High Noon (1952) User Reviews

"A person is smart but people are dumb panicky animals and you know it"...

[AlsExGal · 9/10 · 23 August 2016]

...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.

Citizen Kane

[jotix100 · 9/10 · 29 August 2004]

High Noon is one of the most loved films of all times thanks to the elements that came together to make it the classic that it is. The movie owes a lot to Fred Zinnemann for his tight account of this story by Carl Foreman. The film benefits from Dimitri Tiomkin's great score and the great cinematography by Floyd Crosby.

This is a film that packs a lot of symbolism because of the times when it was done. Those were the days of the communist hysteria where many people in the industry were accused, tried and lost jobs because when they faced the HUAC and Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Gary Cooper plays a man who is decent enough to return to the town where he just has gotten married and has finished his tour of duty. His conscience doesn't let him leave his post as he delays his plans and goes back to defend the town from the bandit who's been freed by Northern judges, and is coming back to seek revenge from Marshal Kane and the town.

Gary Cooper embodied the all Amercian hero. He was an actor who could do no wrong, as he proves in his take of Marshal Kane. We see him as the clock is ticking away toward noon time when the train will arrive in Hadleyville. We see him perspire as he goes around trying to get people help him deal with the problem, to no avail; he will have to do it himself. In the process, he clearly disappoints his new bride, who is horrified at the prospect of losing the man she clearly loves.

Grace Kelly was such an elegant figure that it's hard to imagine she would be in Hadleyville at all! Katy Jurado was also excellent as the jaded Helen Ramirez, the woman who owned a lot of businesses in town. Also effective, Thomas Mitchell, as the mayor of the town and Lloyd Bridges, as Harvey.

This is a film to treasure.

Ante Meridiem...

[Xstal · 8/10 · 3 September 2020]

The summer temperature soars, as does the tension during the hour before the arrival of the midday locomotive that will bring with it a vengeful gunslinger to settle an old score with the Marshal: who will soon discover who his friends are.

Vengeance, treachery, ignorance, justice and survival - concentrated around the barrel of a gun.

Remarkably well-organised western in which not one single second is wasted and the tension is built up admirably.

[barnabyrudge · 10/10 · 16 April 2006]

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!

Tense and Suspenseful Western

[claudio_carvalho · 10/10 · 18 March 2018]

On the day of his wedding with Amy (Grace Kelly) and simultaneous retirement of the position of Marshal, Will Kane (Gary Cooper) receives a telegram advising that the criminal Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald) had been released from the prison. Now he is coming to the town in the noon train to kill Kane, as he promised in the judgment. Kane arrested Frank five years ago and he was sent to North to be hanged. However he was sentenced to life and for some unexplained reason, Frank was pardoned and released. Three other gunmen are in the station waiting for Frank. Having less one hour and half to organize his defense, Kane tries to organize a posse but sees every citizen turns back to him, in a cowardly way and he stands alone against the killers.

"High Noon" is a low-budget western with a tense and suspenseful storyline. The tension is built in real time and Gary Cooper has an outstanding performance in the role of a Marshal moved by his duty to protect the town that does not deserve him. It is sad to see his former friends finding excuses to turn down his request for helping. The performances are top notch and the viewer gets tense while the clocks show the fatidic noon coming. Grace Kelly is astonishing beautiful and finds redemption in the conclusion when she saves Kane. The final scene when Kane drops his badge on the dirty floor is memorable. "High Noon" is certainly one of the most credible westerns of the cinema history and might be one of the best. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): 'Matar ou Morrer' ('To Kill or To Die')

A Man Who Won't Run Away

[SnorriGodhi · 10/10 · 29 May 2006]

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.

superlative 50s western

[didi-5 · 10/10 · 22 March 2004]

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.

"I've Got To. That's The Whole Thing."

[stryker-5 · 15 July 2000]

The sombre ballad, the beleaguered marshall, the cold wife who deserts her man within an hour of marrying him ... "High Noon" is part of everyone's consciousness.

