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223 comments in total

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55 out of 67 people found the following comment useful :-
Remarkably well-organised western in which not one single second is wasted and the tension is built up admirably., 16 April 2006

Author: Jonathon Dabell (barnaby.rudge@hotmail.co.uk) from Wakefield, England

John Wayne was totally wrong to call this movie un-American. Courage and cowardice are universal emotions, and the attitudes of the characters in High Noon are, I think, incredibly truthful and telling. I know that if I lived in the Wild West, had a job and family, and was asked to stand up and fight against a gang of gun-toting psychos I would probably not be able to do it. That's why Gary Cooper's Will Kane is such a remarkable character in terms of self-respect, morality and inner strength. It's the way he MUST uphold the law even though it will perhaps cost him his wife and his life. It is the various townfolk with whom most of us will identify, even if it makes us feel shame or unworthiness to admit it. No matter how bravely we act, nor how much we want to think heroically of ourselves, 90% of us would cower in the shadows when the time came to do what Will Kane does in this movie.

On his wedding day, dependable lawman Will Kane (Gary Cooper) has just handed in his badge and is preparing to leave town with his bride Amy (Grace Kelly) when he receives devastating news. An old adversary, Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald), has been pardoned for crimes that he should have hanged for and is on his way to Kane's town of Hadleyville to get revenge. He is due on the noon train, leaving Kane one hour to either run for his life or make preparations to fight. Kane and Amy set off at full gallop, hoping to put some miles between themselves and danger, but Kane doesn't get far before he feels compelled to turn back. With the new sheriff not due for a day, he just can't let go of the extraordinary sense of duty and responsibility he feels towards his town. However when he gets back to town he gets quite a shock - for no-one has the guts (nor, in some instances, the inclination) to fight alongside him against the Miller gang. As time ticks unstoppably towards noon, Kane gradually realises that if he's going to stop Miller and his boys, he's going to have to do it alone!

Cooper's performance is extremely powerful and he received a thoroughly deserved Oscar for it. Kelly is good as his bride, although many viewers will find her character hard to like. Lloyd Bridges has a brilliant early role as Kane's deputy, while the very best of the supporting pack is Katy Jurado as a Latino woman whose "history" with most of the men in town puts her in an unenviable position when the shooting starts. Fred Zinnemann directs the film outstandingly, making each scene fit into the grander scheme of things with literate precision. Any aspiring young film-maker wanting to learn how to pace a film correctly should watch High Noon with a close eye, for it is unparallelled as the most perfectly paced film of all-time. The music by Dmitri Tomkin - plus that incredible ballad "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" by Tex Ritter - is just one more element that makes High Noon one of the great masterpieces. There's nothing else to say - if you haven't already, go out and see this film NOW!

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63 out of 89 people found the following comment useful :-
superlative 50s western, 22 March 2004

Author: didi-5 from United Kingdom

Gary Cooper's greatest role, at 50, as the newly-married sheriff, Will Kane, left to fend for himself against his returning enemies, abandoned by the town he remains loyal to, and played out in real time through its 90 minute running time.

Ably supported by Grace Kelly as his pacifist Quaker wife, who discovers love and right triumphs over long-held preconceptions; Katy Jurado as Kane's former mistress, a fiery Latino type; and Lloyd Bridges as the feisty deputy; Cooper runs away with the acting honours. The theme tune by Tex Ritter is also worthy of note.

‘High Noon' works because of its tightly written script, its cracking pace and crackling tension. I've seen the film many times and always see something different to notice and admire; still, I'd love to see it again for the first time and not know the twists and turns, not know how it ends. A fabulous film – one of the best.

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61 out of 86 people found the following comment useful :-
The definitive western movie, 31 January 1999
Author: Bill Anderson (anderson@nehp.net) from New Hope, Alabama USA

This is the definitive Western. There are other excellent Westerns of course ("The Unforgiven," "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid," "The Searchers," "My Darling Clementine," and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" come immediately to mind), but none tops this one. Even though the difference in age between Gary Cooper and Grace Kelley makes the thought of their marriage seem a little kinky, it's easy to buy into the story. Katy Jurado is sexy, Lloyd Bridges is callow, and the townspeople mean well, but when push comes to shove, they reveal their cowardice. (If you remember the scene in "Blazing Saddles" in which Van Johnson says, "Howard Johnson is right," you'll almost certainly laugh at an inappropriate moment in "High Noon." ) "High Noon" is a textbook example of the storyteller's art. The drama begins with the opening credits and doesn't let up until everyone's true character has been laid bare. This one is suspenseful and thrilling, and I find more to admire with every viewing.

