High Noon (1952)

Directed by: Fred Zinnemann | 85 minutes | drama, western, thriller | Actors: Gary Cooper, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges, Katy Jurado, Grace Kelly, Otto Kruger, Lon Chaney Jr., Harry Morgan, Ian MacDonald, Eve McVeagh, Morgan Farley, Harry Shannon, Lee Van Cleef, Robert J. Wilke, Sheb Wooley

Kane and Amy are barely married when he receives a telegram saying that Frank Miller has been released. Miller should have been hanged five years earlier for committing murder, but his sentence was commuted to life. An amnesty scheme allows him to take revenge on Kane. The young newlyweds are already out of town when Kane returns the carriage and drives back to Hadleyville, despite the pleas of Amy, who is against all forms of violence because of her Quaker faith. However, not wanting to be on the run for the rest of his life, Kane tries to set up a posse of sheriffs’ deputies, but everyone has their reasons for not responding. Even his deputy drops out because Kane won’t help him become the new sheriff under Harvey’s terms.

‘High Noon’ is a terribly cleverly made and extraordinarily exciting film that is rightly labeled not only as a western, but also as a thriller. The movie was filmed in ‘real time’ and this definitely adds to the mounting tension that increasingly grips Kane as ‘high noon’ approaches. The ticking clocks that come into view make the viewer restless and emphasize the urgency of finding a way out of this hopeless situation. The most poignant scene takes place at the hotel. Amy waits in the hall for the train as Frank Miller’s gang awaits the arrival of their leader at the station. Kane comes to warn his former mistress Helen Ramirez (Katy Jurado). Helen has been Frank Miller’s mistress before she was with Kane, and Kane fears Miller will harm her. Kane and Amy fall happily into each other’s arms. Kane thinks Amy is at the hotel waiting for the fight to end, so she won’t take the train and leave him. Amy thinks Kane is picking her up to leave Hadleyville before Miller arrives. Their disappointment goes through the marrow and bone.

Director Fred Zinnemann later made the intriguing and wildly exciting thriller ‘The Day of the Jackal’ (1973). Gary Cooper won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Sheriff Kane. He plays in a moving way the sensitive hero who wants to fight and if necessary die for the things he believes in. The song ‘Do Not Forsake Me O My Darlin” with music by Dimitri Tiomkin and lyrics by Ned Washington was also awarded this prize. Rarely has a theme song been so intertwined with the events of a film and so decisive for the atmosphere. ‘High Noon’ is a beautiful classic that remains captivating, moving and exciting no matter how often you see it.