''High Noon'' is a 1952 American
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
* Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that i ...
film produced by
Stanley Kramer
Stanley Earl Kramer (September 29, 1913February 19, 2001) was an American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous " message films" (he would call his movies ''heavy dramas'') and a liberal movie icon. from a screenplay by
Carl Foreman
Carl Foreman, CBE (July 23, 1914 – June 26, 1984) was an American screenwriter and film producer who wrote the award-winning films '' The Bridge on the River Kwai'' and '' High Noon'', among others. He was one of the screenwriters who were b ...
, directed by
Fred Zinnemann
Alfred ''Fred'' Zinnemann (April 29, 1907 – March 14, 1997) was an Austrian Empire-born American film director. He won four Academy Awards for directing and producing films in various genres, including thrillers, westerns, film noir and pl ...
, and starring
Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, a ...
. The plot, which occurs in
real time, centers on a town
marshal whose sense of duty is tested when he must decide to either face a gang of killers alone, or leave town with his new wife.
Though mired in controversy at the time of its release due to its political themes, the film was nominated for seven
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
and won four (Actor, Editing, Score and Song)
as well as four
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
s (Actor, Supporting Actress, Score, and Black and White Cinematography).
[IMDB List](_blank)
of nominations and awards for Stanley Kramer
Stanley Earl Kramer (September 29, 1913February 19, 2001) was an American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous " message films" (he would call his movies ''heavy dramas'') and a liberal movie icon. 's ''High Noon''. The award-winning score was written by Russian-born composer
Dimitri Tiomkin.
''High Noon'' was selected by the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...
as one of the first 25 films for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...
for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" in 1989, the NFR's first year of existence. An iconic film whose story has been partly or completely repeated in later film productions, its ending in particular has inspired numerous later films, including but not just limited to westerns.
Plot
In Hadleyville, a small town in
New Mexico Territory, in 1898,
Marshal Will Kane
William "Will" Kane is the protagonist of the film '' High Noon'' (1952). He was first played by Gary Cooper, then by Lee Majors in '' High Noon, Part II: The Return of Will Kane'' (1980), and by Tom Skerritt in '' High Noon'' (2000), a remake ...
, newly married to Amy Fowler, prepares to retire. The happy couple will soon depart for a new life to raise a family and run a store in another town. However, word arrives that Frank Miller, a vicious outlaw whom Kane sent to prison, has been released and will arrive on the
noon
Noon (or midday) is 12 o'clock in the daytime. It is written as 12 noon, 12:00 m. (for meridiem, literally 12:00 noon), 12 p.m. (for post meridiem, literally "after noon"), 12 pm, or 12:00 (using a 24-hour clock) or 1200 ( military time).
Sol ...
train. Miller's gang—his younger brother Ben, Jack Colby, and Jim Pierce—await his arrival at the train station.
For Amy, a devout
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
and
pacifist
Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaig ...
, the solution is simple—leave town before Miller arrives—but Kane's sense of duty and honor make him stay. Besides, he says, Miller and his gang would hunt him down anyway. Amy gives Kane an ultimatum: she is leaving on the noon train, with or without him.
Kane visits a series of old friends and allies, but none can or will help: Judge Percy Mettrick, who sentenced Miller, flees on horseback, and urges Kane to do the same. Harvey Pell, Kane's young deputy, is bitter that Kane did not recommend him as his successor; he says he will stand with Kane only if Kane goes to the city fathers and "puts the word in" for him. When Kane refuses, Pell turns in his badge and pistol. Kane's efforts to round up a posse at Ramírez's Saloon, and then the church, are met with fear and hostility. Some townspeople, worried that a gunfight would damage the town's reputation, urge Kane to avoid the confrontation entirely. Some are Miller's friends, but others resent that Kane cleaned up the town in the first place. Others are of the opinion that their tax money goes to support local law enforcement and the fight is not a posse's responsibility. Sam Fuller hides in his house, sending his wife Mildred to the door to tell Kane he is not home. Jimmy offers to help, but he is blind in one eye, sweating, and unsteady. Kane tells him he will call him and gives him money for a drink. The mayor encourages Kane to just leave town. Martin Howe, Kane's predecessor, is too old and arthritic. Herb Baker agrees to be deputized, but backs out when he realizes he is the only volunteer. A final offer of aid comes from 14-year-old Johnny. Kane admires the boy's courage, but refuses his help.
