High Noon (Collector's Edition) Review

That's a simple western film, just before the renaissance of the genre with Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone and a few others. It is a classic of that period (1952) and in a way a turning point. A criminal was caught and sent to prison because one marshal and the population of a township did what they had to do. The criminal should have hanged but some law from Washington changed the game and he only got five years of prison. Five years later he comes back to kill those who had tried to have him hanged. The town learns about it when they see three of his associates come for the noon train, and it is confirmed by telegraph that the criminal, a certain Miller, is on the train. The city has a little more than one hour to do what they can to solve the problem. The marshal had just gotten married thirteen minutes earlier and he was to leave on his honeymoon and he was no longer the marshal and a new marshal was arriving on the following day only, slightly too late. The marshal comes back to assume the situation. He tries to get six deputies and the only he gets are a family man with two kids (he volunteers because he is convinced many more are going to come and he will step back when he finds out no one else has volunteered), then a one-eyed saloon customer who does not realize he is not fit for it, and a fourteen year old boy who is definitely too young and untrained. All the others refuse and even ask him to leave for Miller to do nothing. His newly-wed wife leaves on the noon train, or at least gets on it, though she will get off at the last minute. The judge leaves as soon as he can. The mayor asks in church the marshal to leave, while the parson refuses to commit himself (thou shalt not kill). All his friends avoid him or just plain say no. Alone he is and alone he will have to deal with the four outlaws who are trying to kill him. He will of course succeed. the details of his simple strategy and opportunistic tactics are in the film and you will have to go check them. And the film reveals how cowardly people can be and how they consider law and order is not their problem but that of the professional they pay to take care of it. That's the only really positive point that is different from the standard vision of traditional older western films. It is not blind gunfights and it is not everyone against the criminal. It shows the psychology of people in a crisis situation is very often divided and their reflex is often to hide their heads in the sand or run to cover behind the first bush they can find, senior or junior, who cares, provided it is not a burning bush.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Paris 12 Créteil, CEGID

High Noon (Collector's Edition) Overview

A retired marshal's wedding is interrupted when he learns a killer he had sent to jail will return to town on the noon train to seek revenge. He takes up his badge and guns again, alienating his new bride.
Genre: Westerns
Rating: NR
Release Date: 17-FEB-2004
Media Type: DVD

High Noon (Collector's Edition) Specifications

One of the greatest Westerns ever made gets the deluxe treatment on this superior disc from Republic Home Video's Silver Screen Classics line of special-edition DVDs. Written by Carl Foreman (who was later blacklisted during the anticommunist hearings of the '50s) 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 realizes he'll 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. Additional features include the exclusive documentary The Making of High Noon, hosted by film historian Leonard Maltin and featuring interviews with the late Lloyd Bridges (who played Cooper's rival ex-deputy), director Fred Zinnemann, and producer Stanley Kramer. Also included is the original theatrical trailer and a special chapter stop highlighting the Oscar-winning song "Do Not Forsake Me." Offered in English and dubbed French and Spanish, with English closed-captioning or Spanish and French subtitles. --Jeff Shannon

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