Will Kane is the veteran lawman of Hadleyville, a small Kansas town that used to be the playground of bad men, notorious among them one Frank Miller. "This is just a dirty little village in the middle of nowhere," but Kane cleaned it up. Five years ago he had Frank Miller committed to a distant federal court on a murder charge. Today, as Kane weds his quaker bride, news arrives that Miller is free and heading for Hadleyville. His henchmen gather at the depot, and it becomes clear that Frank will arrive on the midday train, looking to settle scores with the marshall who arrested him. Should Kane leave town with his bride, thus avoiding trouble for himself and for Hadleyville? Or should he stay and face the Miller gang? Will the citizens rally round their marshall?

John Wayne famously criticised the film for being 'unAmerican', in that (in his view) a frontier community would not desert its lawman so abjectly. Implicit in Wayne's malediction is the notion that mainstream movies should promote wholesome patriotic values - a notion that led in Wayne's case to the debacle of "The Green Berets". Zinneman's acclaimed film probes the ugly side of human nature, "sifting out the hearts of men".

Zinneman and Director of Photography Floyd Crosby devoted a lot of care to the look of the film, effort that paid off handsomely. From our first view of Lee Van Cleef as an ominous shadow on the horizon to the climactic cuts which seem to accelerate the arrival of the fateful train, this is a movie which speaks through images. The arid, flat expanses of Kansas mirror the impassive sky, and the town's rickety structures seem puny against the bleak magnificence of nature. Human wishes are vain in the face of Fate. Rail tracks extend with cruel exactitude into the distance, converging in perspective upon the vanishing point, the symbolic spot whence Frank Miller will materialise. Lurking in the depot's shade, the dark presence which is the Miller Gang bristles with malice.

Zinneman is not afraid of extreme close-ups, which he uses to reinforce moments of emotional power (Kane realising that he has no support, Helen refusing to beg). He shoots Kane predominantly from below waist height, stressing his tall, erect stance as a symbol of moral authority. Compositions are tight and attractive throughout.

Gary Cooper was fifty-one years old and quite ill when "High Noon" was shot. He is, in truth, too old for the part. Gregory Peck had turned it down, and it is fascinating to imagine Peck as Kane. There is no rapport whatsoever between Cooper and Grace Kelly, and they make unconvincing newly-weds. "I won't be there when it's over," says the blushing bride, and though the script tries valiantly to give Amy a motivation (she became a quaker after seeing her menfolk gunned down), the abiding impression is of Kelly's prissy coldness.

"High Noon" is, for an action western, surprisingly strong on character. The judge (Otto Kruger) is clear-headed about running away from the Millers, and argues his position powerfully, yet his authority is punctured by his actions as he speaks - lowering the Old Glory, and concealing the scales of justice. Lloyd Bridges is excellent as Harvey, the deputy whose moral vision is clouded by lust for Helen and immature resentment of Kane. Katy Jurado never looked lovelier than here, playing the fallen woman Helen Ramirez who loved and lost Kane - and loves him still. A young Harry Morgan is Sam Fuller, the self-important coward who cannot face Kane. Marshall Howe (Lon Chaney Jr.) is the retired lawman who is now embittered and counsels Kane against throwing his life away for the sake of these undeserving citizens - "They just don't care!" In a cameo of pivotal importance that must have been great fun to play, Howland Chamberlain is the bitchy hotel desk clerk who hits Amy with a few home truths. James Millican is Herb, the dependable deputy who vacillates when the chips are down, and Jack Elam makes a fleeting appearance as the town drunk who sleeps through the entire drama.

One interesting plot development is the strange alliance which forms between Kane's two women. They meet in Helen's hotel room and decide to leave town together. Significantly, as they ride past Kane in the buggy, it is Helen who looks back, not Amy.

It has been suggested that "High Noon" obeys Aristotle's three unities, especially that of time, the depicted events being capable of fitting into the film's ninety-minute span. Clocks are everywhere in Hadleyville, and the passing of the minutes is constantly emphasised. My only observation is, it remains ten minutes to twelve for an unconscionably long time.