While waiting at the hotel for the train, Amy meets Helen Ramírez, who was once Miller's lover, then Kane's, then Pell's. Helen, who is leaving as well, tells Amy that if Kane were her man, she would not abandon him in his hour of need.
At the stables, Pell saddles a horse and tries to persuade Kane to take it. They end up in a fist fight. After knocking his former deputy senseless, Kane returns to his office to write out his will. The clock ticks toward noon.
Kane then goes into the street to face Miller and his gang alone. Amy and Ramirez ride by on a wagon with their luggage, bound for the train station. The perspective elevates and expands, showing Kane standing alone on a deserted street. The gunfight begins. As the train is about to depart, Amy hears the gunfire, leaps off, and runs back to town. Kane guns down Ben Miller and Colby, but is wounded as Miller attempts to burn Kane out of a barn. Choosing her husband's life over her religious beliefs, Amy picks up Pell's pistol and shoots Pierce from behind, leaving only Frank Miller, who grabs Amy as a human shield to force Kane into the open. When Amy claws Miller's face, he pushes her to the ground, and Kane shoots him dead.
Kane helps his bride to her feet and they embrace. As the townspeople cluster around him, Kane throws his marshal's star in the dirt and departs with Amy on their wagon.
Cast
Main cast
Uncredited
Production
The production and release of ''High Noon'' intersected with the second
Red Scare
A Red Scare is the promotion of a widespread fear of a potential rise of communism, anarchism or other leftist ideologies by a society or state. The term is most often used to refer to two periods in the history of the United States which a ...
and the
Korean War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Korean War
, partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict
, image = Korean War Montage 2.png
, image_size = 300px
, caption = Clockwise from top: ...
. In 1951, during production of the film,
Carl Foreman
Carl Foreman, CBE (July 23, 1914 – June 26, 1984) was an American screenwriter and film producer who wrote the award-winning films '' The Bridge on the River Kwai'' and '' High Noon'', among others. He was one of the screenwriters who were b ...
was summoned before the
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...
(HUAC) during its investigation of "Communist propaganda and influence" in the motion picture industry. Foreman had once been a member of the
Communist party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
, but he declined to identify fellow members or anyone he suspected of current membership. As a result, he was labeled an "uncooperative witness" by the committee, making him vulnerable to
blacklisting
Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, ...
.
After his refusal to name names was made public, Foreman's production partner
Stanley Kramer
Stanley Earl Kramer (September 29, 1913February 19, 2001) was an American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous " message films" (he would call his movies ''heavy dramas'') and a liberal movie icon. demanded an immediate dissolution of their partnership. As a signatory to the production loan, Foreman remained with the ''High Noon'' project; but before the film's release, he sold his partnership share to Kramer and moved to Britain, knowing that he would not find further work in the United States.
Kramer later asserted that he ended their partnership because Foreman had threatened to falsely name him to HUAC as a Communist. Foreman said that Kramer feared damage to his own career due to "guilt by association". Foreman was indeed blacklisted by the Hollywood studios due to the "uncooperative witness" label and additional pressure from
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the multi ...
president
Harry Cohn
Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures Corporation.
Life and career
Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His father, Joseph Cohn, wa ...
,
MPA president
John Wayne, and ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' gossip columnist
Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper (born Elda Furry; May 2, 1885February 1, 1966) was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, her readership was 35 million. A strong supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committe ...
.
According to ''Darkness at High Noon: The Carl Foreman Documents''—a 2002 documentary based in part on a lengthy 1952 letter from Foreman to film critic
Bosley Crowther
Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...
—Foreman's role in the creation and production of ''High Noon'' has been unfairly downplayed over the years in favor of Kramer's. Foreman told Crowther that the film originated from a four-page plot outline he wrote that turned out to be very similar to a short story by
John W. Cunningham
John Marshall Cunningham (July 28, 1915 – June 4, 2002) was an American author who wrote a number of Western novels and stories as "John W. Cunningham" or "John M. Cunningham."
He was born July 28, 1915, at Deer Lodge, Montana, the son of ...
called "The Tin Star." Foreman purchased the film rights to Cunningham's story and wrote the screenplay. By the time the documentary aired, most of the principals were dead, including Kramer, Foreman, Zinnemann, and Cooper.
