High Noon

Starring: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges, Kty Jurado, Otto Kruger, Lon Chaney, Jr., Harry Morgan
Directed by: Fred Zinnemann
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Western, Drama
1952

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A U.S. marshal in a Western town faces several deadly gunmen determined to exact their revenge on him. He turns to the townspeople for help, but they are too afraid.

Review:

Tim: I was a bit surprised that I didn't like High Noon more. It's certainly a very good movie, and an important Western. However, I'm a bit shocked that so many people consider this one of the all-time great movies. I think it's incredibly solid, but perhaps a bit overrated.

The film did win 4 Academy Awards, which is impressive no matter how you look at it. Gary Cooper won Best Actor, and the movie picked up Best Film Editing, Best Original song, and Best Music. Besides the acting Oscar, these aren't the signs of a great film. It was nominated for Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Screenplay, but failed to capitalize on any of those. That sums up my opinion of this film- very good, but not good enough.

This movie does have an interesting story behind it. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about it, but it's worth reading up on. The movie is basically an allegory for the Hollywood elite being too afraid to stand up to the Senate during the whole Blacklist era. Looking at the film through this prism definitely adds some depth to the film, but isn't required to do so. The movie stands up on its own as a Western.

I thought Gary Cooper did a very good job in the film, showing vulnerability as well as his ill health. That definitely adds to his performance as the weary, alone Marshall Will Kane. He deserves his Academy Award for Best Actor. That being said, I didn't personally love his performance. I admired it and respect it, but it didn't blow me away. I see how the Academy would appreciate it, and I'm content with the decision. Still, Cooper didn't win me over here. I also didn't like Grace Kelly in this film. A lot of that comes from her character, which wasn't a great one. I did love the redemption of the character at the end, but I felt like her underdevelopment hurt the picture. She was okay with Cooper, but I didn't see a great deal of chemistry between them. That hurts the movie.

I enjoyed Lloyd Bridges in the film. The rest of the supporting cast is good, but no one is really great. Katy Jurado does decent work in the film, and she does have a gew good moments. I thought she worked well with Kelly together.

High Noon does feature some incredible music. I absolutely loved the song, '"High Noon" (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling'. The movie does a terrific job of inserting this film at all the right moments in the film. It accompanies our hero throughout the film and adds so much to it. The repetition works because we become so familiar with it, and it becomes such an important part of the film and Cooper's character. This movie used the music beautifully, and I'm glad it picked up 2 Academy Awards for it.

While I really enjoyed the movie, I didn't really love as aspect of High Noon (besides the music). I actually think Rio Bravo is a far superior film (and was made by John Wayne in response to this one). This is a very solid, entertaining movie. While I wouldn't consider it one of my favorites, it's a very good film and well worth watching.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Rio Bravo, To Catch a Thief, Distant Drums, Saratoga Trunk