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Gary Cooper won the Oscar for Best Actor in this classic tale of an aging lawman who stands alone to defend a town of righteous cowards in one of the greatest showdowns in the history of cinema. The movie also marks the first starring role for a beautiful young actress who went on to become one of Hollywood's most beloved screen legends--Grace Kelly. High Noon garnered a total of four Academy awards, including Best Editing, Score and Original Song.
"Legendary Western drama..." Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide
Editor's Note
Gary Cooper is Hollywood's perfect hero, the very embodiment of integrity and grace in this greatest of Westerns. As a newly married town marshal, he must balance an innate sense of justice and duty with loyalty to his beautiful new--and pacifist--bride when he is left by an ungrateful town to face a gang of deadly outlaws alone. As we watch spellbound, film time is real time as the showdown grows ever closer. HIGH NOON is a masterpiece that is frequently interpreted as a parable about artists left to "stand alone" and face persecution during the HUAC Hollywood blacklisting. However, Howard Hawks allegedly devised RIO BRAVO as an answer to the film's "wimpiness," and John Wayne once declared HIGH NOON as un-American--he was apparently offended by the ending of the film, which shows Sheriff Kane removing his badge and tossing it in the dirt.
Plot Summary
As Sheriff Will Kane prepares to retire from his law-making, gun-fighting duties and marry his pacifist girlfriend, he receives word that a man he sent to prison has been pardoned. Kane initially escapes, but returns to protect the town from this killer and his band of outlaws only to find hostility and resentment among the uncooperative townsfolk.
| Features | Full Frame - 1.33 |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
|  | Studio: Republic |
| Release Date: 6/16/1998 |
| Running Time: 85 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1952 | | Catalog ID: 03486 | | UPC: 00017153348637 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Video: B&W |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Oscar (1953) |  | Gary Cooper, Winner, Best Actor | | Harry W. Gerstad, Winner, Best Film Editing | | Dimitri Tiomkin, Winner, Best Music, Scoring Of A Dramatic Or COmedy Picture | | Dimitri Tiomkin, Ned Washington, Winner, Best Music, Song | | | Fred Zinneman, Nominee, Best Director | | | Nominee, Best Picture | | | Carl Foreman, Nominee, Best Writing, Screenplay | |
Golden Globe (1953) | | Gary Cooper, Winner, Best Actor | | Katy Jurado, Winner, Best Actress | | Floyd Crosby, Winner, Best Cinematography, Black-And-White | | Dimitri Tiomkin, Winner, Best Motion Picture Score |
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| | Professional Reviews | USA Today
"...Filmdom's definitive dusty-street shootout..." 07/19/1998 p.5ESight and Sound
"...A classic Western..." 03/01/2001 p.64 Total Film
"...The almost silent final 15 minutes have more excitement than most of today's volume-cranked blockbusters can even dream of..." 04/01/2001 p.110 Entertainment Weekly
"...Gary Cooper forged a new kind of hero as a lawman left swinging in the wind. Also innovative was its use of real time..." 01/11/2002 p.29 Premiere
"[A] new kind of American fable: the socially conscious western..." 12/01/2003 p.9 Entertainment Weekly
"Director Fred Zinnemann's iconic Western plays like a Johnny Cash song..." -- Grade: B 06/20/2008 p.54 At-A-Glance Film Reviews 8 of 10
Much of the film's classic status is owed to the star--Cooper's portrayal is of a real character we can identify with; we therefore care about him, which, in turn, heightens the tension. Director Fred Zinnemann deserves most of the rest of the credit; the cinematography is spectacular. Some of the (then) complex tracking shots have achieved legendary status over the years.
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