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Common Sense Media Review

By Nell Minow , based on child development research. How do we rate?

Tense 1950s Western is still a cinema classic.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that women are depicted as exceptionally intelligent and respected, compared to other movies of the era. Helen speaks of the prejudice she faced as a Mexican woman, and Amy listens sympathetically.

Why Age 11+?

Drinking in bar, bad guys drink.

Any Positive Content?

Women are exceptionally intelligent and respected.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Violence & Scariness

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Positive Role Models

Parents need to know that women are depicted as exceptionally intelligent and respected, compared to other movies of the era. Helen speaks of the prejudice she faced as a Mexican woman, and Amy listens sympathetically. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (4)
• Kids say (5)

Based on 4 parent reviews

11+Rating is for theme, content-wise it's ok for 9 and up

What's the story.

In this classic 1950s Western, Marshall Will Kane (Gary Cooper) marries Amy (Grace Kelly) and turns in his badge. She is a Quaker, and he has promised her to hang up his gun and become a shopkeeper. But they get word that Frank Miller is coming to town on the noon train. Kane arrested Miller and sent him to jail, and Miller swore he would come back and kill him. Will and Amy leave town quickly. But he knows that wherever they go, Miller will follow them. And he has a duty to the town. Their new marshal does not arrive until the next day. Will seeks help from everyone. but is turned down over and over again. Amy says she will leave on the noon train and the one man who promised to help backs out when he finds out that no one else will join them. The only others who offer to help are a disabled man and a young boy. Will must face Miller and his three henchmen alone. At noon, Frank Miller gets off the train. The four men come into town. Will is able to defeat them, with Amy's unexpected help. As the townsfolk gather, Will throws his badge in the dust, and they ride off.

Is It Any Good?

This outstanding drama ticks by in real time, only 84 tense minutes long. Will gets the message about Frank Miller at 10:40, and we feel the same time pressure he does, as he tries to find someone to help him. We see and hear clocks throughout the movie, and as noon approaches, the clock looms larger and larger, the pendulum swinging like an executioner's axe. In the brilliant score by Dimitri Tiomkin (sung by Tex Ritter) the sound of the beat suggests both the train's approach and the passage of time.

HIGH NOON is like a grown-up Little Red Hen story. Will cannot find anyone to help him protect the town. Everyone seems to think it is someone else's problem (or fault). Teenagers may be interested to know that many people consider this film an analogy for the political problems of the McCarthy era. It was written during the height of the Hollywood "red scare." After completing this screenplay, the writer, an "unfriendly witness" before the House Un-American Activities Committee, was blacklisted. But this unforgettable drama of a man who will not run from his enemy, or his own fears, transcends all times and circumstances.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how everyone seems to have a different reason for not helping Will. How many can you identify? Which reasons seem the best to you? Which seem the worst? What makes Amy change her mind? Why does Will throw his badge in the dirt? Do you think the screenwriter chose the name "Will" for any special reason? How do you decide when to stay and fight and when to run? How do you evaluate the risks? What should the law be?

Movie Details

• In theaters : July 30, 1952
• On DVD or streaming : October 22, 2002
• Cast : Gary Cooper , Grace Kelly , Lon Chaney Jr.
• Director : Fred Zinnemann
• Studio : Twentieth Century Fox
• Genre : Western
• Run time : 85 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : May 26, 2024

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Revisiting 'High Noon,' A Parable Of The Hollywood Blacklist

We consider the classic 1952 western High Noon written and released 70 years ago — during an era of paranoia and persecution in America over the threat of communism — in which the President, congress, the courts and the press all played a part. We talk with journalist Glenn Frankel, author of the book High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic . The film was written as a parable about the blacklist. Also, Justin Chang reviews Avatar: The Way of Water .

High Noon (United States, 1952)

By 1952, movie-goers knew exactly what to expect from a Western: a clean-cut, self-assured hero facing down a good-for-nothing villain in a climactic shoot-out, lots of action, gorgeous scenery, and not much in the way of thematic depth. This was a time when the Western was at the height of its popularity, and when stars of the genre, like John Wayne and Gary Cooper, were revered as heroes of the Old West. Then along came Stanley Kramer and Fred Zinnemann's High Noon , and the Western was never quite the same.

Many fans of the genre regard High Noon as the best Western ever made. There are other contenders for the titles (including, but not limited to The Searchers; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; The Wild Bunch; Unforgiven ; and Dances With Wolves ), but there's no debating that High Noon is amongst the elite - it is as much above the garden variety Western as something like Die Hard is above the generic shoot-'em-up action thriller.

High Noon contains many of the elements of the traditional Western: the gun-toting bad guys, the moral lawman, the pretty girl, and the climactic gunfight. But it's in the way these elements are blended together, with the slight spin put on them by Zinnemann and screenwriter Carl Foreman, that makes High Noon unlike any other Western. Audiences in the early '50s were drawn to the theater by the promise of a Gary Cooper film. Many viewers left confused, consternated, or vaguely dissatisfied, because things didn't play out in the expected way. It is rumored that John Wayne criticized High Noon 's ending as being "un-American."

