One of the greatest Westerns ever made gets the deluxe treatment on this superior disc. Written by Carl Foreman (who was later blacklisted during the anticommunist hearings of the 1950s) and superbly directed by Fred Zinnemann, this 1952 classic stars Gary Cooper as just-married lawman Will Kane, who is about to retire as a small-town sheriff and begin a new life with his bride (Grace Kelly) when he learns that gunslinger Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald) is due to arrive at high noon to settle an old score. Kane seeks assistance from deputies and townsfolk, but soon realises... he will have to stand alone in his showdown with Miller and his henchmen. Innovative for its time, the suspenseful story unfolds in approximate real time (from 10:40 a.m. to high noon in an 84-minute film), and many interpreted Foreman's drama as an allegorical reflection of apathy and passive acceptance of Senator Joseph McCarthy's anticommunist campaign. Political underpinnings aside, this remains a milestone of its genre (often referred to as the first "adult" Western), and Cooper is flawless in his Oscar-winning role. The first-rate DVD gives this landmark film all the respect it deserves, beginning with a digitally remastered transfer from the original film negative. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com [show more]
"High Noon" is a classic of the western genre, justifiably famous for the relentless way in which it builds up tension over the course of its length, ratcheting up the suspense until it explodes suddenly and violently in the inevitable finale. The typically laconic Gary Cooper plays a frontier sheriff who has just gotten married (to the radiant Grace Kelly) and is consequently leaving behind his life as a lawman to settle down and run a country store in a different town. Before he can leave, he learns that a vicious outlaw (Ian MacDonald) has just been released from prison and is returning to town on the noon train. While the outlaw's henchman wait at the train station for their friend to arrive, Cooper races around town, desperately trying to recruit help in order to subdue the criminal when he arrives, seeking revenge on Cooper. But the townspeople, who previously relied on Cooper's protection as sheriff, now maintain that this is not their problem, that this is a personal beef between Cooper and MacDonald, and everyone comes up with various excuses to abstain from the fight. Director Fred Zinnemann perfectly captures the tension of this situation, cutting back and forth throughout the film between Cooper and the outlaws waiting at the train station. At the climax of the film, Zinnemann's editing becomes frenetic as he cuts precisely and quickly between Cooper, the station, and a shot of a clock, as the train whistle roars on the soundtrack. This relentless build-up, coupled with the detailed portrait of the town's inhabitants, makes "High Noon" a deserved classic.
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