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54 out of 74 people found the following comment useful :-
High Noon assessment, 19 September 2004
Author: Merl Kimmel from Philadelphia

High Noon is for me one of the two finest Westerns ever made (the other is Shane). It is an elemental commentary on the best and worst of America, the best and worst of mankind. It is Greek tragedy and Shakespeare brought to the Old West in a grandly simple form. Gary Cooper is superb and the supporting cast is outstanding as well (although I wish Grace Kelley would have spoken without the artificial sounding school-girl accent, something which marred so many of her otherwise fine performances). I do not read into the film a commentary on events of the 1950s, specifically the ongoing investigations by Congress of left-wing activities. High Noon transcends such specifics as this. I know John Wayne called the film un-American but I must disagree. I have great respect for the Duke but think he got this one wrong. Weak, timid people are everywhere and the strong are often few and far between. Goodness and right often prevail because a small minority insure that they do. All benefit from the courage of the lonely hero whether they realize it or not. Hign Noon is a testimony to this truth.

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57 out of 84 people found the following comment useful :-
Timeless, 13 November 2004

Author: sjlanca from Illinois

I just watched this movie again. I have no idea how many times I have seen this movie over the span of my 52 years (yes I was born the same year the movie was released). Each time I have seen it, of late, I continue to develop a greater appreciation for it. I normally liked to be lightly entertained by a movie. This movie provides a glimps at so many varied characters, showing such a variety of emotions and complex personal issues. This is no-nonsense, un-contrived, straight forward story telling, at its best. I truly enjoy the restrained use of dialogue. It is amazing how much story is told with so few words, in a limited running time. WOW, I love it.

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37 out of 51 people found the following comment useful :-
A Classic Western and More, 27 October 2003

Author: Art Cadoret (bvws@lycos.com) from Cumberland, Rhode Island USA

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

HIGH NOON is a movie that can be taken down from the DVD or Tape shelf and played again and again. Gary Cooper fans will find this to be one of the best, if not THE best, Cooper performance. The plot, the performances, the brutal series of events leading up to the final show down gun fights all contribute to a feeling one has that it truly is noon day with a relentless sun beating down. This is a Western which almost makes one smell the dust of the town streets. The sheer masculinity of Marshall Kane is beautifully balanced with superb feminine grace and strength found in Grace Kelly and Katy Jurado. Ian MacDonald's Frank Miller comes across as a villain par excellence. This is a perfect presentation for black and white. Color would have diminished the sense of impending death that builds relentlessly with each coward's refusal to help Marshal Kane. The film emphasizes that triumph often comes with a price. In the end, Kane removes his lawman's badge and throws it down into the dust, and he rides off with his Quaker bride who must forever live with the fact that she took a human life in violation of her religious convictions. Courage and valor do not come easily.

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40 out of 58 people found the following comment useful :-
"Oh, To Be Torn Twixt Love And Duty", 22 April 2006

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

On Marshal Gary Cooper's wedding day to Grace Kelly, Lee Van Cleef, Sheb Woolley, and Robert J. Wilkie wait at the train station for the noon arriving train. It will be carrying their former gang leader, Ian McDonald who Cooper sent to prison and who's vowing vengeance.

From the gitgo it's made abundantly clear that these are four nasty dudes who the town ought to deal with expeditiously. But the good elements of the town have grown fat and lazy and content to throw the responsibility of law and order on Cooper's shoulders. And he's quitting anyway, going on his honeymoon with his Quaker bride. A new marshal is going to arrive the next day. Why get involved. They want Cooper to just take his problem elsewhere. That view is probably best expressed by Thomas Mitchell in the scene at the church.

Speaking of the scene in the church my favorite business in High Noon is when preacher Morgan Farley tells Cooper how dare he come into the church because a few hours earlier he didn't see fit to get married in that church. What a set of priorities.

Grace Kelly had her breakthrough role in High Noon. She's a Quaker with deeply held pacifist principles. She's marrying a lawman, but one who's quitting that life. Her best scene in the film is with Katy Jurado who is Cooper's former gal pal. Katy explains the facts of life to Grace about marriage and the duty of standing by your man, long before Tammy Wynette ever sung about it. When the time comes, Grace does the right thing.