"The day cometh that shall burn like an oven," we are informed, and I for one found the film's climax rather disappointing after the intense build-up. "It's our problem because this is our town," declares a local worthy, but neither he nor anyone does anything about it. Zinneman's great crane shot, about halfway through the film, speaks more eloquently than the hollow words, zooming back to show a silent, friendless street, and one upright man, utterly alone.

Famed Western with a magnificent Gary Cooper and a splendid Grace Kelly

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 13 September 2006]

This Legendary , Simple , Powerful , Unforgettable picture tells the known story of Will Kane (Cooper) sheriff of a town standing against impossible odds , he has just married a young fiancée (Kelly) promising to leave his risked job and settle down for a peaceful existence . Just when they are about to leave , comes a vengeful gunman called Frank Miller (Ian McDonald) and henchmen (Lee Van Cleef) who Will Kane had sent to jail years earlier . Miller has sworn revenge and he will arrive in the solitary town at high noon. There Is Nothing Under The Sun Like The High Adventure Of "High Noon"! The story of a man who was too proud to run . When these hands point straight up...the excitement starts!

This classic western is plenty of suspense as the dreaded noon hour approaches and the protagonist realizes he must stand alone but his fellow town people for help , nobody is willing to help him . The narration is adjusted in real time , from the beginning , the wedding , until the final showdown and being approximately developed in ninety minutes as the many on-screen ticks clocks will check . While the filming the producer Carl Foreman is appointed for the Anti-US committee , being accused by communist activities and he then left the country as the starring Will Kane left Hadleyville . The motion picture contains an excellent cinematography by Floyd Crosby (Roger Corman's usual photographer) , though there is a horrible computer-colored version . The movie won Oscar , Academy Award , for the best actor Gary Cooper (his second Academy Award), Edition (Elmo Williams) and song (Ned Washington , Dimitri Tiomkin) , the famous : ¨Do not forsake me, Oh my darling¨ sung by singer Tex Ritter . Followed by a remake (1980) by Jerry Jameson with Lee Majors and David Carradine and another reboot (2000) by Rod Hardy with Tom Skerrit.

"Oh, To Be Torn Twixt Love And Duty"

[bkoganbing · 10/10 · 22 April 2006]

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.

Film Editing 101

[evanston_dad · 7/10 · 28 June 2006]

"High Noon" is a text book on how to edit a film brilliantly, but it's awfully cold and impersonal as a movie. It creates a tremendous amount of suspense, but the whole movie is gimmick, and the suspense is empty. As most people know, it takes place in "real time," so there are lots of cut aways to clocks underscored with thumping music, and montages of reaction shots of all the principal characters looking pensive. But stripped of its novelty after a first viewing and the fact that its gimmicks have been ransacked countless times by other movies over the years, there isn't much to revisit.

I suspect Gary Cooper's acclaim in this role came from people who were tickled to see an iconic movie actor playing an iconic movie type, rather than because he created a flesh-and-blood human being that anybody really cared about. He's not required to do much but look resigned and stoic, which to his credit he does well. But I don't know how much of a PERFORMANCE it is.

It's cool to like "High Noon" because it's been interpreted as an attack on McCarthyism, but that's not enough to make the film relevant today. It's certainly not a bad movie, and I get why it's viewed as an important one. Movies like "High Noon" are necessary, because they introduce new ways of doing things and add new phrases to film language. It's just that, with some historical perspective, it's obvious that it wears its schematics on its sleeve.

Grade: B

Real Time

[kosmasp · 10/10 · 24 March 2012]

One of the first movies to use the "real time" gimmick, this western works really great. Of course back when it came out, this movie got into a lot of trouble. The movie was brand-marked as anti-American and was blacklisted. It even got disliked by John Wayne and Howard Hawks (who btw. apparently made Rio Bravo as an response to this very movie) very publicly!

Of course the movie is not a blueprint of how Westerns worked back then and does have some social criticism. But it's also something that makes it almost timeless. Because what it does point out (put yourself into the main characters shoes), is relevant today and I'm sure will be relevant in a couple of years too. It's about human nature and about society. One of the best movies made in that sense (in my eyes).

