Shane

Starring: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon De Wilde, Jack Palance, Ben Johnson, Edgar Buchanan, Emile Meyer
Directed by: George Stevens
Rating: Approved
Genre: Drama, Western
1953

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A retired gunslinger (Alan Ladd) wants to live in peace but gets caught up in protecting a family from a dangerous rancher.

Review:

Tim: Shane is a classic Western, and for good reason- it's a thoroughly entertaining, memorable Western. While the story doesn't offer much that the genre hasn't seen before, the execution of George Stevens' film is exceptional. This is an extremely well made movie and I completely understand why many people love it.

What stands out about Shane is the attention to character development. Shane is obviously an essential character, as the movie is named after him. He's a supremely cool character. A weary gunfighter who wants nothing but peace, but finds himself drawn back into the violent life. We've seen this before, but it's all on display here in memorable fashion. The family Shane connects with is equally as important- the father who befriends Shane, the wife who feels a deep connection and attraction to him, and most especially, their son Joey. Joey is so essential to this film because it's his adoration of Shane that takes the movie to a deeper level. We see this young, impressionable boy and the love and friendship he has with the deadly gunslinger. This relationship is perhaps the film's most enduring. The movie also spends a lot of time developing the supporting characters- there's a surprising amount of characters in this film and we get to know many of them. That helps immensely to give the idea that we're in the middle of the frontier and while we become friends Starrett family, the list of acquaintances is large. It also helps to add to the epic scope of the film, even though it clocks in at a reasonable 1 hour, 58 minutes.

The cast is good. Alan Ladd is memorable as Shane, although I can't say I was blown away by his performance. He's solid, but it's not a surprise that he wasn't nominated for an Academy Award, while some of his costars were. Jean Arthur was strong in her final feature film. But, you have to give Brandon De Wilde so much credit for playing Joey. De Wilde is so young and therefore, not always the greatest actor, but he was so enjoyable on screen, so authentic and innocent that Joey emerges as perhaps the highlight of the film. It was incredible to see that De Wilde was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. I do have to say that while I liked seeing Jack Palance here, I'm pretty stunned that he was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor. When I saw that, my immediate reaction was- Why? He's good, but he's not THAT good. I don't understand it.

Speaking of Academy Awards, the film won 1 (out of the 6 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture)- it won for Best Cinematography, Color. This was well-deserved because the movie is beautifully shot. The cinematography certainly elevates this film.

I really enjoyed Shane- the characters and story were good (although it does get bogged down a bit in the last third, leading up to the climax), the cinematography was wonderful, and the direction was spot on. I'd consider this an exceptionally well made Western. I can't say I loved this movie as much as many critics did- this is routinely considered one of the greatest Westerns of all time, and is often on the list of the Best Films, period. That feels slightly inflated to me. This is an enjoyable and humanistic look at the West, but I'd stop short of calling it a great film. Still, that doesn't take anything away from it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



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