Like his rival in western films, John Wayne, Gary Cooper had one of the great faces for movie closeups. Back in the day it used to be a running joke about how Cooper's dialog used to be just "yep" and "nope." It was a good deal more than that. But High Noon's plot is carried quite a bit by the many closeup shots of Cooper. His face tells more than ten pages of speech and it keeps the tension of the film going. Man did not win two Academy Awards for nothing.

Of course the theme of High Noon is also expressed in Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington's Academy Award winning song, sung at times during the film by Tex Ritter. However the big hit record of the film was from Frankie Laine. I doubt there has ever been a movie theme song that expressed everything you needed to know about the motivation of the central character in the film. I don't think High Noon would have attained the classic status it has without that song.

Another great performance in the film is Lon Chaney, Jr. as the former town marshal, old and cynical, who'd like to help Cooper out, but at his age and health realizes he'd be more of a hindrance. He's the only one that Cooper understands and forgives.

The final gun battle is choreographed like a ballet, it's that good. Maybe the best ever filmed. Can't describe it, you got to see it.

The interaction of the town's responsibilities for maintaining law and order and Cooper's personal pride and integrity have been dealt with in various ways in other films. I'd check out Rio Bravo, Warlock, Death of a Gunfighter, Welcome to Hard Times, all of these take a different slant on the same themes.

But personally I've always liked what the townspeople did in a Frank Sinatra film, Johnny Concho. That's what the people of Hadleyville should have done right at the start.

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27 out of 37 people found the following comment useful :-
A Man Who Won't Run Away, 29 May 2006

Author: SnorriGodhi from the Sagas of Icelanders

For me, Will Kane embodies the American ideal of a hero: a man who stands up for what is right, even when nobody else does, even when the temptation is strong to stick the head in the sand.

Will Kane explains his outlook at the outset: there is no point in running away if that means spending the rest of your life watching your back. His best chance is to face his enemies on his home ground. At this point, he still thinks that honest folk will stand by him. The rest of the movie is a study in character: will he stand his ground when his entire world crumbles around him?

It is puzzling that Howard Hawks, John Wayne, and others thought of High Noon as un-American. I am not sure if this is because of the allegory of the McCarthy era; or the people of an American town collectively sticking their heads in the sand; or the Marshal throwing his badge to the ground in the last scene.

Clearly, the movie does not criticize McCarthyism itself. (It has nothing to say about communism, either.) It appears to criticize the people who did not stand up to McCarthy and the HUAAC, but it can equally well be seen as a comment on the appeasers who did not stand up to fascism or communism.

In any case, not too much must be made of the anti-appeasement angle, because the townsfolk is not the primary focus of the movie: the focus is on Will Kane. When the townsfolk behave like cowards, that gives Will Kane a chance to prove that he is a hero. If the town had stood by the Marshal, we would have seen, at best, an excellent Western like Rio Bravo, but not a masterpiece like High Noon. For Will Kane to be a hero, it is necessary that he stands alone.

No statement can convey the dramatic impact of Will Kane throwing his badge away, but it is worth discussing what this gesture means. For me, it means that the town and the badge were not worth fighting for. Will Kane fought for principle: he fought because he does not run away.

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37 out of 57 people found the following comment useful :-
A Western of rare achievement!, 8 January 2000

Author: ironside (robertfrangie@hotmail.com) from Mexico

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

For many, Gary Cooper was the Westerner par excellence—cool, taciturn, courageous and just; skilled with a gun but slow to use it; gentlemanly, generous and shy, appealing to men as much as to women... This image reached its culmination in "High Noon" with his characterization of Marshal Will Kane, the brave and stubborn ex-marshal standing alone against the forces of evil, and the prototype for countless Western heroes ever since...

Highly-stylized, carefully and beautifully shot, "High Noon" possibly owes its great popularity to a combination of three things—It's a suspense film in the real sense; the dearly beloved set-piece climax of the gun duel never got better or more thoughtful treatment; it has a theme tune that persistently whines its way into the subconscious... Most people first remember the Dimitri Tiomkin theme tune, then Gary Cooper stalking down the lonely street… The bits and pieces gather from there… The film also ties a small town of do-nothings showing their cowardice by turning their backs on trouble, integrity, and an elected representative...