Indeed, 1952 was the time of "un-American" things, with Senator Joseph McCarthy wielding the power of paranoia and fear in Washington as he presided over the 20th century Salem Witch Trials. This time, the targets weren't servants of the Devil, but Communists (although some at the time might have said there was no difference). Carl Foreman, the screenwriter of High Noon , was blacklisted soon after writing the script. Also on McCarthy's list were actor Lloyd Bridges and cinematographer Floyd Crosby. To hear McCarthy tell it, High Noon was a veritable hotbed of "un-American" activity. And the story can easily be seen as allegorical -a man is turned on by those he called friends and comrades, and comes to see that the most valued principle of the masses is self-preservation.

Foreman's script was loosely based on the story "The Tin Star", by John W. Cunningham. Although there were only bare-bones similarities, Kramer bought the rights to "The Tin Star" to avoid copyright issues. Foreman fleshed out the tale using a combination of his imagination and his real-life experiences with the McCarthy Commission. The more one considers the atmosphere in which Foreman wrote High Noon , the easier it is understand the grim tone that underscores nearly every frame of the motion picture. The typical Western was a story of great heroism and derring-do. High Noon highlights much of humanity's base nature.

Cooper plays Marshal Will Kane, and, when High Noon opens, it's a little after 10 o'clock in the morning, and he is being married to Amy Fowler (Grace Kelly), a woman less than half his age. At the same time, trouble has arrived in Kane's sleepy Western town. Three outlaws, the henchmen of convicted murderer Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald), are waiting at the railroad station, where Miller, recently freed from prison, is expected on the noon train. He has one goal: revenge, and the target of his hatred is Kane, the man who brought him down. Kane's friends, including the town's mayor (Thomas Mitchell), the local judge (Otto Kruger), and the former Marshal, Martin Howe (Lon Chaney), urge him to flee, but he can't. Against the wishes of his Quaker wife and with no one in the town willing to stand beside him, Kane prepares to face Miller and his gang alone.

High Noon is about loyalty and betrayal. Loyalty on Kane's part - even when everyone deserts him, he stands his ground, though it seems inevitable that the action will cost him his life. And betrayal on the town's part. Many of the locals are agreed that they owe their prosperity to Kane, but they will not help him or defend him, because they believe his cause to be hopeless. There are even those who welcome Miller's return. In the end, Kane is forced into the showdown on his own, until, at a crucial moment, Amy proves herself to be a worthy wife.

The movie transpires virtually in real time, with a minute on screen equaling one in the theater. In one of many departures from the traditional Western, there is little action until the final ten minutes, when Kane shoots it out with Miller's gang. The lone exception is a fistfight between Kane and a former deputy, Harvey Pell (Lloyd Bridges). Other than that, the movie is comprised primarily of Kane's failed attempts to rally the townspeople to his cause. High Noon 's tension comes through Kane's desperation, aided in no small part by Elmo Williams' brilliant editing as the clock ticks down to twelve. For a motion picture with so little action, the suspense builds to almost unbearable levels.

Many have called High Noon more of a morality play than a Western, and, in some ways, that's an accurate description. Aside from the primary plot thread, there are other quandries to be considered. Amy must choose between her dearly-held peaceful beliefs (which she adopted after her brother and father were killed) and standing by her husband. It's easy to be non-violent when there's no price to pay. Harvey Pell must decide between ego and friendship. High Noon places many facets of human nature under the microscope, and therein lies the complexity in a seemingly simple idea. The deeper one looks, the more High Noon has to offer.

The climactic gunfight is not played out with two men staring down one another across an empty expanse of street, with a tumbleweed or two blowing around in the background. Instead, it's a quick and dirty business, with a hostage-taking and a man being shot in the back. When Kane wins the day, as he must (this is, after all, Gary Cooper), it has the feeling of a hollow victory. And the Marshal's final action - throwing his badge into the dirt before he and Amy ride out of town - gives us a taste of the bitterness that has settled in his mouth.

There are really only two men one could envision playing the part of Marshal Kane - James Stewart and Gary Cooper. Cooper, the older of the two men, is the better choice. He brings a world-weariness to the part. From the beginning, we sense that he's a reluctant hero, and this is confirmed as the story moves along. He admits to being afraid, and one senses that he wants nothing more than to get on the wagon with his wife and head out of town before Miller's arrival. But his overpowering sense of duty, coupled with the concern that Miller will eventually hunt him down, is strong enough to keep him where he is. Cooper imbues Kane with equal parts dignity and humanity. There's no doubt that he's a hero, but, unlike the usual Western good guy, he is filled with doubts and all-too-human weaknesses. These are the frailties each of us finds in ourselves; seeing them in Kane allows us to identify with him intimately. It makes the film more personal. In 1952, the movie was unsettling for some because they were unprepared to see a reflection of themselves on the screen. They expected an invulnerable hero; they got a man.