Of course I can understand that some people do not like this at all (the lack of "action", the lead actors behavior etc.), but you have to figure that out for yourself

Vastly overrated western lookalike

[Epaminondas · 6/10 · 3 January 2005]

This is one the most overrated films of all time.

Not unlike Hitchcock's ROPE, it uses a gimmick: so-called real-time shooting, as we follow Cooper through each and every attempt at finding a deputy in his little town. Unfortunately for the film, quite simply, everything that occurs is predictable. Therefore the tension which is supposed to build up is inexistent. And the 'real-time shooting' supposed to lend pace and suspense ends up dragging on an on as Cooper performs one weak speech after the other. Not surprisingly, considering how inefficient this structure has been, the climax/showdown is flat and uninteresting.

I will admit the photography is quite beautiful, but to consider this film a classic, let alone one of the greatest movies of all time, on the grounds of its alleged political relevance (by the way much as I loathe Mccarthyism, I find this 'metaphor' much too formal and tedious) is preposterous. As a movie, as a work of art, it simply does not work.

Overrated Western

[doug-balch · 4/10 · 25 June 2010]

Like "Shane", "High Noon" is another Western that has ridden to film critic heaven on the back of Oscar victories. It's up to me to point out that the emperor has no clothes. I'm not saying it's a bad movie, just that it is overrated.

Let me start with the positives:

• The movie is well paced. There is good tension. Most characters are well developed. It is well acted.

• Katy Kurtado, who has the only quality supporting role as a Mexican store owner/slut, has a great line where she tells Lloyd Bridges that Gary Cooper is better than him because "Hees a mehn!" Loved that.

• OK, I'm done with positives now.

Here are the negatives:

• The basic plot doesn't make sense. This movie is often referred to as an example of an individual's steely resolve to stand up against wrong, even though abandoned by friends and society. But Kane runs like a rabbit as soon as he finds out the Millers are coming. It's only when he gets a couple of miles out of town that he realizes that he only has an hour head start on them. He tells his wife that they have no choice but to go back to town. "They'll just catch us alone out in the open prairie," he says to Grace Kelly. "My only chance is to stay in town and get help".

So, Kane did not stay out of principle. He stayed only because he had no other choice.

Yet for the rest of the movie, Kane doesn't make that argument to the townspeople. In the final church scene, there are seven or eight men who are strongly inclined to support Kane. However, town elder Thomas Mitchell wants to avoid bad publicity and tells Kane the solution is for him to run.. Why doesn't he reply to Mitchell, "You're telling me to commit suicide, it's too late to run. I need help now and you guys owe it to me". Surely if he made that simple, compelling argument, his supporters would have come to his aid. Instead, he just glares at everyone and storms out.

• The Grace Kelly character makes absolutely no sense. How can she abandon her husband five minutes after she marries him because four guys want to kill him? He already told her that to leave town was virtual suicide.

• The age difference between Grace Kelly and Gary Cooper is disturbing and distracting. She looks like she's fifteen, he looks like her grandfather. Cooper was only 50 when they made this, but sadly, he was not a well man at this stage of this life. He looks closer to 60 in this movie.

• Kane's the hero of the story, but he's hard to admire. He seems too afraid of the bad guys. Also, he only prevails after his Quaker wife dry gulches Ben Miller. Critics wax poetic about this aspect of the movie, telling us that "High Noon" was the first "anti-Western", where the hero isn't brave.

Fair enough, but I don't like anti-Westerns. I'm a Western fan. If I was anti-Western, I would watch musicals or romantic comedies, not "High Noon".

• The principal heavy is almost completely uncharacterized and is off screen for most of the movie. When he finally shows up, he looks like an accountant on vacation at a five star dude ranch. Only "Butch Cassidy" has a more poorly developed bad guy.

• What's so interesting about this movie being a metaphor for the HUAC investigation of communists in Hollywood? Who cares?

• And while we are on that subject, if this is movie such a liberal metaphor, what's with the tirades against weak courts releasing murderers? Isn't that a right wing rant? My head was spinning through this whole movie. "Hounding Communists is bad and so is trial by jury."

