as Victoria's Secret.Claims that a drastic edit saved the movie hurt director Fred Zinnemann who felt such claims diminished his role in the film's success. Many things made the film work, not least the music. For any film music buff, Dimitri Tiomkin's film scores loom large. Here, Tiomkin's music combined with lyrics by Ned Washington and vocals by Tex Ritter act like a minstrel accompanying Kane, celebrating him in song as he confronts his enemies and his demons.Frankel's book presented surprising layers of information. His research and insights into the pressure the HUAC investigations applied to Carl Foreman and Stanley Kramer put everything into context. However, for me, the most interesting aspect was the creative process behind the making of the film. "High Noon" had a tight budget, but you wouldn't know it, it's a class act all the way. Its quality shines through seven decades after it was made.

cartjos I can always nitpick about some aspect of how the script plays out and think I can do a better job. When it comes to the camera stuff I will not pretend to know anything. Now that I have got that out of the way I have always felt the visuals in "Shane" were the best of any film I had seen. At over 60 I have finally taken the time to watch "High Noon" and was blown away by the way it was filmed. Black and white works here when I am sure it would have made Shane a poorer movie. Wilke, Cleef, and Wooley played their parts in what I would call an understated and very believable way. Grace Kelly has to be the most beautiful woman to ever have graced the silver screen. It could have been a silent film and still been a joy to watch, though the song "The Ballad of High Noon" and dialogue make it a much better experience. For different reasons High Noon now joins Shane at the top of my list of favorite Westerns.

Mike_Yike I saw this movie on TV when I was a kid of about 10. That was about 1960. I remember that I was going to spend a couple of hours watching a western. I didn't think the film was going to be anything special but when I heard the opening theme song I knew I was in for something special. Even at age 10, I knew. I have seen it many times since.The movie is about an unwillingness of the townsfolk to get involved with upholding the law. It came down to the town marshal, a newly-married Will Cane, to stand up to four gunmen alone. There is supposedly a connection between the plot of the movie, and McCarthyism, which was going on at the time the movie was filmed. I did not know that at the time I first saw it and truth be told, I would not have thought of it since had I not read about it.The movie is not quite perfect. Many of the town's people implore the marshal to leave town while he has the chance; before all the gunmen get to town. He makes up an excuse why he can't, an excuse that really doesn't exactly hold up under the viewer's scrutiny. But the movie had to have a shootout, right? Anyway, the movie is probably in my top 25, certainly in my top 50. There are a couple of pre-1960 westerns that are higher on my list: Shane and My Darling Clementine. Post 1960 westerns such as Eastwood's the Unforgiven and The Outlaw Josey Wales are for me, in a different genre I'll call "modern westerns".

avik-basu1889 'High Noon' is one of the most acclaimed, respected and influential films not just within the Western genre, but in all of American cinema history. Along with a handful of other films, 'High Noon' paved the way for a new wave of films called 'Revisionist Westerns' which subverted the conventional clichés of past Westerns along with blurring the distinctions between good and evil.The screenwriter Carl Foreman wanted his screenplay to reflect the demons of McCarthyism which was prevalent in Hollywood at the time. On watching the film with this prior knowledge, one can easily see that it has those allegorical subtext in it due to the extensive presence of betrayal and isolation. But the film can easily resonate with anyone even if the viewer doesn't see any connection with McCarthyism, this is because at the heart of it, 'High Noon' is a tale of moral dilemma.The director Fred Zinnemann and screenwriter Carl Foreman have actually kept the door open for multiple interpretations. Yes from an idealistic viewpoint, the viewer will certainly put himself/herself in Marshal William Kane's shoes and sympathise with him. From that perspective the town folks who backed out on him and refused to support him will look ever so cowardly. However, this film can be easily watched from the perspective of the town's folks. From this perspective, one can easily see why they wanted Kane to leave as soon as possible so that the blood loss could be avoided. Kane could have escaped with his wife and allowed his succeeding Marshal to deal with Frank Miller and his gang. Even though Kane was a great Marshal, but even then Kane's zeal to stick to his 'code' can be easily seen as a machismo fueled act of foolishness to retain his own ideas of masculinity and heroism in his own eyes. The excuses given by the people who refuse to side with Kane in this encounter for the most part actually seem plausible and understandable. I also understand the Mayor when he asks the people to veer off from any potential violence as he thought this would steer away all the investors up North who might be viewing this town as potentially investment worthy. So this is morally ambiguous and the viewer can view the themes in any way he/she feels. It is a heavily cynical film about the human spirit and our inherent selfishness. This is why I think this film will work as a great companion piece with either Billy Wilder's 'Ace in the Hole' if you want similar cynicism or Frank Capra's 'It's a Wonderful Life' if you want to undercut 'High Noon's cynicism with a touch of unity.'High Noon' is majestically directed. The intro to the film with the three horse-riders riding into the small town and the onlookers reacting to them was breathtaking and utterly evocative. This intro heavily reminded me of 'Yojimbo'. Zinnemann is masterful at composing frames be it POV shots, unbroken shots, still shots,etc. The film takes place in real time and it moves along with great pace. Zinnemann brilliantly uses the 'High Noon Ballad' to raise tension, but he also knows exactly when to remove background music and let the visuals and real sounds take over to accentuate the emotional effect. The director brilliantly handles the mythic aspect of the character of Frank Miller. The concept of the unseen and invisible but ominous evil is beautifully done through the use of clocks, momentary shots of the railway, tracks, etc. with the music adding to it.Gary Cooper is a bit like Jeff Goldblum in my eyes, his acting style can be a bit jarring, but the tentativeness and vulnerability that is a fixture in his gestures and mannerisms is perfect for the role William Kane as the character himself feels extremely vulnerable under pressure of the adverse circumstances that he finds himself in. Kane's character itself subverted the concept of having the all powerful, idealistic, stoic hero, instead we get a human being who although being idealistic is prone to feelings and emotional vulnerability. We even see him break down at one point in the film after being overwhelmed by the fear of ominous adversity. Everyone else like Lloyd Bridges, Katy Jurado, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell,etc. are great too. 'High Noon' in my opinion thoroughly deserves its reputation as a masterpiece. It is multi-layered, its cynicism has depth, and it dared to do something different in terms of character representation within the Western genre at a time when it was almost unheard of. Well written, brilliantly directed and well acted, this is an essential watch.