HIGH NOON

SYNOPSIS:
On his wedding day, after he has given up his Marshall’s badge to start a new life, lawman Will Kane learns that a vindictive outlaw seeking revenge is returning on the noon train.

Reviewed by Louise Keller:
High Noon is arguably THE classic western, incorporating more dramatic elements than the average outdoor cowboy pic. It’s a great script based on a magazine story by John W. Cunningham called The Tin Star. Dimitri Tiomkin’s fabulous score helps greatly in the building of tension, with pulsating rhythms of clocks ticking, and images of the pendulum swinging as we wait for high noon. The haunting ballad sung by Tex Ritter was a great hit of the day, and musical phrases from this are used effectively in different idioms throughout the film. Floyd Crosby’s stark cinematography beautifully captures the feeling of dust, heat and the ambiance.

Gary Cooper as Will Kane, is every inch the hero - craggy, rugged, tall, brave and handsome. His performance is superbly understated, and is deserving of his Academy Award in 1952 for Best Actor. Cooper is consummately complemented by the gorgeous but icy Grace Kelly, as Kane’s Quaker bride Amy. There’s a memorable scene where Amy confronts the exotic Ellen (played wonderfully by Katy Jurado), who was previously Kane’s gal. Amy is so cool, and Ellen so passionate…. The relationship between these two women in Kane’s life is sensitively developed, and adds greatly to the emotional tapestry. Watch out too for a young Lloyd Bridges. And so the tension builds as we wait for Will Kane to meet the four killers at High Noon in one of the screen’s most famous showdowns.

This is a tale about honour, pride, courage, loyalty and betrayal. In Australia, it has been released by Roadshow Distributors in the Hollywood Tough Guys & Heroes series. High Noon is high on the recommended list - one of my all time favourites.

(Black & White)

CAST: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges, Katy Jurado, Ian MacDonald

DIRECTOR: Fred Zinnerman

PRODUCER: Stanley Kramer

SCRIPT: Carl Foreman (based on The Tin Star)

CINEMATOGRAHY: Floyd Crosby

MUSIC: Dimitri Tiomkin

ART DIRECTION: Rudolph Sternad

YEAR: 1952

RUNNING TIME: 88 minutes

RATING: G

AWARDS: Four Academy Awards 1952 Best Actor: Gary Cooper

RRP: $14.95