• This is a strictly back lot "town" Western. While movies with similar story lines obviously have few opportunities to film scenic backdrops, may directors find ways around this (George Stevens in "Shane", for example). This movie feels less like a real Western and more like a intellectual Broadway stage play with cowboy hats and spurs for props.

• There is not an iota of comic relief. I mean nada, niente, nothing. I read that Jack Elam's drunk had a comic scene deleted. Was this to keep the movie to its gimmicky "real time" length? If so, it wasn't worth it.

• Another plot hole. Mrs. Ramirez is so afraid of Frank Miller's vengeance upon her that she fire sales her business and skips town. She then proceeds to deliberately catch Miller's eye at the train station. He hardly seems to recognize her, much less attempt to punish her for her sins against him. Maybe Kane should have bought a train ticket too. It seems to provide full protection against ex-con gunslingers bent on revenge.

And while we're on that subject, why would the Miller gang let Kane's wife waltz out of town on the train? Their many friends in town would surely point her out to them. Another reason Kane can't run. He has to stay to protect her, even though she's abandoned him for.....well, for staying to protect her? Like I said, the plot is irrational.

• The ending was much too abrupt. Another time saving measure?

• Finally, I'd like to know how the burning barn mysteriously extinguished itself. At the end all the townsfolk are crowding around the dead bodies, when they should have been scrambling to keep their homes from burning down.

High Noon assessment

[MFK80 · 19 September 2004]

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.

A Classic Western and More

[215611 · 10/10 · 27 October 2003]

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.

Timeless

[sjlanca · 10/10 · 13 November 2004]

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.

Not the best Western ever,...but pretty darn close

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 21 March 2007]

This is a perfect example of a great movie that can say a lot in well under two hours. Unlike some incredibly overlong and overrated films (such as THE LAST EMPEROR and THE English PATIENT), the people responsible for HIGH NOON managed to create a great work of art in only 85 minutes! Now I am not saying this is the best Western ever made--I can think of a select few that I actually think are a tiny bit better--but only by a hair's breadth. I do prefer my favorite short Western still is THE OX-BOW INCIDENT and the long but very satisfying BIG COUNTRY is an amazing and under-appreciated film that might also be better. However, what makes all three films so great is that they provide wonderful sociological lessons that are timeless and transcend the genre. The OX-BOW INCIDENT confronts mob mentality, THE BIG COUNTRY addresses what it's like to be a REAL man (not a cartoon cowboy) and HIGH NOON combines BOTH plots from these other two films. An exceptionally well-written film with great, great acting and insight into human frailty. About the only negative for me was the ever-present theme sung by Tex Ritter. After a while, it did get on my nerves just a bit!!! A great American film--not to be missed.

I don't get it

[gatsby06 · 10/10 · 1 July 2007]

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."

A Western of rare achievement!

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 10/10 · 8 January 2000]

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...

A Classic Western

[atlasmb · 7/10 · 20 June 2022]

It is often said that "The Greatest Show on Earth" is the worst film to win the Best Picture Oscar. That may be, but I disagree with those who would pick "High Noon" as Best Picture of 1952. "The Quiet Man" would be my choice. Or "Singin' in the Rain", which was not even nominated.

"High Noon" is an iconic western, by reputation. Though I like the film, I think it is over-rated. Gary Cooper fits the role of Marshal Will Kane well. He's a reserved man with a strong physical presence. When he hears that Frank Miller is coming on the noon train, he knows why the man is coming and he knows what to do about it, despite the fact the marshal was married that morning. His bride, however, is a Quaker and only wants her new husband to be safe. Grace Kelly fits that role well, with her prim and proper bearing, and a visual purity that makes her seem above the issues of the grimy little town of Hadleysville.

As the clocks (which seem to be everywhere) count down the minutes until noon, the Marshal looks for allies---a difficult task, considering his history with certain parties and the fact that the townspeople have divided loyalties.