As important as it was to humanize High Noon 's protagonist, so the villain remained largely faceless - an unseen menace riding in on the railroad tracks. Although his presence looms large over the proceedings, it isn't until the final fifteen minutes that Miller finally shows up, disembarking from the train, girded for battle. In a way, the arrival of actor Ian MacDonald is almost anti-climactic. By this point, Miller had been so thoroughly demonized that the appearance of a normal (albeit tough-looking) man is a little disappointing.

High Noon offered high-profile exposure to two actresses. Katy Jurado, a Mexican performer, received rave reviews for her tough-as-nails portrayal of Helen Ramirez, Kane's former lover. This movie represented Jurado's entré into American cinema; after High Noon , she enjoyed a nice career in Westerns, appearing in such notable films as Broken Lance (for which she earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination) and One Eyed Jacks . High Noon also offered the first high-billed opportunity to Grace Kelly, who would go on to capture an Oscar, the eye of Alfred Hitchcock (she became his favorite female lead), and the hearts of millions (including the Prince of Monaco). For Kelly, this certainly isn't a great performance (she is a little wooden at times), but it was enough to get her noticed.

As is true of nearly every great film, all of the elements mix together in High Noon . The black-and-white cinematography is perfect for setting the dark mood. The music is relentless. And the editing (with the possible exception of the fight between Kane and Pell, which is choppy) is nearly flawless. But the real elements to applaud are the acting, the script, and the direction, all of which are top-notch. Cooper appeared in more than 100 films during his long career; few aspired to the level of High Noon , much less attained it. And no credit on Zimmermann's resume is as impressive. The Western may be one of the few truly American art forms, and High Noon shows exactly how much potential it can embrace.

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews

A town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "se... Read all A town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon train. A town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon train.

• Fred Zinnemann
• Carl Foreman
• John W. Cunningham
• Gary Cooper
• Grace Kelly
• Thomas Mitchell
• 462 User reviews
• 152 Critic reviews
• 89 Metascore
• 17 wins & 11 nominations total

Top cast 72

• Marshal Will Kane

• Amy Fowler Kane

• Mayor Jonas Henderson

• Deputy Marshal Harvey Pell

• Helen Ramírez

• Judge Percy Mettrick

• Martin Howe
• (as Lon Chaney)

• (as Henry Morgan)

• Frank Miller

• Mildred Fuller

• (as Robert Wilke)

• (uncredited)
• Church Member
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia In 1951, after 25 years in show business, Gary Cooper 's professional reputation was in decline, and he was dropped from the "Motion Picture Herald's" list of the top-ten box-office performers. In the following year, he made a big comeback, at the age of 51, with this film.
• Goofs In a number of scenes there are Pabst Brewing signs seen on the inside and outside walls of the saloon. Although Pabst did brew in 1848, it did so under the name Best and Company and did not change to Pabst until 1889; the 37-star flag suggests the setting dates are between 1867-77.

Helen Ramírez : You're a good-looking boy: you've big, broad shoulders. But he's a man. And it takes more than big, broad shoulders to make a man.

• Connections Edited into Darkness at High Noon: The Carl Foreman Documents (2002)
• Soundtracks High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin') Music by Dimitri Tiomkin Lyrics by Ned Washington Performed by Tex Ritter [Played over the opening title card and credits; excerpts played throughout the movie]

User reviews 462

• Sep 2, 2020
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• Is this movie based on a novel?
• Are there any other movies like "High Noon" that are told in real time?
• July 30, 1952 (United States)
• United States
• Tačno u podne
• Railtown 1897 State Historic Park - Jamestown, California, USA
• Stanley Kramer Productions
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $730,000 (estimated)

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 25 minutes
• Black and White

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High Noon Review

24 Jul 1952

The term "psychological Western" has become something of a cliche. If you had to label Fred Zinnemann's masterpiece, it should be called a neo-realist Western on account of the understated performances and Floyd Crosby's stark imagery.

Written as a rejoinder to that pro-witchhunt parable, On The Waterfront, this treatise on fidelity to principle is told in real time to add to the suspense and boasts a performance of rare grit and dignity by the finest lawman of them all, Gary Cooper.

Look out for a young Lloyd bridges as a no-good, and the Oscar winning theme song "Do not forsake me, Oh My Darlin'" is indeed the inspiration for the theme of the townsfolk in Blazing Saddles.

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THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; ' High Noon,' a Western of Rare Achievement, Is New Bill at the Mayfair Theatre

