70 Years Later: High Noon

Director: Fred Zinnemann
Starring: Gary Cooper, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges
Running time: 85 minutes

Classical Westerns were not frequently embroiled in controversy, they were an incredibly popular genre often made to entertain people and appeal to a wide audience. One that was the subject of much debate, however, was Fred Zinnemann’s 1952 film High Noon, so much so that the screenwriter – Carl Foreman – had to leave America and emigrate to the UK. The film is often seen as an allegory for the anti-communist witchhunt that took place in Hollywood during the McCarthy era. John Wayne even claimed it was the most “Un-American” film ever made. Interestingly, though, it was also considered to be the best film ever made by Ronald Reagan – maybe the metaphor was missed on him. Despite its controversy it won four Academy Awards, including best actor.

Gary Cooper – notable for being a longtime republican – plays Will Kane, a dedicated and stoic marshall who works in a small Western town named Hadleyville. At the start of the film he is getting married to Amy (Grace Kelly) who is a devout Quaker; they plan on leaving the town, but Kane’s past has caught up to him and he has to return back. Five years ago he arrested and tried a man named Frank Miller for murder and now he is planning to exact his revenge on both Kane and the town. Miller is expected to arrive on the noon train and until then Kane is tasked with going around the town to gather people to help him fight off Miller and his outlaw gang. 

Hadleyville is a mysterious town where people's motives and allegiances seem to be constantly shifting. Many of the townsfolk and businesspeople seem ambivalent towards Kane and his desire to confront Miller and his gang; the other half of the town seem genuinely terrified and believe Kane to be engaging in a suicide mission. Many people, especially his wife, plead with Kane to run away and forget about this conflict. However, his dedication to protecting the town and his job as a marshall is too powerful for him to see any rational sense. Cooper’s performance of a world-weary but dedicated professional who is incapable of running away from anything feels like a prototype of characters that would be perfected by directors like Sam Peckinpah and Michael Mann. 

Carl Foreman’s script runs tight and the tension is slowly ramped up until the inevitable showdown happens - which, when it happens, is incredibly gripping. Yet other aspects of the film feel undercooked and not delved into enough; mostly the subplot between Kane, Emily and a mysterious lover he has slowly drifted away from named Helen Ramirez. The big issue with the romance in this film is that, unlike a lot of other Westerns, it just feels so muted and unimportant to all of the characters. High Noon lacks the emotional weight and desperation that hooks you and makes you actually care about the characters' livelihoods. Also, the rivalry between Miller and Kane feels like it could’ve been fleshed out a bit more to deliver a more psychopathic villain, though the threat lingering in the distance is effective enough.

Although the story beats and characters feel like a traditional Western, the film is shot more like a claustrophobic noir film. Cinematographer Floyd Crosby makes little use of establishing scenes, has very few shots of recognisable Western locations, and the film feels far more stripped back than many of the Westerns made at the time (compared with something like The Searchers made just four years later). Crosby’s first film credit is a film directed by German Expressionist legend F. W. Murnau (Tabu) and the influence of that style is clearly showcased with this film. He makes great use of close-ups to show the extreme fatigue of Kane, capturing every drop of glistening sweat that trickles down his face; also using haunting shots of buildings to show the desolate town where an underlying danger is constantly lingering. 

While High Noon doesn’t enter the upper echelon of classical Westerns, it remains a sturdy film that remains engaging throughout its swift 85-minute run time. It is full of interesting characters and small pockets of tension that slowly build up to culminate in a fantastic final act that feels deserved. Some people might appreciate the film's distant approach and lack of any real emotional pull, but anyone expecting a more melodramatic Western will be left feeling a bit cold. Cooper gives a fantastic performance and along with some beautiful visuals, this is a great movie to watch on a sunny afternoon.

Did you know? Bill Clinton hosted a record 17 White House screenings of High Noon.