High Noon

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High Noon
Film poster
Directed by	Fred Zinnemann
Produced by	Stanley Kramer Carl Foreman
Written by	John W. Cunningham (Story) Carl Foreman (Screenplay)
Starring	Gary Cooper Thomas Mitchell Lloyd Bridges Katy Jurado Grace Kelly
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	July 7, 1952 (Sweden)
Running time	85 min
Language	English
Budget	$750,000 USD (est.)
IMDb profile

High Noon is a 1952 western film which tells the story of a town marshal who is forced to face a gang by himself.

The movie was written by John W. Cunningham (story) and Carl Foreman, based on a pulp short story, The Tin Star. It was directed by Fred Zinnemann, a controversial choice, since the producers were uncertain that an Austrian Jew would be able to direct the quintessential American genre: the Western^{[citation needed]}. Zinnemann himself was highly influenced by the books of Karl May, which he had read as a child. Writer Carl Foreman was also the producer of the film, but he was uncredited as he had been blacklisted by the MPAA after having been summoned to appear before the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Analysis 3 Reception and Awards 4 Remakes 5 Trivia 6 Cast 7 External links and references

[edit] Plot

Will Kane (Gary Cooper), the marshal of Hadleyville, has just married pacifist Quaker Amy (Grace Kelly) and is retiring at the end of the day. Then the whole town hears that Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald), a man he had arrested and sent to the gallows, has been paroled. Miller is due to arrive on the noon train and his gang is waiting for him at the station. When he arrives, he and his gang intend to exact revenge.

Everybody wants Kane to leave immediately, to avoid trouble. His wife threatens to leave on the noon train without him if he stays, but he refuses to give in. He spends most of the day trying to get the townspeople to back him up, to no avail. Even his deputy, Harvey Pell (Lloyd Bridges), refuses to help. Only his former mistress, Helen Ramírez (Katy Jurado), supports him, but there is little she can do to help.

In the end, Kane faces the four gunmen by himself. He shoots down two of Miller's men. Amy chooses her husband over her religious beliefs and kills the third with a shotgun blast, before he can shoot her husband in the back, but is taken hostage by Miller. Miller then offers to trade her for Kane. Kane agrees, coming out into the open with his gun lowered. Amy, however, struggles with Miller, eventually freeing herself. Kane and Miller then draw their guns; Kane is the faster of the two, killing Miller. He then contemptuously throws his marshal's star in the dirt and leaves town with his wife.

[edit] Analysis

High Noon is generally praised, although it was somewhat controversial upon its release in 1952. Cooper's character is betrayed by all the "good" men in town who won't take up arms for a just cause. It was intended as an allegory of the contemporary failure of intellectuals to combat the rise of McCarthyism, as well as how people in Hollywood had remained silent while their peers were blacklisted. Ironically, the film has also been embraced by conservatives who admire its emphasis on duty and courage.

High Noon transpires virtually in real-time, in contrast to traditional westerns such as The Searchers. In another departure from the norm, there is little action until the final 10 minutes. The only exception is a fistfight between Kane and his former deputy, Harvey Pell. The film's tension derives mainly from Kane’s desperation, aided by skillful editing. The frequent shots of various clocks with the hands approaching noon heighten the tension.

Another effective technique is the crane shot, just before the final gunfight. The shot backs up and rises, and we see Will totally alone and isolated on the street. The entire town has deserted him.

The director intended to capture the atmosphere of old Civil War photographs, with an austere gray sky as a backdrop. (This effect results from the fact that early film emulsions were most sensitive to blue (and uv) light; Zinneman's attempts to reproduce this effect in the film were one of the reasons he strongly opposed its proposed colorization). Despite the constraints of a limited budget ($750,000) and only 32 days to film, he was able to obtain this even though most of the film was shot on a Hollywood lot by taking advantage of the smog in Los Angeles to darken the sky.