By Bosley Crowther

• July 25, 1952

Every five years or so, somebody—somebody of talent and taste, with a full appreciation of legend and a strong trace of poetry in their soul—scoops up a handful of clichés from the vast lore of Western films and turns them into a thrilling and inspiring work of art in this genre. Such a rare and exciting achievement is Stanley Kramer's production, "High Noon," which was placed on exhibition at the Mayfair yesterday.Which one of several individuals is most fully responsible for this job is a difficult matter to determine and nothing about which to quarrel. It could be Mr. Kramer, who got the picture made, and it be Scriptwriter Carl Foreman, who prepared the story for the screen. Certainly Director Fred Zinnemann had a great deal to do with it and possibly Gary Cooper, as the star, had a hand in the job. An accurate apportionment of credits is not a matter of critical concern.What is important is that someone—or all of them together, we would say—has turned out a Western drama that is the best of its kind in several years. Familiar but far from conventional in the fabric of story and theme and marked by a sure illumination of human character, this tale of a brave and stubborn sheriff in a town full of do-nothings and cowards has the rhythm and roll of a ballad spun in pictorial terms. And, over all, it has a stunning comprehension of that thing we call courage in a man and the thorniness of being courageous in a world of bullies and poltroons.Like most works of art, it is simple—simple in the structure of its plot and comparatively simple in the layout of its fundamental issues and morals. Plot-wise, it is the story of a sheriff in a small Western town, on the day of his scheduled retirement, faced with a terrible ordeal. At 10:30 in the morning, just a few minutes after he has been wed, he learns that a dreaded desperado is arriving in town on the noon train. The bad man has got a pardon from a rap on which the sheriff sent him up, and the sheriff knows that the killer is coming back to town to get him.Here is the first important question: shall the sheriff slip away, as his new wife and several decent citizens reasonably urge him to do, or shall he face, here and now, the crisis which he knows he can never escape? And once he has answered this question, the second and greater problem is the maintenance of his resolution as noon approaches and he finds himself alone—one man, without a single sidekick, against a killer and three attendant thugs; one man who has the courage to take on a perilous, righteous job.How Mr. Foreman has surrounded this simple and forceful tale with tremendous dramatic implications is a thing we can't glibly state in words. It is a matter of skill in movie-writing, but, more than that, it is the putting down, in terms of visually simplified images, a pattern of poetic ideas. And how Mr. Zinnemann has transmitted this pattern in pictorial terms is something which we can only urge you to go yourself to see.One sample worth framing, however, is the brilliant assembly of shots that holds the tale in taut suspension just before the fatal hour of noon. The issues have been established, the townsfolk have fallen away and the sheriff, alone with his destiny, has sat down at his desk to wait. Over his shoulder, Mr. Zinnemann shows us a white sheet of paper on which is scrawled "last will and testament" by a slowly moving pen. Then he gives us a shot (oft repeated) of the pendulum of the clock, and then a shot looking off into the distance of the prairie down the empty rail-road tracks. In quick succession, then, he shows us, the tense faces of men waiting in the church and in the local saloon, the still streets outside, the three thugs waiting at the station, the tracks again, the wife of the sheriff waiting and the face of the sheriff himself. Then, suddenly, away in the distance, there is the whistle of the train and, looking down the tracks again, he shows us a whisp of smoke from the approaching train. In a style of consummate realism, Mr. Zinnemann has done a splendid job.And so has the cast, under his direction. Mr. Cooper is at the top of his form in a type of role that has trickled like water off his back for years. And Lloyd Bridges as a vengeful young deputy, Katy Jurado as a Mexican adventuress, Thomas Mitchell as a prudent townsman, Otto Kruger as a craven judge and Grace Kelly as the new wife of the sheriff are the best of many in key roles.Meaningful in its implications, as well as loaded with interest and suspense, "High Noon" is a western to challenge "Stagecoach" for the all-time championship.

HIGH NOON, screen play by Carl Foreman; directed by Fred Zinnemann; produced by Stanley Kramer. A Stanley Kramer Production released by United Artists. At the Mayfair.Will Kane . . . . . Gary CooperJonas Henderson . . . . . Thomas MitchellHarvey Pell . . . . . Lloyd BridgesHelen Ramirez . . . . . Katy JuradoAmy Kane . . . . . Grace KellyPercy Mettrick . . . . . Otto KrugerMartin Howe . . . . . Lon ChaneyWilliam Fuller . . . . . Henry MorganFrank Miller . . . . . Ian MacDonaldMildred Fuller . . . . . Eve McVeaghCooper . . . . . Harry ShannonJack Colby . . . . . Lee Van CleefJames Pierce . . . . . Bob WilkeBen Miller . . . . . Sheb WoolleySam . . . . . Tom LondonStation Master . . . . . Ted StanhopeGillis . . . . . Larry BlakeBarber . . . . . William Phillips

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Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

The 1952 western classic High Noon stars Gary Cooper as Hadleyville marshal Will Kane, newlywed to his beautiful Quaker bride Amy, played by a twenty-one-year-old Grace Kelly in only her second film role and twenty-nine-years younger than co-star Cooper.

Meant to retire as the town marshal and go away on his honeymoon, Kane gets word that the Miller gang, whose leader Frank (Ian MacDonolad) Will had put away for murder, is actually heading into town on the noon train. At first Will and Amy start out of Hadleyville, but Will’s pride won’t let him abandon his duty and his town without facing down Frank and his cronies once and for all. The problem is, when Will asks for deputies to help him fight off the Millers, he finds himself abandoned by a bunch of yellow-bellied townsfolk who seem more interested in pointing blame around and having long discussions about why the town is facing danger than actually lifting a finger to help the marshal that kept them safe for so many years. His Chief Deputy Harvey Pell (Lloyd Bridges) is envious of Will’s job and covets his ex-mistress, the (Katy Jurado); the town’s former marshal Martin Howe (Lon Chaney) is now an aged drunkard who can’t even lift a gun, and even his wife Amy buys a ticket on the noon train out of town so as not to be around when the fighting starts. Eventually, Will must make his way to the town square for a showdown with the Miller gang and fate, alone.