"High Noon" is also distinguished by many fine images from the incidental (the brief close-up of the wagon wheel revolving against the town's facades as Cooper and Kelly leave the community); to the poignant ( Zinneman's camera drawing back from Cooper's face to show him standing vulnerable and alone in the dust of a deserted main street); to the deliberately melodramatic (Cooper bitterly grinding his marshal's badge in the dirt before riding away for good ).

By means of rapid cross-cutting, Fred Zinnemann gives shots—repeatedly—of the pendulum of the clock, of the empty railroad tracks, and in rapid succession, shots of tense faces—taken at close range—of the townsfolk in the church, in the local saloon, then of the worried face of the marshal, his wife, and of the three criminals ready for the approaching train...

"High Noon" is the simple and forceful tale of an aging lawman on his day of retirement and also on his wedding day...

Will Kane, on a blazing June morning in 1875, has just married a pretty young Quaker girl... The bride feels doubly blessed... She's got her man, and this is the day he will hang his guns... She has firm Quaker convictions and never did imagine herself as a lawman's wife...

But, while it's all being celebrated a badly shaken stationmaster (Ted Stanhope) bursts in with quite the wrong kind of wedding telegram... It states that an outlaw Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald) whom Kane had put behind bars six years ago for terrorizing the town has been released... The stationmaster adds that three members of his old gang are already awaiting his arrival at the depot—their object a reunion with the pardoned man who will get off the train at noon, and presumably settle the score with Kane...

The marshal, like a sensible man, does, in fact, put his wife in the buggy, but then like a man of honor but also a sensible man (for the gang will surely hunt them down wherever they go) changes his mind and heads the horses back to town…

A bride, especially a Quaker bride, can't quite see it this way on her wedding day so she hands him her own ultimatum—if he won't go away with her she'll go alone by train—the one that leaves at twelve...

Everything on this torrid, dusty morning therefore hinges on midday—therefore Kramer's insistence on his clocks. From this point onwards High Noon, although it remains completely classic in Western terms, faithful to period and concerned with an indicative historical situation, takes on wide and profound implications…

It's about group cowardice and short-term interest—particularly the treachery of so-called 'good' people… 'Law abiding,' you feel, doesn't mean what it should mean… When a group of people decide that they must passively refuse to support the law for reasons of personal preservation, who, in fact, are the outlaws?

Thus the marshal's predicament… He is an embarrassment to everyone, from Judge (Otto Kruger)—he's leaving town—to the humblest citizen of Hadleyville… Only one is ready to give assistance and he melts away when he finds there'll be no other volunteers… The marshal's immature deputy (Lloyd Bridges) is willing to take over his job—again, provided Cooper leaves town… But this is absolute ambition at work…

The build-up of tension as the lawman prepares to meet the four thugs and makes fruitless attempts to recruit help from the cowardly citizens has never been handled better, and it is sustained right up to and through the climactic gunfight as the lawman's bride finds herself trapped in the crossfire...

Filmed in Black and White, "High Noon" is among the ten Best Westerns ever made... The film achieved the shape of a democratic allegory which reached people in much the same way and for the same reasons that "The Best Years of Our Lives" had done... Its cutting suspense was the hallmark of Zinneman's mastery of the movie medium...

Gary Cooper's performance, as the very vulnerable, worried man, won him the year's Oscar...

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17 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
I don't get it, 1 July 2007

Author: gatsby06 from United States

I am puzzled; how can anyone rate this as less than a 10? Can anyone find a single flaw in this movie? Any way it could have been better? This is the gold standard by which Westerns should be measured, not to mention any drama. It simply doesn't get any better than this.

As film, High Noon does an exceptional job of giving depth to characters quickly. The situation defines their character. Katy Jurado' role is one of the exceptions, where there is more talking, but we see unfold an exceptionally interesting person.

How many movies can you watch repeatedly over the years as you grow up and grow old that continue to move you and continue to reveal new depth and meaning? That is the measure of art.

This movie is timeless, and has a lesson for humanity of all eras and all nationalities. It will be watched a hundred years from now, a thousand years from now, if civilization survives that long. The message of this film is that this is not at all certain. It is up to us.

I suspect the reason some people down-rate High Noon is not for the quality of the film, but the message. Like John Wayne, they just don't like what it says about America.

Well I've got bad news for you, John, the Frank Millers have killed the sheriff and now run this country. The gang has gotten elected president and vice president. And the townspeople and ministers acquiesced like sheep or even actively supported it as "good for business."

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