The suspense of the countdown is what drives the film. Kane is not some superhuman, untouchable gunslinger. He knows what his chances are and he feels the pressure. Dmitri Tiomkin's music does a good job of reinforcing the mounting stress.

The ending is somewhat anticlimactic for me. Other westerns that lead up to a final confrontation have done it better.

Watch for strong performances by Lloyd Bridges as Deputy Marshal Pell and Katy Jurado as Helen Ramirez, a savvy businesswoman whose past relationships complicate matters.

A Must-See Western

[timothygartin · 9/10 · 13 March 2020]

I grew up in a home where westerns were the favorite genre. Out of many great westerns, High Noon is my favorite. Aside from the wonderful setting and pacing, Gary Cooper's performance as Will Kane is amazing. I can identify with this character more every time I see this movie. He really exhibits a realism and a morality that is uncommon.

The supporting cast are also perfectly fitting to this story, especially Grace Kelly.

Even if you don't like older movies, this is a wonderful film.

Predictable, with the depth of a mediocre TV Western teleplay

[zetes · 6/10 · 7 May 2002]

Three criminals wander into a Western town to wait for the 12:00 noon train to arrive. Their leader, Frank Miller, will arrive on it and together they will get revenge for Miller's jail time (he was supposed to be hanged). The man who put him in jail is Will Kane (Gary Cooper). He has just been married (to Grace Kelly) and is about to leave town, but he figures he can't while those criminals are there to start trouble. He goes back to raise a posse to take the outlaws before they can do anything. No can do, though. Everyone else is out for him/herself, and they all either refuse or ignore Kane when he asks them to be deputees.

High Noon telegraphs its every move ten minutes in advance. There's nothing special about it, and its themes are rather trite. It would be passable if any of the performers were good. It's actually kind of depressing, considering how good some of them are elsewhere. I loved Gary Cooper in Meet John Doe, but he seems really uncomfortable in High Noon. We never really learn anything much about Kane, and Cooper only helps us know less. Grace Kelly is particularly bad. To tell the truth, she was never a great actress. One year later, in John Ford's Mogambo, she gave an equally neurotic and unbelievable performance. Only in Hitchcock's films, in particular Rear Window, did she shed that nervous quality. Lloyd Bridges - well, maybe it's just me, but I can never find him effective in a drama. He was so much better when he got older and started to do comedy like Airplane. Perhaps the only one on par with the rest of his career is Thomas "Doc Washburn" Mitchell.

The villains are particularly pathetic in High Noon. I know, the "real villains" are those who refuse to fight, but the film would have been infinitely stronger if Frank Miller and the other three thugs had some personality. When a movie talks about a villain for 3/4 of its run, and then he appears without any bells or whistles, it's sure to disappoint. When the obligatory gunfight arrives, it's nothing if not boring. I longed for the dramatic effectiveness of the shootout in My Darling Clementine.

High Noon is a film made with some skill. The cinematography is good. For some reason, it always got really good when they would cut over to the three outlaws waiting for Frank Miller. Those three actors always seemed to be standing in some clever composition. The only thing about High Noon that I would rate as exceptional would be the music. It's quite good, if a bit overused (especially during the gunfight sequence; again, I think back to the beautiful and harrowing silence of My Darling Clementine). Overall, I don't hate High Noon, but just feel it is weak and definitely overrated. 6/10.

good, but yet bad

[susanj50 · 5/10 · 7 September 2000]

Much of this movie is as good as it can been. The acting, the casting, the directing are execellent. The music is so good as to be beyond belief. But the movie fails in one important area, and that is plot.

This community is set in frontier Arizona sometime in the 1880s. All of the adult men in this communitiy would be veterans of the Civil War. Men who fought at Antitam and Gettysburg would not run from four punks who would destroy their town. It is also interesting to wonder what caused the fire at the stable to go out. The villians start a fire at the stable and and once they are dead it ceases to be a problem. Were there any logic to this movie the entire town would be engulfed in flame at the end of the movie.

The tragedy of this movie is that with a good plot it could have been the best western ever made.

The definitive western movie

[Bill-308 · 31 January 1999]

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.