The film is shot in real time, so its eighty-five-minute runtime ticks down with an intense sense of realism paced in the actual timeframe in which the story takes place that is heightened using tight camera work and the persistent symbol of a clock ticking down. High Noon was caught up in the red scare McCarthyism of the 1950s. Writer Carl Foreman, whose blacklisting was only temporarily spared by rabid anti-communist Gary Cooper, would fall to the blacklist of the House Un-American Activities Committee . John Wayne, who ironically accepted Cooper’s Oscar award in absentia for his role in High Noon , said the film was the most un-American western he’d ever seen, and director Howard Hawks, another right-wing Hollywood anti-communist hated High Noon so much, he felt compelled to “answer” it with his own film, Rio Bravo. Despite all the shocked sentiments from the anti-communists, High Noon has gone on to be one of the most lauded and enduring westerns ever filmed.

Also ironic is the fact that the story’s protagonist, Will Kane, plays out in fiction the story of the isolated and abandoned hero who must resist oppressive forces, a story that directly mirrors that of writer Carl Foreman’s real-life tribulations during the blacklist era.

Purchase High Noon 4K Ultra HD Combo (KL Studio Classics) on Amazon.com

High Noon is taken from a brand new HDR/Dolby Vision Master from a 4K scan of the 35mm original camera negative and presented on 4K Ultra HD in a 1.37:1 HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) Dolby Vision encodement. The included Blu-ray is taken from the same brand new 4K scan. This film has looked superb on Blu-ray for a few years now given the UK release from Eureka’s Masters of Cinema and the US release from the now defunct Olive Signature label. Both looked beautiful, making one believe that this film must also be blessed with a very good, well-kept source. This new restoration looks similar to those earlier restorations, but removes some spotty issues with jaggies on edges that appeared in some places and the slightest bit of noise. The stark black and white imagery has stable contrast with deep blacks. The tightly packed grain structure provides crispy details, especially on closeups where you can see each crack and wrinkle on someone’s face or the tiniest bead of sweat rolling down their face. The Dolby Vision grading acts mostly to enhance the contrast a bit, with just a subtle boost to some of the highlights.

The original mono audio mix for High Noon is provided in a very well presented, clear and clean DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track that is surprisingly dynamic and ambient for a monaural mix from 1952.

The Supplements

The two new audio commentaries, which appear on both the 4K and Blu-ray discs, are the biggest bonuses here. Both film historians offer great commentaries, with Julie Kirgo offering a deeper dive into the film’s connection to the Red Scare and the Hollywood blacklist while Alan K. Rode gives a commentary more focused on the production and on-set issues.

Bonus Features:

• Audio Commentary by Author/Film Historian Alan K. Rode (NEW)
• Audio Commentary by Film Historian/Writer Julie Kirgo (NEW)

Blu-ray Only Bonus Features:

• A Ticking Clock: Featurette (1080p; 00:05:54)
• A Stanley Kramer Production: Featurette (1080p; 00:14:00)
• Imitation of Life – The Hollywood Blacklist and High Noon : Featurette (1080p; 00:09:27)
• Oscars and Ulcers – The Production History of High Noon : Featurette (1080p; 00:12:02)
• Uncitizened Kane: Essay (1080p)
• The Making of High Noon: Featurette (SD; 00:22:11)
• High Noon – Trailer (1080p; 00:01:37)

The Final Assessment

From its stark black and white cinematography to its steely hero of determined convictions and real-time story arc, High Noon was an innovative film that spanned multiple genres — western, drama, thriller, action, even noir. This KL Studio Classics 4K restoration on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray is an excellent, reference quality release that moves to the top of the list of the best way to enjoy this nail-biting western classic.

High Noon is out on 4K Ultra HD Combo May 7, 2024 from Kino Lorber

Purchase High Noon 4K Ultra HD Combo (KL Studio Classics) on Amazon.co m

• Rating Certificate: PG
• Studios & Distributors: Stanley Kramer Productions | Kino Lorber
• Director: Fred Zinnemann
• Written By: Carl Foreman | John W. Cunningham
• Run Time: 85 Mins.
• Street Date: 7 May 2024
• Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
• Video Format: AVC 1080p
• Primary Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono
• Subtitles: English SDH

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• Gary Cooper
• Grace Kelly
• The Blacklist

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• What Is Cinema?

High Noon ’s Secret Backstory

It is one of Hollywood’s most iconic images: a lawman walking down a deserted Western street toward a showdown with four armed killers. For more than 60 years, High Noon , starring Gary Cooper, has embedded itself in our culture and our national memory. Its title itself has become legendary, connoting a moment of truth when a good man must confront evil.

