High Noon (1953)

High Noon (1953)

Although High Noon didn't have a smashing success at the box office when it was released in July 1952, it made a profound effect on westerns for years to come. In fact, John Wayne hated this movie so much that his next movie was a direct response to High Noon.

Mission: A town marshall goes looking for people to act as deputies when a murderer he sent to jail returns, seeking to kill him.

Plot: The town marshall of Hadleyville, Will Kane (Gary Cooper), has just gotten married to a Quaker named Amy (future Princess of Monaco Grace Kelly). He's about to leave town for good when he learns that there are three guys waiting at the train station for the noon train supposedly carrying Frank Miller, a murderer Kane convicted years ago and was to be hung until he was sentenced to jail and released. Once Frank Miller arrives, the three of them will come into town with the intent of killing Kane. The townspeople insist that he leave town with his wife, which Kane does, but he eventually turns around and comes back to town to fight. This upsets his wife, sending her to the train station to get a ticket to St. Louis. However, feeling uncomfortable with the three bad guys waiting for Miller, she decides to wait in the town's hotel.

Up until noon, Kane goes to the town's saloon, church, and even a couple of friends, who all refuse to help Kane fight the men for various reasons. Even his deputy, Harvey Pell, refuses to help him, and even fights Kane at one point in the film. Kane is eventually left to his own devices to fight the men.

Meanwhile, Helen Ramirez is fed up with her husband, deputy Harvey Pell, and prepares to leave town. Amy ends up meeting her, and the two of them proceed to the train station for the noon train.

At noon, the train with Miller arrives, while Ramirez and Amy board the train. The four men then come into town prepared to kill Kane. Kane successfully kills two of the men, but gets his arm wounded in the process. Upon hearing gunfire, Amy runs off the train, only to hide in the town. She ends up finding a gun, and kills the third gunmen in the back. However, Miller finds her and takes her hostage so that he can get to Kane. But before Kane comes and surrenders, Amy claws Miller's face, who as a result releases her. Kane then quickly shoots and kills Miller. Kane and his wife then leave the town for good.


Significance: Arguably one of the best film westerns, it was highly controversial when it was released. The film was seen as a response to

McCarthyism, which was particularly rampant at the time of the movie. High Noon is also significant for its real-time storytelling, as the film starts at 10:35 and goes til noon when the fight begins.
In addition, this film was a major favorite of President Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and even George W. Bush.


Discussion: We talked about the different themes of the film, particularly the actions of Ramirez, who seems to own pretty much everything in the town, such as the saloon, and Amy, who forgets her Quaker beliefs and ends up killing a man and helps her husband by scratching Miller, making him an easy target for her husband. We also talked about the town's refusal to help Kane, and also how they are left without any marshals or any kind of police once Kane leaves. We also mentioned the appeal of Kane, and especially considering his age and how a lot of westerns we have watched have people who are a lot younger than Kane, In addition, we also touched on Hollywood's response to "McCarthyism" of the movie since none of the town's residents agreed to help Kane.


Ryan Himel