High Noon
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. 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 was blacklisted by the
MPAA after having been summoned to appear before the
House Committee on Un-American Activities.
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 nothing she can do to help.
In the end, Kane faces the four gunmen by himself. He dispatches two of them, while Amy chooses her husband over her religious beliefs and kills another. Miller takes her hostage, but she escapes and Miller is killed by Kane. He then contemptuously throws his marshal's star in the dirt and leaves town with his wife.
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.
High Noon's tension mainly comes from Kane's desperation, which is aided by the 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 raises, 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.
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.
*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.
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 dateof 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]
*
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)
*
A detailed site*
The Ballad of High Noon & The Rise of the Movie Theme Song (Senses of Cinema)*
Steele Review*
Classic Movies: High Noon (1952) *
McCarthyism and the Movies