Shot in 32 days on a shoestring—with its famous star working for a fraction of his normal wage— High Noon was an afterthought for those who made it, a rush job to fulfill the tail end of an old contract. Yet it vaulted almost immediately to critical acclaim and box-office success. Its taut narrative, powerful performances, evocative theme song, and climactic shootout made it an instant classic. It won four Academy Awards, including best actor for Cooper. Even today it is considered one of the most enduring films of Hollywood’s golden age.

Each generation has imposed its own politics and values onto High Noon . Yet what has largely been forgotten is that the man who had written the script had set out with a very specific goal: to make an allegory about the Hollywood blacklist, the men who sought to enforce it, and the cowardly community that stood by silently and allowed it to happen.

Carl Foreman on the set of High Noon in 1952 in Darkness at High Noon: The Carl Foreman Documents, 2002.

By 1951, Carl Foreman was one of the town’s hottest screenwriters, working for one of the industry’s most admired independent production houses. The Stanley Kramer Company had a short but impressive track record of low-budget box-office and critical hits. It was, in our modern vernacular, a nimble start-up that was making socially relevant movies better, faster, and cheaper than the more bloated studios with their glitzy, predictable fare. It attracted talented collaborators like director Fred Zinnemann (later known for pictures such as From Here to Eternity and A Man for All Seasons ); composer Dimitri Tiomkin ( It’s A Wonderful Life and Giant ); and some of Hollywood’s most gifted actors, who took pay cuts to work with the company—including Cooper, Kirk Douglas, Marlon Brando, Jose Ferrer, Teresa Wright, and an as-yet unknown actress named Grace Kelly.

Carl Foreman had twice been nominated for best screenplay for Champion and The Men and would soon get a third Oscar nod for High Noon . Foreman, his wife, Estelle, and their four-year-old daughter, Kate, had recently moved to fashionable Brentwood, occupying a large cottage once owned by Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. Along with his higher profile, Foreman was also drawing the attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee (H.U.A.C.). An ex-member of the American Communist Party, Foreman, while finishing the High Noon screenplay, was subpoenaed in June 1951 by H.U.A.C. and told he would take the stand three months later—during the middle of the film shoot.

Foreman knew what to expect. Cooperative witnesses were required to confess to and renounce their membership in the party—and praise the committee’s patriotic diligence. But they had to go one step further: to prove their sincerity, they were expected to name the names of other participants in the alleged Red plot to destroy America.

The alternative was to invoke the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination, a choice that ensured you would lose your high-paying job and social status because the major Hollywood studios had all adopted a policy of blacklisting anyone who refused to cooperate. For Foreman, it came down to a Solomonic choice: betray his friends or lose the career he’d worked so hard to achieve. As he pondered what to do, he began to rethink his script. High Noon ’s protagonist—marshal Will Kane—was now Foreman himself. The gunmen coming to kill him were the members of H.U.A.C., and the hypocritical townspeople of fictional Hadleyville were the denizens of Hollywood who stood by passively as the forces of repression bore down.

“As I was writing the screenplay, it became insane, because life was mirroring art and art was mirroring life,” he would recall. “It was all happening at the same time. I became that guy. I became the Gary Cooper character.”

But it wasn’t Foreman alone who faced a crisis of conscience. The film’s producer Stanley Kramer also had to decide whether to cut loose his creative collaborator, good friend, and business partner, or face his own expulsion from the movies. His decision would help alter the course of Hollywood filmmaking for years to come.

From left to right: Mark Robson, Stanley Kramer, Frank Planer, and Foreman, December 1948.

They were two ambitious, fast-talking Jewish intellectuals from the Depression-ridden ghettos of New York and Chicago, the sons or grandsons of immigrants from Eastern Europe. Born in Hell’s Kitchen on Manhattan’s West Side, Stanley Kramer, raised by a single mother, never really knew the father who walked out on his family. At age 19, he became one of the youngest graduates of N.Y.U.; in 1936, a screenwriting fellowship brought him to work at Twentieth Century Fox and, later, Republic, United Artists, and MGM, where the soft-spoken young man gained a reputation for his ingrained disdain for authority.

Carl Foreman, whose Russian-born parents owned a millinery shop off Chicago’s Division Street, was an aspiring writer who spent a misbegotten year in Hollywood searching for a break that never came, sleeping on the rooftops of apartment buildings and eating peanuts three times a day to keep his stomach full. He went back to Chicago a failure, worked as a carnival barker, then returned to L.A. in 1938 aboard a circus train that reeked of elephant shit. This time he hung on, eventually landing a job as an MGM script doctor.

He and Kramer met during World War II, where each was serving on U.S. Army film units, making documentaries and shorts out of the Astoria studio in Queens. The thirtysomething movie buffs found they had much in common: a deep hunger to succeed, a social conscience, and a withering contempt for the smug, sclerotic studio system.

After the war, Foreman went back to screenwriting gigs. The entrepreneurial Kramer, meanwhile, scraped together the money to buy the film rights to This Side of Innocence , a popular Taylor Caldwell novel. He got squeezed out of that deal—a lesson in the true value of a Hollywood commitment—but made enough off the transaction to launch his own small company, Screen Plays Incorporated. He boasted that its business model was based not on stars, which he couldn’t afford anyway, but on stories. Naturally, he turned to his buddy Carl Foreman to help get started. He also gave a share to a Hollywood law firm and to George Glass, the firm’s charismatic publicist.

