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Plot Summary
This Western classic stars Gary Cooper as Hadleyville marshal Will Kane, about to retire from office and go on his honeymoon with his new Quaker bride, Amy (Grace Kelly). But his happiness is short-lived when he is informed that the Miller gang, whose leader (Ian McDonald) Will had arrested, is due on the 12:00 train. Pacifist Amy urges Will to leave town and forget about the Millers, but this isn't his style; protecting Hadleyburg has always been his duty, and it remains so now. But when he asks for deputies to fend off the Millers, virtually nobody will stand by him. Chief Deputy Harvey Pell (Lloyd Bridges) covets Will's job and ex-mistress (Katy Jurado); his mentor, former lawman Martin Howe (Lon Chaney Jr.) is now arthritic and unable to wield a gun. Even Amy, who doesn't want to be around for her husband's apparently certain demise, deserts him. Meanwhile, the clocks tick off the minutes to High Noon — the film is shot in "real time," so that its 85-minute length corresponds to the story's actual timeframe. Utterly alone, Kane walks into the center of town, steeling himself for his showdown with the murderous Millers. Considered a landmark of the "adult western," High Noon won four Academy Awards (including Best Actor for Cooper) and Best Song for the hit, "Do Not Forsake Me, O My Darling" sung by Tex Ritter. The screenplay was written by Carl Foreman, whose blacklisting was temporarily prevented by star Cooper, one of Hollywood's most virulent anti-Communists. John Wayne, another notable showbiz right-winger and Western hero, was so appalled at the notion that a Western marshal would beg for help in a showdown that he and director Howard Hawks "answered" High Noon with Rio Bravo (1959).
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Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews
TOMATOMETER
96%- Reviews Counted: 47
- Fresh: 45
- Rotten: 2
- Average Rating: 8.8/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: Meaningful in its implications, as well as loaded with interest and suspense, High Noon is a western to challenge Stagecoach for the all-time championship.
Fresh: High Noon combines its points about good citizenship with some excellent picturemaking.
Fresh: Zinnemann carefully and deliberately makes the most of the mood cast by the threat of impending violence.
Fresh: More than a half-century later, Foreman was right after all: High Noon is a scorching and sour portrait of American complacence and capacity for collaborationism.
Customer Reviews
The western for for people who don't like them
I tried for many years to track down a copy of this movie, if for no other reason than it is alluded to in so many other stories. Well, after watching it I can see why. From the first lonesome cry of the theme song (which reappears many times in many forms, from the opening lyrics to the instrumental version that gets deconstructed to the point where it sounds like almost like a military march for Will "One Man Army" Kane) to the constant views of the clock as the story, told in real time, reaches its conclusion, you really feel for Gary Cooper as, one-by-one, everyone he thought he could count on abandons him. And the fact that Cooper himself was suffering from a number of ailments (a bleeding ulcer and a bad back) means he really wore the pain of the situation on his face. He stands out as one of the most heroic characters ever to walk tall on the big screen.
Possibly the Best Film of the 20th Century
There's a good reason this film makes the critics' all-time top picks lists: it's almost a perfect film. The pacing is taut, the plot gripping, the characters intense, and conflicts dynamite. Never mind that this sociopolitical thriller is set in the old American West, it's one of those rare movies of ideas that convey the sense that ideas, principles, and honor matter.
2nd favorite western behind The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
This is a superbly made film, and despite it having been released over half a century ago, it has stood the test of time. Despite not even seeing the main anatagonist for a majority of the film, the real time countdown to his arrival creates a unique atmosphere of suspense that you don't find in many other movies. With an excellent moral to this story, this a must see for any fan of westerns or just well made movies in general.
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![High Noon](https://s.mzstatic.com/htmlResources/F3F8/frameworks/images/p.png)
- $14.99
- Genre: Western
- Released: 1952
- © TM & Copyright 2007 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.