High Noon (1952)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Fred Zinnemann

Writers:

Carl Foreman (screenplay)
John W. Cunningham (magazine story "The Tin Star")

Release Date:

30 July 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Tagline:

Simple. Powerful. Unforgettable.

Plot:

A marshall, personally compelled to face a returning deadly enemy, finds that his own town refuses to help him.

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Wedding | Badge | 1880s | Famous Score

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 8 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. July 26

8:00 PM

TCM

Cast

Gary Cooper	...	Marshal Will Kane
Thomas Mitchell	...	Mayor Jonas Henderson
Lloyd Bridges	...	Deputy Marshal Harvey Pell
Katy Jurado	...	Helen Ramírez
Grace Kelly	...	Amy Fowler Kane
Otto Kruger	...	Judge Percy Mettrick
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Martin Howe (as Lon Chaney)
Harry Morgan	...	Sam Fuller (as Henry Morgan)
Ian MacDonald	...	Frank Miller
Eve McVeagh	...	Mildred Fuller
Morgan Farley	...	Dr. Mahin - Minister
Harry Shannon	...	Cooper
Lee Van Cleef	...	Jack Colby
Robert J. Wilke	...	Jim Pierce (as Robert Wilke)
Sheb Wooley	...	Ben Miller
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lee Aaker	...	Boy (uncredited)
Guy Beach	...	Fred - Coffinmaker (uncredited)
Jeanne Blackford	...	Mrs. Henderson (uncredited)
Larry J. Blake	...	Gillis - Saloon Owner (uncredited)
Roy Bucko	...	Barfly (uncredited)
Bob Carson	...	Barfly (uncredited)
Howland Chamberlain	...	Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
Virginia Christine	...	Mrs. Simpson (uncredited)
Cliff Clark	...	Ed Weaver (uncredited)
Ben Corbett	...	Townsman (uncredited)
John Doucette	...	Trumbull (uncredited)
Paul Dubov	...	Scott (uncredited)
Jack Elam	...	Charlie - Drunk in Jail (uncredited)
Dick Elliott	...	Kibbee (uncredited)
Virginia Farmer	...	Mrs. Fletcher (uncredited)
Tim Graham	...	Sawyer (uncredited)
Tom Greenway	...	Ezra (uncredited)
Harry Harvey	...	Coy (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Chubby Johnson	...	First Old Timer on Hotel Porch (uncredited)
Nolan Leary	...	Lewis (uncredited)
Tom London	...	Sam (uncredited)
Merrill McCormick	...	Fletcher (uncredited)
James Millican	...	Deputy Sheriff Herb Baker (uncredited)
William Newell	...	Jimmy - Drunk with Eye Patch (uncredited)
William 'Bill' Phillips	...	Barber (uncredited)
Lucien Prival	...	Joe - Ramirez Saloon Bartender (uncredited)
Ralph Reed	...	Johnny - Town Boy (uncredited)
Syd Saylor	...	Second Old Timer on Hotel Porch (uncredited)
Ted Stanhope	...	Station Master (uncredited)

Directed by
Fred Zinnemann

Writing credits
Carl Foreman		(screenplay)
John W. Cunningham		(magazine story "The Tin Star")

Produced by
Carl Foreman	....	associate producer (uncredited)
Stanley Kramer	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Dimitri Tiomkin

Cinematography by
Floyd Crosby		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Elmo Williams

Casting by
Jack Murton		(uncredited)

Production Design by
Rudolph Sternad

Art Direction by
Ben Hayne

Set Decoration by
Murray Waite

Makeup Department
Louise Miehle	....	hair stylist
Gustaf Norin	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Clem Beauchamp	....	production supervisor
Percy Ikerd	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Emmett Emerson	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Jean L. Speak	....	sound engineer (as Jean Speak)
John Speak	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Willis Cook	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Regis Parton	....	stunts (uncredited)
Slim Talbot	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Don Turner	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack N. Young	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Morris Rosen	....	head grip
Homer Plannette	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Joe King	....	wardrobe: men
Ann Peck	....	wardrobe: women

Editorial Department
Harry W. Gerstad	....	editorial supervisor (as Harry Gerstad)

