High Noon (1952)
Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins
Synopsis: Gary Cooper is Hollywood's perfect hero, the very embodiment of integrity and grace in this greatest of Westerns. As a newly married town marshal, he must balance an innate sense of justice and duty with loyalty to his beautiful new--and pacifist--bride when he is left by an ungrateful town to... Gary Cooper is Hollywood's perfect hero, the very embodiment of integrity and grace in this greatest of Westerns. As a newly married town marshal, he must balance an innate sense of justice and duty with loyalty to his beautiful new--and pacifist--bride when he is left by an ungrateful town to face a gang of deadly outlaws alone. As we watch spellbound, film time is real time as the showdown grows ever closer. HIGH NOON is a masterpiece that is frequently interpreted as a parable about artists left to "stand alone" and face persecution during the HUAC Hollywood blacklisting. However, Howard Hawks allegedly devised RIO BRAVO as an answer to the film's "wimpiness," and John Wayne once declared HIGH NOON as un-American--he was apparently offended by the ending of the film, which shows Sheriff Kane removing his badge and tossing it in the dirt. [More]
Genre: Westerns
Starring: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges, Katy Jurado
Producer: Stanley Kramer
Screenwriter: Carl Foreman
Producer: Elmo Williams
Composer: Dimitri Tiomkin
DVD Info
Release:
Jun 10, 2008
DVD Features:
- 2-Disc Set - Keep Case
- Widescreen
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
- Subtitles - English, Spansih
Aditional Release Material:
- Audio Commentary
- Documentaries - 1. INSIDE HIGH NOON
- 2. TEX RITTER: A VISIT TO CARTHAGE TEXAS
- 3. BEHIND HIGH NOON
- Featurettes - 1. The Making of HIGH NOON - Hosted by Leaonard Maltin
- 2. Full-length Tex Ritter Performance of Oscar-Winning Song
- 3. Radio Broadcast with Tex Ritter (Audio)
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
One of top five westerns of all time w/Cooper's Oscar winning role. Powerful.
Some of the results ring false, but the memorable theme song and some equally memorable character acting (by Thomas Mitchell and Lon Chaney Jr. more than Lloyd Bridges and Katy Jurado) help things along.
One of the most overestimated Westerns in film history, High Noon is schematic and more of a reflection of the times in which it was made than the classic it's considered to be, though Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly are excellent.
High Noon won a fistful of Oscars, but in these days of pasteboard screen machismo, it's worth seeing simply as the anatomy of what it took to make a man before the myth turned sour.
Generates claustrophobic suspense by focusing on three images: Kane's increasingly tense, pained expression; implacably ticking clocks; and the ominous, empty train tracks.
More than a half-century later, Foreman was right after all: High Noon is a scorching and sour portrait of American complacence and capacity for collaborationism.
...plays on the psychology of its characters and situations; an oater with insight and introspection...thought over action.
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