Truly Dreadful Film

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

I fail to see how "High Noon" gets such a high rating. It certainly isn't in the same league as such masterpieces such as "Red River", "Shane", or "The Searchers".Part of the problem is that there's no real character development so one doesn't really understand their motives. For that matter, most of the characters, such as the one played by Grace Kelly, are irritating and annoying. By comparison, one can see how, for example, in "Red River", Tom Dunson (played by John Wayne) slowly evolves into a dictatorial cattle baron and Matt Garth (Montgomery Clift) matures when he stand up to him.In addition, the plot of "High Noon" is a thinly-disguised political statement about the anti-communist campaign led by American senator Joseph McCarthy and that diminishes what could have been an excellent story.I didn't like it when I first saw it many years ago. I watched it again earlier this evening and, unfortunately, it didn't improve with age.

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs. Revisited it few days back on a blu-ray. Any time youre alone and you feel youre not getting the support you need, then watch this film. A retiring happy Marshall who is about to leave the town around 10.40 a.m. with his newly wedded wife gets a tragic news when he is informed that a man he sent to prison years ago, has been released and is coming to town on the 12:00 noon train for a revenge showdown with him. The Marshalls honour and pride wont let him run away inspite of being insisted by his wife n townsfolk to leave the town. It is not the arrival of the criminal which troubles the Marshall but the lack of help from his friends n townsfolk leaves him all nervous. The haggard n tired looking Cooper did the perfect portrayal of the Marshall in distress. This is a superbly acted and directed film. The editing is top notch. The tension is maintained throughout. Cooper utters no long dialogues, yet his expressions and movements are those of a man resolute in his lonely duty. The character of Cooper writing his last will and testament before the final showdown looked like as if the character is expecting his doom for sure. Another highlight is the song, Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin by Dimitri Tiomkin. The film begins with this song and we get to see a very young Lee Van Cleef with his menacing nose.

'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.

...a quote from Men in Black that applies here if it ever applied anywhere.Gary Cooper plays marshal Will Kaine, who turns in his star immediately after he marries Amy, a Quaker girl (Grace Kelly). Upsetting the celebration is the news that killer Frank Miller is due on the noon train and his first order of business is to kill Kaine, a man who Kaine helped send to prison five years ago and swore blood vengeance at the time. The three members of his gang are waiting at the depot. Miller escaped hanging, got a long sentence, and some knuckleheads on the parole board have turned him loose. At first Kaine is with the popular sentiment - Run!. But then he realizes that Miller will lay waste to the town if he isn't there - the new marshal isn't due in until the next day - plus Miller will hunt him down wherever he is - Kaine will always be looking over his shoulder.He goes around looking for deputies to help him make his stand. Oh, everybody talks about what a good job Kaine did, but nobody stands up for him. They have all kinds of excuses. That a shootout will cause investors from the east and north to think their town is just another shoot em up town, that if Will isn't there Miller will just leave etc. In the end the result is NOBODY stood by him in his hour of need, in spite of the fact that many in the town owed their lives and fortunes to Kaine cleaning up the town.The best device in this movie - added after a preview called the film dull - is the constant showing of the clock, ticking away the precious minutes Kaine has. And he is a human hero - because you can tell dying is on his mind, running is on his mind, but in the end he stays to face his enemies. The scene towards the end, with him standing in the middle of a dusty abandoned main street as the camera pulls back just to show how alone Kaine is in this battle is iconic.Where is his wife you might ask? With a ticket in hand to get on the next train out. At least Grace Kelly's character has a reason for her pacifism - her newly found Quaker faith. What she fails to realize is that unless you are willing to be a slave you have to be strong enough that you can afford pacifism.There are some great performances here. There is Lon Chaney as the old sheriff who Will goes to for help. The old sheriff has the best excuse of all - he is just too old for this. Will would be looking after him instead of himself. Then there is Lloyd Bridges as one of the most unlikeable characters in film history. He's Kane's ex-deputy Harvey Pell and he is a weasel without the cuteness factor. He is tired of living in Kaine's shadow, just a little jealous that Kaine had Harvey's girl before he had her, very resentful that Kaine would not recommend him to be the new marshal. But here is his chance - if Kaine runs, Kaine is no better than he is. That is why he beats Will up trying to put him on a horse towards the end of the film. He doesn't want Will to live, he wants him to run, to somehow prove he is a coward.And you have to love the townspeople thinking that this will just "all go away" if everybody hides. The first act of the foursome of gunslingers when they hit town is not to kill Kaine, but to smash a store window and take a woman's bonnet that one of the killers fancies - an act of theft. They'll be stealing more than stuff by nightfall if nobody stops them.Highly recommended.