Movie Minx

Starring: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Lloyd Bridges
Directed by: Fred Zinnemann

Plot: Marshal Will Kane has just gotten hitched and is hanging up his silver star to leave town when he hears that a former nemesis called Frank Miller, who he had arrested five years earlier, has been released from jail and is heading into town on the noon train. Will Kane flee with his new bride or say to face the man he despises?

But is it any good?

I can’t believe I enjoyed a western! This is so not my genre, and anyone expecting me to be able to compare this with other great westerns is going to be let down, because I simply avoid them.

And I wasn’t expecting to like High Noon. But near the end of the all-too-short 85 minute film, my heart was in my mouth as Kane bravely stood alone to face a gang of four thugs.

I should start at the beginning. The film opens happily enough as we see Kane wed his young, blond and gorgeous (and Quaker) bride Amy. But soon a sweaty man races up to the happy congregation and reads a telegram: Miller has been released and is heading back to town! Crikey! Kane’s expression turns from excited to stunned. Urged to get the heck out of town asap, he mutely follows orders - until something inside him decides that he cannot abandon the town he has worked so hard to keep safe. Ignoring Amy’s pleas, they turn back.

Okay, so you know there’s going to be a showdown. It’s a western, after all. But the thing about this film is - the showdown takes place right at the end, and even then it seems almost incidental. What makes High Noon so damn good is its ability to crank up the tension while also raising questions about right and wrong, strength and weakness.

Kane has just over an hour to rustle up some deputies to help him defend the town. Shown almost in real time, the town’s clocks tick agonizingly towards noon. We feel Kane’s mounting sense of panic - and doom, for it turns out that for whatever petty reasons, when push comes to shove the townsfolk would rather hide. Continuous shots of the empty railway tracks just add to the sense of doom Kane feels. Time’s running out, and Kane is a lone man risking his life and remaining loyal to the town to do what he feels he must, despite public opinion (no surprise then, that this film is in the favorites list of several world leaders).

I’ve read a few arguments that High Noon, made during the McCarthy era, contains hidden references to communism. Maybe - I don’t read it that way. I enjoyed it as a suspenseful film showing one person being strong enough to fight for what they believe in. The final scene, which I won’t spoil but involves a silver star, was the perfect ending. Bravo.

My rating: 8.5/10

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