Amazon.com reviews for
Shane (1953) More at IMDbPro »

Classic Westerns Collection (3pc) (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: A trio of boots-and-saddles biggies in one little box. In Shane, George Stevens's film about the archetypal outsider, Alan Ladd stars as a gunfighter who befriends a family of settlers battling the ranching interests. Watch for Jack Palance as the snakiest gunslinger ever. Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is one of the better retellings of the story of the Earps and the Clantons; though a shade stodgy, it features a pair of strong performances by Burt Lancaster as Wyatt Earp and particularly Kirk Douglas as the consumptive Doc Holliday. John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance features outstanding performances by John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, and Lee Marvin in the story of a peaceful man who stands up to a bully, a tale that touches on the way the Old West mythologized itself. --Marshall Fine

Shane (vhs):

Amazon.com Essentials: Consciously crafted by director George Stevens as a piece of American mythmaking, Shane is on nearly everyone's shortlist of great movie Westerns. A buckskin knight, Shane (Alan Ladd) rides into the middle of a range war between farmers and cattlemen, quickly siding with the "sod-busters." While helping a kindly farmer (Van Heflin), Shane falls platonically in love with the man's wife (Jean Arthur, in the last screen performance of a marvelous career). Though the showdowns are exciting, and the story simple but involving, what most people will remember about this movie is the friendship between the stoical Shane and the young son of the farmers. The kid is played by Brandon De Wilde, who gives one of the most amazing child performances in the movies; his parting scene with Shane is guaranteed to draw tears from even the most stonyhearted moviegoer. And speaking of stony hearts, Jack Palance made a sensational impression as the evil gunslinger sent to clean house--he has fewer lines of dialogue than he has lines in his magnificently craggy face, but he makes them count. The photography, highlighting the landscape near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, won an Oscar. --Robert Horton