Victor Navasky, author of ''Naming Names'', a definitive account of the Hollywood blacklist, told a reporter that, based on his interviews with Kramer's widow and others, the documentary seemed "one-sided, and the problem is it makes a villain out of Stanley Kramer, when it was more complicated than that".
Richard Fleischer
Richard O. Fleischer (; December 8, 1916 – March 25, 2006) was an American film director whose career spanned more than four decades, beginning at the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood and lasting through the American New Wave.
Though h ...
later claimed he helped Carl Foreman develop the story of ''High Noon'' over the course of eight weeks while driving to and from the set of ''
The Clay Pigeon'' (1949) which they were making together. Fleischer says his RKO contract prevented him from directing ''High Noon''.
Casting
John Wayne was originally offered the lead role in the film, but refused it because he believed that Foreman's story was an obvious allegory against
blacklisting
Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, ...
, which he actively supported. Later, he told an interviewer that he would "never regret having helped run Foreman out of the country". Gary Cooper was Wayne's longtime friend and shared his conservative political views; Cooper had been a "friendly witness" before
HUAC
The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...
but did not implicate anyone as a suspected Communist, and he later became a vigorous opponent of blacklisting. Ironically, Cooper won an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...
for his performance, and since he was working in Europe at the time, he asked Wayne to accept the Oscar on his behalf. Although Wayne's contempt for the film and refusal of its lead role were well known, he said, "I'm glad to see they're giving this to a man who is not only most deserving, but has conducted himself throughout the years in our business in a manner that we can all be proud of ... Now that I'm through being such a good sport ... I'm going back to find my business manager and agent ... and find out why I didn't get ''High Noon'' instead of Cooper ..."
[''High Noon''](_blank)
retrieved October 13, 2022.
After Wayne refused the Will Kane role, Kramer offered it to
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...
, who declined because he felt it was too similar to his role in ''
The Gunfighter'', the year before. Peck later said he considered it the biggest mistake of his career.
Marlon Brando,
Montgomery Clift, and
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist.
As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film '' The Ten ...
also declined the role.
Kramer saw
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956.
Kell ...
in an off-Broadway play and cast her as Kane's bride, despite Cooper and Kelly's substantial age disparity (50 and 21, respectively). Rumors of an affair between Cooper and Kelly during filming remain unsubstantiated. Kelly biographer Donald Spoto wrote that there was no evidence of a romance, aside from tabloid gossip. Biographer Gina McKinnon speculated that "there might well have been a roll or two in the hay bales", but cited no evidence, other than a remark by Kelly's sister Lizanne that Kelly was "infatuated" with Cooper.
Lee Van Cleef
Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, parti ...
made his film debut in ''High Noon''. Kramer first offered Van Cleef the Harvey Pell role, after seeing him in a touring production of ''
Mister Roberts'', on the condition that Van Cleef have his nose surgically altered to appear less menacing. Van Cleef refused and was cast instead as Colby, the only role of his career without a single line of dialog.
Filming
''High Noon'' was filmed in the late summer/early fall of 1951 in several locations in California. The opening scenes, under the
credits
Credit refers to any form of deferred payment, the granting of a loan and the creation of debt.
Credit may also refer to:
Places
* Credit, Arkansas, a ghost town
* Credit River, a river in Ontario, Canada
* Credit River (Minnesota), a river in ...
, were shot at
Iverson Movie Ranch near Los Angeles. A few town scenes were shot in
Columbia State Historic Park, a preserved
Gold Rush
A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...
mining town near
Sonora
Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...
, but most of the street scenes were filmed on the
Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
Movie Ranch in
Burbank
Burbank may refer to:
Places Australia
* Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane
United States
* Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County
* Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place
* Burbank, Illinois, ...
. St. Joseph's Church in
Tuolumne City was used for exterior shots of the Hadleyville church. The railroad was the old
Sierra Railroad
The Sierra Railroad Corporation is a privately owned common carrier. Its Sierra Northern Railway freight division handles all freight operations for all branches owned by the Sierra Railroad. The company's Mendocino Railway group operates t ...
in
Jamestown, a few miles south of Columbia, now known as
Railtown 1897 State Historic Park
Railtown 1897 State Historic Park, and its operating entity, the Sierra Railway, is known as "The Movie Railroad." Both entities are a heritage railway and are a unit of the California State Park System. Railtown 1897 is located in Jamestown, C ...