They leased offices in a cavernous warehouse on North Cahuenga Boulevard called the Motion Picture Center Studio, home to a loose band of indie filmmakers who shared little except a lack of liquidity. (It’s still there, now called RED Studios Hollywood.)

Using funds Kramer coaxed out of a wealthy young friend, they bought the rights to a Ring Lardner novel called The Big Town , which, in 1948, they turned into a comedy: So This Is New York . It turned out to be an utter disaster.

Grace Kelly in High Noon, 1952.

Hollywood was in big trouble. People were moving to the suburbs, where movie palaces had yet to penetrate. The Supreme Court was about to require the studios to divest of their lucrative theater-chain monopolies. And TV was poised for a boom. “Hollywood,” one anonymous producer told Fortune magazine, “is an island of depression in a sea of prosperity.”

The problems were more than just financial. Darryl F. Zanuck, head of production at Fox, came back from his Army service to warn that the war was changing American attitudes and perceptions. “When the boys come home from the battlefields overseas,” he told Fox’s senior producers and directors on his first day back, “you’ll find . . . they have learned things in Europe and the Far East. . . . They’re coming back with new thoughts, new ideas, new hungers. . . . We’ve got to start making movies that entertain but at the same time match the new climate of the times.”

Soon came a wave of thought-provoking, socially nuanced films that sought to engage audiences as well as entertain them. Anti-Semitism was explored in Zanuck and Elia Kazan’s Gentleman’s Agreement and in Dore Schary’s noir-ish Crossfire . In The Best Years of Our Lives , director William Wyler addressed the complex issues that faced returning G.I.s. All the King’s Men , the adaptation of Robert Penn Warren’s novel, focused on a corrupt Southern populist. Some films were created by dedicated liberals, others by current or former Communist Party members. All of them stood out amid Hollywood’s usual fluff.

Kramer and Foreman quickly joined in. After their first flop, they turned to their other Lardner property, a short story called Champion , about a ruthless and avaricious working-class boxer named Midge Kelly, pounding his way to the top and stepping on his friends and family along the way. This time, Foreman’s writing was tough and remorseless. Kelly’s only goal is success. Mobsters, parasites, crooked business managers, and pretty women all want a piece of his soul—only Midge doesn’t have one. Embedded in the script is Foreman’s critique of the brutality of capitalism. “It’s like any other business,” Midge says of the fight racket, “only here the blood shows.”

Kirk Douglas , a film colony novice, read the screenplay and was mesmerized. His talent agency had gotten him the third lead, behind Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner, in a stiff, big-budget MGM production called The Great Sinner. Douglas, still looking trim and charismatic, at 98, when I meet with him at his Beverly Hills home in April 2015, recalled how he longed to play Midge, the anti-hero, instead. “My agency was against it,” he said. “They were telling me ‘Kirk, who is Stanley Kramer? This is a little picture.’ But I thought Carl Foreman was a great storyteller and I thought it was time for me to play something different.” When Douglas got to Kramer’s office, he pulled off his shirt and flexed his muscles to show him he had what it took to play the part.

Champion was a smash. It cost $550,000 to make yet it grossed nearly $18 million and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including best actor for Douglas and best adapted screenplay for Foreman. Its success brought Kramer offers from Fox, Paramount, and MGM for multi-picture production deals—including a bizarre post-midnight rendezvous with Howard Hughes, who had just purchased RKO. But Kramer jealously guarded the autonomy and freedom of his new start-up.

He and Foreman went on to make a searing racial drama, Home of the Brave; The Men , Brando’s cinematic debut, in which he plays a paraplegic war veteran; and an adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac , which would win Jose Ferrer best-actor honors. It wasn’t just the hard-hitting performances and contemporary subject matter ( Cyrano being an exception) that made Kramer’s films successful. It was also the way they were made: low budget, black and white, scores by Dimitri Tiomkin, inspired film editing by Harry Gerstad, unfussy art direction by Rudolph Sternad, along with Foreman’s characters and dialogue, which grew sharper and more compelling with each film.

As a producer, Kramer was a withering perfectionist. But he encouraged collaboration among his gifted cohorts as well as a sense of ownership , a welcome attribute in a dictatorial profession. What’s more, each picture, at Kramer’s insistence, included a pre-shoot rehearsal. This allowed the director, actors, and crew to get comfortable with one another before a single reel was shot. The practice, combined with cut-rate cast and production methods, meant Kramer could bring in a film at roughly half the cost of a major-studio movie. Kramer was also a keen judge of talent, giving a three-picture deal to director Fred Zinnemann, a cultured Viennese Jew known for his meticulous craftsmanship and documentary-film style.

Soon, however, the temptation to cash in on the company’s newfound fame and success proved too great. By 1951, Kramer signed a five-year, 30-picture deal with Columbia and its famously autocratic and uncouth studio head, Harry Cohn, who announced the new pact as “the most important deal we’ve ever made.” Kramer and his team—renamed the Stanley Kramer Company—were suddenly under the gun to come up with new projects to feed the Columbia beast. But under an old distribution contract, Kramer also owed United Artists one remaining film. Kramer, his P.R. chief George Glass, and most of their team headed off to smart new offices at Columbia. Foreman and Zinnemann stayed behind to make High Noon .