[edit] Reception and Awards

Upon its release, the film was criticized by many filmgoers, as the film, which was considered to be a western did not contain accepted western archetypes such as chases, violence and action. Rather, it contained emotional and moralistic dialogue throughout most of the film except the last few minutes where the action scenes take place.^[1]

High Noon is consistently on the Internet Movie Database's list of top 250 films, was #33 on American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Movies, and has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

The movie won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Gary Cooper), Best Film Editing, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Dimitri Tiomkin), and Best Music, Song (Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington for High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin'), sung by Tex Ritter). It was nominated for Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Writing, Screenplay.

[edit] Remakes

• A made-for-TV sequel, High Noon Part II: The Return Of Will Kane (produced in 1980, 28 years after the original movie was released), featured Lee Majors in the Cooper role.
• The 1980 science fiction film Outland borrowed from the story of High Noon for its plot. The movie starred Sean Connery.
• The Miami Vice episode "The Afternoon Plane" borrowed both plot and characters directly from the movie.
• In 2000, High Noon was entirely re-worked for cable television with Tom Skerritt in the lead role.

[edit] Trivia

• High Noon is the film most requested for viewing by American Presidents.

• John Wayne was offended by the film as it was an allegory for blacklisting, which he and his friend Ward Bond had actively supported. Twenty years later, he was still complaining about the movie in his controversial Playboy magazine interview. Inventing a scene that was never in the movie, he claimed that Cooper's character ground his badge underfoot at the film's end. He went on to say he would never regret having helped blacklist screenwriter Carl Foreman from Hollywood shortly after the movie was released. Wayne's film Rio Bravo was made as a right-wing response to High Noon.
• There was some controversy over the casting of Gary Cooper in the lead role. Although he had already won an Oscar for his performance in Sergeant York, he was considered too old for the part, and was, at fifty, nearly thirty years older than Grace Kelly.
• High Noon was an inspiration for the election poster of the Solidarity movement in Poland. The poster featuring Gary Cooper became an inspiration for the Polish people and a Polish cultural symbol. Lech Wałęsa wrote: Under the headline "At High Noon" runs the red Solidarity banner and the date--June 4, 1989--of the poll. It was a simple but effective gimmick that, at the time, was misunderstood by the Communists. They, in fact, tried to ridicule the freedom movement in Poland as an invention of the "Wild" West, especially the U.S. But the poster had the opposite impact: Cowboys in Western clothes had become a powerful symbol for Poles. Cowboys fight for justice, fight against evil, and fight for freedom, both physical and spiritual. Solidarity trounced the Communists in that election, paving the way for a democratic government in Poland. It is always so touching when people bring this poster up to me to autograph it. They have cherished it for so many years and it has become the emblem of the battle that we all fought together.[1]

[edit] Cast

• Gary Cooper — Marshal Will Kane
• Thomas Mitchell — Mayor Jonas Henderson
• Lloyd Bridges — Deputy Sheriff Harvey Pell
• Katy Jurado — Helen Ramirez
• Grace Kelly — Amy (Fowler) Kane
• Otto Kruger — Judge Percy Mettrick
• Lon Chaney Jr. — Martin Howe (as Lon Chaney)
• Harry Morgan — Sam Fuller (as Henry Morgan)
• Ian MacDonald — Frank Miller
• Eve McVeagh — Mildred Fuller
• Morgan Farley — Dr. Mahin, Minister
• Harry Shannon — Cooper
• Lee Van Cleef — Jack Colby
• Robert J. Wilke — Pierce (as Robert Wilke)
• Sheb Wooley — Ben Miller
• Jack Elam — Charlie the Drunkard (uncredited)

[edit] External links and references

1. ^ The Making of High Noon, hosted by Leonard Maltin, 1992. Available on the Region 1 DVD from Artisan Entertainment.

• High Noon at the Internet Movie Database
• A detailed site
• The Ballad of High Noon & The Rise of the Movie Theme Song (Senses of Cinema)
• Steele Review
• McCarthyism and the Movies