, and often nicknamed "the movie railroad" due to its frequent use in films and television shows. The railroad station was built for the film alongside a water tower at Warnerville, about 15 miles to the southwest.
Cooper was reluctant to film the fight scene with Bridges due to ongoing problems with his back, but eventually did so without the use of a stunt double. He wore no makeup to emphasize his character's anguish and fear, which was probably intensified by pain from recent surgery to remove a bleeding
ulcer
An ulcer is a discontinuity or break in a bodily membrane that impedes normal function of the affected organ. According to Robbins's pathology, "ulcer is the breach of the continuity of skin, epithelium or mucous membrane caused by sloughing o ...
.
The running time of the story almost precisely
parallels the running time of the film—an effect heightened by frequent shots of clocks to remind the characters (and the audience) that the villain will be arriving on the noon train.
Music
The movie's theme song, "
High Noon
''High Noon'' is a 1952 American Western (genre), Western film produced by Stanley Kramer from a screenplay by Carl Foreman, directed by Fred Zinnemann, and starring Gary Cooper. The plot, which occurs in Real time (media), real time, center ...
" (as it is credited in the film), also known by its opening lyric, "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling", became a major hit on the
Country-Western
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...
charts for
Tex Ritter, and later, a pop hit for
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final p ...
as well.
Its popularity set a precedent for theme songs that were featured in many subsequent Western films. Composer
Dimitri Tiomkin's score and song, with lyrics by
Ned Washington
Ned Washington (born Edward Michael Washington, August 15, 1901 – December 20, 1976) was an American lyricist born in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Life and career
Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962. He won the Be ...
, became popular for years afterwards and Tiomkin became in demand for future westerns in the 1950s like ''
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral'' and ''
Last Train from Gun Hill
''Last Train from Gun Hill'' is a 1959 Western in VistaVision and Technicolor, directed by John Sturges. It stars Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn and Earl Holliman. Douglas and Holliman had previously appeared together in Sturges' '' Gunfight at ...
.''
Reception
The film earned an estimated $3.4 million at the North American box office in 1952.
Upon its release, critics and audiences expecting chases, fights, spectacular scenery, and other common
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
* Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that i ...
film elements were dismayed to find them largely replaced by emotional and moralistic dialogue until the climactic final scenes. Some critics scoffed at the unorthodox rescue of the hero by the heroine.
David Bishop argued that had Quaker Amy ''not'' helped her husband by shooting a man in the back, such inaction would have pulled pacifism "toward apollonian decadence".
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
thought Kelly's performance was "rather mousy" and lacking in animation; only in later films, he said, did she show her true star quality.
''High Noon'' has been cited as a favorite by several
U.S. presidents.
Dwight Eisenhower screened the film at the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...
,
and
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...
hosted a record 17 White House screenings of it. "It's no accident that politicians see themselves as Gary Cooper in ''High Noon''," Clinton said. "Not just politicians, but anyone who's forced to go against the popular will. Any time you're alone and you feel you're not getting the support you need, Cooper's Will Kane becomes the perfect metaphor."
Ronald Reagan cited ''High Noon'' as his favorite film, due to the protagonist's strong commitment to duty and the law.
[Mulholland, J. ''Inside High Noon''. DVD documentary.]
By contrast, John Wayne told an interviewer that he considered ''High Noon'' "the most un-American thing I've ever seen in my whole life," and later teamed with director
Howard Hawks
Howard Winchester Hawks (May 30, 1896December 26, 1977) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the Classical Hollywood cinema, classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American director who is ...
to make ''
Rio Bravo
Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil.
Rio or Río may also refer to:
Geography Brazil
* Rio de Janeiro
* Rio do Sul, a ...
'' in response. "I made ''Rio Bravo'' because I didn't like ''High Noon''," Hawks explained. "Neither did Duke
ayne I didn't think a good town marshal was going to run around town like a chicken with his head cut off asking everyone to help. And who saves him? His Quaker wife. That isn't my idea of a good Western."