Music Department
George C. Emick	....	music editor (as George Emick)
Dimitri Tiomkin	....	musical director
Manuel Emanuel	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Anthony Galla-Rini	....	musician: accordions (uncredited)
Paul Marquardt	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Herbert Taylor	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Sam Freedle	....	script clerk
Sally Hamilton	....	executive secretary (uncredited)
Nina Moise	....	dialogue director (uncredited)
Fred Polangin	....	merchandising director (uncredited)
Len Simpson	....	publicity director (uncredited)
Calvin Spencer	....	double: Lloyd Bridges (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Stanley Kramer Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1952) (USA) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1953) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• United Artists (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Constantin Film (1960) (West Germany) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (1999) (Germany) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures (2001) (UK) (DVD)
• VellaVisión (2002) (Spain) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Maple Pictures (2006) (Canada) (DVD)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (16mm print)
• Artisan Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Emerald (2007) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2008) (Germany) (DVD) (special edition)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Sound Services  magnetic recording
• Stanley Kramer Productions  current owner

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Canada:G (Manitoba) | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | West Germany:12 (f) | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 (re-release) | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #15653)

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Stanley Kramer Productions

Trivia:

John Wayne strongly disliked this movie because he knew it was an allegory for blacklisting, which he and his friend Ward Bond had strongly and actively supported. Twenty years later he was still criticizing it in his controversial May 1971 interview with Playboy magazine. Inventing a scene that was never in the movie, he claimed Cooper had thrown his marshal's badge to the ground and stepped on it. He also stated he would never regret having driven blacklisted screenwriter Carl Foreman out of Hollywood.

Goofs:

Continuity: Amy's luggage has been loaded on to the train, which we see pull off without any unloading, but it reappears on the cart in the final scene.

Quotes:

Martin: You risk your skin catching killers and the juries turn them loose so they can come back and shoot at you again. If you're honest you're poor your whole life and in the end you wind up dying all alone on some dirty street. For what? For nothing. For a tin star.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Life on Mars: (#1.5)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Battle Hymn of the Republic

"Oh, To Be Torn Twixt Love And Duty"

On Marshal Gary Cooper's wedding day to Grace Kelly, Lee Van Cleef, Sheb Woolley, and Robert J. Wilkie wait at the train station for the noon arriving train. It will be carrying their former gang leader, Ian McDonald who Cooper sent to prison and who's vowing vengeance.

From the gitgo it's made abundantly clear that these are four nasty dudes who the town ought to deal with expeditiously. But the good elements of the town have grown fat and lazy and content to throw the responsibility of law and order on Cooper's shoulders. And he's quitting anyway, going on his honeymoon with his Quaker bride. A new marshal is going to arrive the next day. Why get involved. They want Cooper to just take his problem elsewhere. That view is probably best expressed by Thomas Mitchell in the scene at the church.

Speaking of the scene in the church my favorite business in High Noon is when preacher Morgan Farley tells Cooper how dare he come into the church because a few hours earlier he didn't see fit to get married in that church. What a set of priorities.

Grace Kelly had her breakthrough role in High Noon. She's a Quaker with deeply held pacifist principles. She's marrying a lawman, but one who's quitting that life. Her best scene in the film is with Katy Jurado who is Cooper's former gal pal. Katy explains the facts of life to Grace about marriage and the duty of standing by your man, long before Tammy Wynette ever sung about it. When the time comes, Grace does the right thing.

Like his rival in western films, John Wayne, Gary Cooper had one of the great faces for movie closeups. Back in the day it used to be a running joke about how Cooper's dialog used to be just "yep" and "nope." It was a good deal more than that. But High Noon's plot is carried quite a bit by the many closeup shots of Cooper. His face tells more than ten pages of speech and it keeps the tension of the film going. Man did not win two Academy Awards for nothing.

Of course the theme of High Noon is also expressed in Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington's Academy Award winning song, sung at times during the film by Tex Ritter. However the big hit record of the film was from Frankie Laine. I doubt there has ever been a movie theme song that expressed everything you needed to know about the motivation of the central character in the film. I don't think High Noon would have attained the classic status it has without that song.

Another great performance in the film is Lon Chaney, Jr. as the former town marshal, old and cynical, who'd like to help Cooper out, but at his age and health realizes he'd be more of a hindrance. He's the only one that Cooper understands and forgives.

The final gun battle is choreographed like a ballet, it's that good. Maybe the best ever filmed. Can't describe it, you got to see it.

The interaction of the town's responsibilities for maintaining law and order and Cooper's personal pride and integrity have been dealt with in various ways in other films. I'd check out Rio Bravo, Warlock, Death of a Gunfighter, Welcome to Hard Times, all of these take a different slant on the same themes.

But personally I've always liked what the townspeople did in a Frank Sinatra film, Johnny Concho. That's what the people of Hadleyville should have done right at the start.