Film of the Week #67 - High Noon (1952)

Retr0gamer

Thanks for choosing me to select film of the week Karl!

So this week my choice is the western classic High Noon:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044706/

For me this is one of those golden oldies that hasn't aged one bit.

Plotwise it's a very simple film. On the day Will Kane gets married he is told that Frank Miller, a man he sent to prison years beforehand, is returning to the town to get his revenge and that his old gang are waiting at the train station for him. The train will arrive at high noon, of course.

I think what really makes this film is the tension that is built up. The whole film is shot in real time with clocks and watches featuring prominently in most shots constantly counting down to noon and cuts to Frank Millers gang waiting at the train station. You can really feel the tension build up but still look forward to the gun fight that is bound to happen.

There are some fine performances in the film but Gary Cooper is the stand out as the every day lawman who decides to stand his ground despite not receiving any help from the locals who he helped protect for most of his life or from his wife who is constantly telling him that he should just run away from Frank Miller and his gang.

Don't want to say any more since it's been a while since I've seen it and it's best left to you guys to discuss. Anyway for me this is american film making at it's absolute finest. They don't make them like this anymore. It would need the product placement and three actions before it was even considered

faceman

Ah yes, High Noon is a classic western, one of my fav's. Unfortunately it has aged immensely but what many people dont realise is that it set a benchmark for what a western should (could) be and differed from the other westerns of that day.

Western films had deep political meaning in the US when Westerns were 10 a penny which drew alot of criticism at the time. There were many who believed the film was a slur on America. The film differed from previous Westerns because of its emotional content. Famously, John wayne on many occasions stated how much he hated the film!

On a technical note, the film contains one of the most famous crane shots IMO of all time.

johnny_ultimate

Never seen it, but will be sure to track it down! Not a big Western fan generally, but when the genre is done well, it can have fantastic results.

GAAman

This was on tv recently i ended up being late for work i got that stuck into it. Worth the bollockin i got though