Zinnemann responded, "I admire Hawks very much. I only wish he'd leave my films alone!" In a 1973 interview, Zinnemann added, "I'm rather surprised at Hawks' and Wayne's thinking. Sheriffs are people and no two people are alike. The story of ''High Noon'' takes place in the Old West but it is really a story about a man's conflict of conscience. In this sense it is a cousin to ''
A Man for All Seasons''. In any event, respect for the Western hero has not been diminished by ''High Noon''."
The film was criticized in the Soviet Union as "glorification of the individual".
In Chapter XXXV of ''
The Virginian'' by
Owen Wister
Owen Wister (July 14, 1860 – July 21, 1938) was an American writer and historian, considered the "father" of western fiction. He is best remembered for writing '' The Virginian'' and a biography of Ulysses S. Grant.
Biography
Early lif ...
, there is a description of an incident very similar to the central plot of ''High Noon''. Trampas (a
villain
A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...
) calls out the Virginian, who has a new bride waiting whom he might lose if he engages in the gunfight. ''High Noon'' has even been described as a "straight
remake
A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sa ...
" of the
1929 film version of ''The Virginian'' in which Cooper also starred.
Accolades
''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...
'' ranked Will Kane on their list of ''The 20 All Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture''.
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Lead ...
recognition
* 1998
AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies #33
* 2001
AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Thrills #20
* 2003
AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Heroes and Villains:
**
Will Kane
William "Will" Kane is the protagonist of the film '' High Noon'' (1952). He was first played by Gary Cooper, then by Lee Majors in '' High Noon, Part II: The Return of Will Kane'' (1980), and by Tom Skerritt in '' High Noon'' (2000), a remake ...
, hero #5
* 2004
AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Songs:
** "
High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin')
"The Ballad of High Noon" (also known simply as "High Noon", or by its opening lyric and better known title, "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin'") is a popular song published in 1952, with music by Dimitri Tiomkin and lyrics by Ned Washington.
It ...
" #25
* 2005
AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores
Part of the AFI 100 Years... series, AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores is a list of the top 25 film scores in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute in 2005.
John Williams has the most scores in the top 25, with thre ...
#10
* 2006
AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Cheers #27
* 2007
AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) #27
* 2008
AFI's 10 Top 10 #2
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
* Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that i ...
film
Legacy and cultural influence
''High Noon'' is considered an early example of the
revisionist Western
The revisionist Western (also called the anti-Western, sometimes revisionist antiwestern) is a sub-genre of the Western film. Designated a post-classical variation of the traditional Western, the revisionist subverts the myth and romance of th ...
.
Kim Newman
Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's '' Dracula'' ...
calls it the "most influential Western of the 1950s (because) its attitudes subtly changed the societal vision of the whole (Western) genre". The traditional format of the Western is of a strong male character leading the civilised against the uncivilised but, in this film, the civilised people fail (in a way described by John Wayne as "un-American") to support their town marshal. Newman draws the contrast between the "eerily neat and civilised" town of Hadleyville and the "gutlessness, self-interest and lack of backbone exhibited by its inhabitants" who will allow the town to "slip back into the savage past" from which Kane and his deputies once saved it. In his article, ''The Women of "High Noon": A Revisionist View'', Don Graham argues that in addition to the man-alone theme, ''High Noon'' "represents a notable advance in the portrayal of women in Westerns". Compared with the "hackneyed presentation" of stereotypical women characters in earlier Westerns, ''High Noon'' grants the characters of Amy and Helen an expanded presence, the two being counterpoints. While Helen is socially inferior, she holds considerable economic power in the community. Helen's encounter with Amy is key because she tells Amy that she would never leave Kane if he were her man – she would get a gun and fight, thus predicating Amy's actions. For most of the film, Amy is the "Eastern-virgin archetype" but her reaction to the first gunshot "transcends the limitations of her genre role" as she returns to town and kills Pierce. The gang's actions indicate the implicit but very real threat they pose to women; as is suggested by the Mexican woman crossing herself when the first three ride into town. Graham summarises the many references to women as a community demoralised by the failure of its male members, other than Kane. The women, he asserts, equal Kane in strength of character to the extent that they are "protofeminists".
