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This a true classic, combining traditional Western themes with contemporary concerns about popular acquiescence to evil, done in a gripping, unusual (nearly real-time) way, with great actors.
Town marshal Will Kane (Gary Cooper) is caught between his new pacifist Quaker wife Amy (Grace Kelly) and a felt duty to face down evil men coming on the noon train to take revenge on him (and presumably cause whatever other trouble they please). Most of the drama takes place in the lead-up to a climactic battle, as the townspeople choose whether to support Kane with action or to let him stand alone. Amy too must choose between her spouse and her own moral beliefs. The tension builds relentlessly as we see clocks ticking towards noon. The innovative black and white cinematography emphasizes the dramatic points, while the internal drama is captured in Cooper's face.
The new DVD features are these:
-- "Inside High Noon," a 50-minute documentary on the making of the film (see below for more on this)
-- "Tex Ritter: A Visit to Carthage, Texas," on the Tex Ritter Museum
-- the full performance of "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin'" from the Jimmy Dean TV Show
The features carried over from the current release are:
-- commentary with Gary Cooper's daughter Maria Cooper Janis, screenwriter Carl Foreman's son Jonathan Foreman, director Fred Zinneman's son Tim Zinnemann and Tex Ritter's son John Ritter
-- "The Making of High Noon" featurette
-- "Behind High Noon" featurette
-- radio broadcast with Tex Ritter
Whether the new features will warrant an upgrade is a matter of personal preference, of course. A 50-minute documentary could be quite interesting, if it's well done.
It does sound interesting. The "new" documentary, actually made a couple years ago but shelved until now, is by film and Gary Cooper expert John Mulholland. It's expected to cover, among other things, the conflict between Cooper and John Wayne over the participation of the blacklisted screenwriter Carl Foreman. Given that the film is intended in part as an allegory of the public's acquiescence in the Red Scare, this will have more than the usual gossipy behind-the-scenes relevance. It includes interviews with three of the children of the principles who participated in the DVD audio commentary: Cooper's daughter Maria, director Zinneman's son Tim, and Foreman's son Jonathan. There are also interviews with Grace Kelly's son Prince Albert of Monaco, Western and film historians Brian Garfield, Lee Clark Mitchell, Stephen Prince and Meir Ribalow, and High Noon fan President Bill Clinton. The narration is by actor Frank Langella.
Lack of agreement between Paramount and Lionsgate prevented the earlier release of a restored transfer and the documentary, in case you're wondering why this didn't come out before.
(Amazon has a habit of removing or not even accepting outside links, but if you want to read more about this, some of the more interesting tidbits are from a discussion at hometheaterforum. Just do a web search for "high noon" plus "ultimate collector's edition" or "inside high noon" and such keywords to find the links--easy to find.)
A parting note on the ethical side of the film. While everyone can appreciate the strength of Cooper's character and the contrast to the weakness of others, which is no doubt the intended moral focus, we can wonder why the seemingly parallel choices facing Will and Amy are treated differently, with one portrayed heroically for choosing perceived broader duty over duty to spouse, while the other is seemingly approved in doing the opposite (those who have seen the movie will be able to see how that is). I'm not sure writer Foreman saw that parallel as I put it here, and maybe there are good reasons to argue they aren't really parallel. It could be a statement about the limits of pacifism, or it could be a reflection of other cultural mores that Foreman didn't question. Or it could be largely motivated by the need for a certain kind of ending. I'm not a film historian, so maybe these questions have already been addressed. If so, feel free to leave a comment about it.
It was that good and more. "High Noon" was not really a Western as the genre had been defined to that point. It was more of a character study of the human condition. It just happened to be set in the American West. Westerns at that time were action films with white hats and black hats. There were fistfights and gunfights throughout the entire film. They clearly differentiated good guys, on the side of justice and righteousness, from bad guys who spurned laws and sneered at those who obeyed them. The heroes were always noble and fearless, typified by actors like John Wayne and Roy Rogers. Moreover, the good guys always stuck together, despite all odds, to prevail against the outlaws.
"High Noon" was the complete antithesis of this formula. Kane is a flawed hero who is proud to a fault. Although it is clear who the villain is, we never see him until the last ten minutes of the film. The story is not about good and evil in the larger sense. Instead, it is about conviction and integrity on a personal level. Kane is portrayed as stubbornly putting his own feelings above the safety of the town. He stands against everyone, willing to sacrifice his marriage, his friendships, his good name and his life for his honor and self-respect. The biggest departure from the formula was his unabashed manifestations of fear. This was unheard of for a Western hero.
Controversy swirled around this film, released in 1952 amid the Red Scare and the McCarthy Era. The fearful and selfish townspeople who turned their backs on Kane were seen to be allegorical of the movie industry that abandoned those who were blacklisted as communists. Many in the industry saw it as smug slap in the face. John Wayne called the film "un-American", preferring to think that Americans would always stick together to fight injustice, ignoring the reality of numerous branded actors who couldn't get work. Stanley Kramer, in an interview forty years later, continued to deny that there was any hidden agenda. He said it was a film about human nature, and the coincidental fact that there was such a striking parallel was just an indication that human nature doesn't change.
The vanguard direction by Fred Zinnemann was nothing short of brilliant. Zinnemann eschewed the Western formula and struck out in a completely different direction. He chose black and white to give it a stark look. The sky was overcast rather than sunny and blue. The entire film was shot for only $700,000 (an extremely small sum even for 1952) almost completely on a studio lot. This was the first Western, (and possibly the first film) to tell a story in real time (the story transpires in roughly the same amount of time as the length of the film). The villainous Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald) was known only through dialogue and he did not actually appear until the end of the film. Zinnemann hung the pall of Miller ominously in the air like an evil spirit who was feared but unseen. This made the villain bigger than life and added to the suspense. Even when Miller finally arrived on the noon train, Zinnemann didn't let us see his face for a full two or three minutes, showing him strapping on his guns from behind and talking to his gang. Finally, there was no action until the very end of the film.
He uses two very effective techniques to build suspense. The first is the use of clocks. In the beginning of the film, they were small clocks in the background that had short pendulums that swung quickly. As we got closer to noon, the clocks got bigger and the pendulums swung more slowly making them more menacing. At noon, the clock took up the entire screen as we waited for the last tick and the train's whistle.
The second technique was the repeated use of a static vista looking down the railroad tracks from ground level with no train. This was a constant reminder that Frank was coming. This created an extraordinary amount of tension. Tinnemann's use of reaction shots and the editing by Harry Gerstad and Elmo Williams (who won an Oscar) were also brilliantly done.
The use of music was also innovative. Rather than a full orchestra pumping out heart pounding adventure music, we had a simple ballad featuring a harmonica and the voice of country great Tex Ritter. This haunting tune emphasized the loneliness of Kane's situation.
The acting was marvelous. Gary Cooper is masterful as the tormented Marshall who stands against the entire town and his own fear to face down the Miller gang. This film launched Grace Kelly's career. She was not only shockingly beautiful but gave a fantastic performance as Kane's wife, who all but abandons him. Lloyd Bridges also shines as the hotheaded deputy. Other notables included Lon Chaney, Harry Morgan, Katy Jurado and Lee Van Cleef.
This film redefined an entire genre. It has been called the quintessential Western, but that is too narrow in its praise. It is quintessential filmmaking, a perfect 10. It is required viewing for film buffs who appreciate the creative aspect of the art. Besides that, it's great entertainment.
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