In 1989, 22-year-old Polish graphic designer Tomasz Sarnecki transformed Marian Stachurski's 1959 Polish variant of the ''High Noon'' poster into a
Solidarity
''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti ...
election poster for the
first partially free elections in
communist Poland. The poster, which was displayed all over Poland, shows Cooper armed with a folded ballot saying "Wybory" (i.e., elections) in his right hand while the
Solidarity logo
The Solidarity logo designed by Jerzy Janiszewski in 1980 is considered as an important example of Polish Poster School creations. The logo was awarded the Grand Prix of the Biennale of Posters, Katowice 1981. By this time it was already well kno ...
is pinned to his vest above the sheriff's badge. The message at the bottom of the poster reads: "W samo południe: 4 czerwca 1989", which translates to "High Noon: 4 June 1989."
As former Solidarity leader
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who served as the President of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 election, Wałęsa became the first democrat ...
wrote, in 2004,
The 1981 science fiction film ''
Outland'', starring
Sean Connery
Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...
as a federal agent on an interplanetary mining outpost, has been compared to ''High Noon'' due to similarities in themes and plot.
''High Noon'' is referenced several times on the
HBO drama series ''
The Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...
''.
Tony Soprano
Anthony John Soprano is a fictional character and the antihero protagonist in the HBO television drama series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), portrayed by James Gandolfini. Soprano is a member of the Italian-American Mafia and, especially later ...
cites Gary Cooper's character as the archetype of what a man should be, mentally tough and stoic. He frequently laments, "Whatever happened to Gary Cooper?" and refers to Will Kane as the "strong, silent type". The iconic ending to the film is shown on a television during an extended dream sequence in the fifth-season episode "
The Test Dream
"The Test Dream" is the 63rd episode of the HBO television series ''The Sopranos'' and the 11th episode of the show's fifth season. Written by series creator/executive producer David Chase and supervising producer Matthew Weiner, and directed by ...
".
''High Noon'' inspired the 2008 hip-hop song of the same name by rap artist
Kinetics
Kinetics ( grc, κίνησις, , kinesis, ''movement'' or ''to move'') may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Kinetics (physics), the study of motion and its causes
** Rigid body kinetics, the study of the motion of rigid bodies
* Chemical k ...
, in which ''High Noon'' is mentioned along with several other classic Western films, drawing comparisons between rap battles and Western-film street showdowns.
Sequels and remakes
* A television sequel, ''
High Noon, Part II: The Return of Will Kane'', was produced in 1980, and aired on
CBS in November of that year.
Lee Majors and
Katherine Cannon played the Cooper and Kelly roles.
Elmore Leonard
Elmore John Leonard Jr. (October 11, 1925August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. His earliest novels, published in the 1950s, were Westerns, but he went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense th ...
wrote the original screenplay.
*''
Outland'' is a 1981 British science fiction thriller film written and directed by Peter Hyams and starring Sean Connery, Peter Boyle, and Frances Sternhagen that was inspired by ''High Noon''.
* In 2000, Stanley Kramer's widow
Karen Sharpe Kramer produced
a remake of ''High Noon'' as a TV movie for the cable channel
TBS. The film starred
Tom Skerritt
Thomas Roy Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962. He is known for his film roles in ''M*A*S*H'', '' Alien'', ''The Dead Zone'', ''Top Gun'', '' A R ...
as Will Kane, with
Michael Madsen as Frank Miller.
* In 2016, Karen Kramer signed an agreement with Relativity Studios for a feature film remake of ''High Noon'', a modernized version set in the present day at the US-Mexico border. That deal collapsed when Relativity declared bankruptcy the following year; but in 2018, Kramer announced that Classical Entertainment had purchased the rights to the project, which will be produced by Thomas Olaimey with writer-director David L. Hunt.
References
Further reading
* Allison, Deborah. "'Do Not Forsake Me: The Ballad of High Noon' and the rise of the movie theme song." ''Senses of Cinema'' 28 (2003).
* Burton, Howard A. "'High Noon': Everyman Rides Again." ''Quarterly of Film Radio and Television'' 8.1 (1953): 80–86.
*
*
* Hamilton, Cynthia S. ''Western and Hard-Boiled Detective Fiction in America: From High Noon to Midnight'' (Springer, 1987).
*
*
* Rapf, Joanna E. "Myth, Ideology, and Feminism in High Noon." ''Journal of Popular Culture'' 23.4 (1990): 75+.
External links
*
*
*
*
*
''High Noon''essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 , pages 458–460
"The 34 best political movies ever made" Ann Hornaday, ''The Washington Post'' January 23, 2020), ranked #27
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