High Noon had a lot going against it. Foreman had never written a Western. Zinnemann had never directed one. Foreman’s screenplay, inspired by a short story in Collier ’s magazine called “The Tin Star,” by John W. Cunningham, had no beautiful vistas, no Indian raids, no cattle stampedes. What it did have were beautifully drawn characters who defied the cowboy stereotypes; realistic dialogue without a wasted word; and a suspenseful story that unwound in real time. Roughly 80 minutes elapse between the moment the retired marshal learns that his nemesis is coming back to town (to kill him) and the arrival of the noon train. The script abounded with shots of ticking clocks.

The skintight, $790,000 budget that Foreman and Zinnemann were given in 1951 meant they couldn’t afford to film in color or hire one of the hot young stars they preferred for the lawman, such as Brando, Douglas, William Holden, or Gregory Peck. With Kramer’s help, however, they found their way around many obstacles. First, Kramer signed a talented new actress to play the marshal’s bride. Grace Kelly was just 21 but already an experienced stage performer, and she had had only one small part in a movie. Still, the producer liked her virginal looks—and the fact she was willing to work for $750 a week.

Stanley Kramer on the set of Bless the Beasts and the Children, 1970.

Next, came his biggest coup. At age 50, one of Hollywood’s brightest stars, Gary Cooper, saw his career beginning to fade. He was in the middle of a lucrative deal with Warner Bros. that paid him $275,000 for a picture a year. But after a great run in the early 1940s ( Meet John Doe, Sergeant York, The Pride of the Yankees, For Whom the Bell Tolls ), he was being offered increasingly mediocre roles. “He was furious [and] frustrated,” his daughter Maria Cooper Janis says today. “They would send him these crappy scripts and at some point you have to do one of them.” In addition, his marriage was unraveling: he had separated from Veronica, his wife of 17 years (and Maria’s mother), and was coping with the emotional demands of his breathtaking but tempestuous young mistress, 25-year-old Patricia Neal.

Cooper knew a good part when he saw one, and he loved the High Noon script. His lawyer let Kramer know he’d be willing to play the role—for $100,000. Both Kramer and Foreman saw Cooper as a product of the old-time studio system they disdained. “He was a kind of relic,” Foreman would recall. Plus, Cooper was 29 years older than Kelly, who would play his wife. Nonetheless, he brought authenticity and a box-office name. The deal was done.

Foreman had the job of putting together the rest of the cast for a total of $30,000. He hired famed character actor Thomas J. Mitchell for one week. He corralled Lloyd Bridges, Harry Morgan, Lon Chaney Jr., and a young Mexican actress named Katy Jurado. He found three relative newcomers to play the bad guys who wait with their boss for the noon train to arrive: Robert Wilke, Sheb Wooley, and Lee Van Cleef, who would all become regular faces in 50s and 60s Westerns.

It was like constructing a human jigsaw puzzle. Capitalizing on Mitchell’s six days of camera time, most of the other actors had to show up during the first week while he shot his scenes. Everything needed to synch up perfectly. Zinnemann hired his old friend Floyd Crosby as director of photography, because he knew Crosby could help achieve the washed-out, sweat-stained, pseudo-documentary look he wanted. (Crosby’s son David became a leader of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash). Foreman hired one of Hollywood’s best young film editors, Elmo Williams, to cut the picture.

High Noon , despite all the odds, seemed to be shaping up into something special. But there was one obstacle even they couldn’t circumvent.

Foreman and his camera in 1963.

Four years earlier, the House Committee on Un-American Activities had held its first public hearings on alleged Communist infiltration of the film industry. The result: contempt of Congress citations for 10 screenwriters, directors, and producers, known as the Hollywood Ten, who had refused to respond directly to the committee’s questions. Most had been members of the American Communist Party in the 1930s and early 1940s. Many still were, but they weren’t about to admit it or cooperate. Early on, they had had a lot of support from the film community—Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Danny Kaye, and a planeload of liberal-leaning movie stars flew from Hollywood to Washington to protest outside the committee room. Even Ronald Reagan, then head of the Screen Actors Guild, questioned the committee’s bully-boy methods.

By 1951 the atmosphere was very different. The Ten had each been sentenced to up to a year in prison, and their convictions were upheld by the Supreme Court. While they were winding up their terms in prison, the committee decided it was time for a sequel.

Fear of Communism was rampant. The Soviet Union had developed an atomic bomb. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and their alleged co-conspirators had been arrested for espionage. Alger Hiss was in prison for allegedly being a Soviet agent. American troops were fighting Communist forces in North Korea. Hollywood’s conservative studio heads, fearful of boycotts and lost business, were determined to fire any past or present member, or sympathizer, who refused to cooperate with the committee. Suddenly the most harmless of subjects were under political scrutiny. Monogram Studios shelved a film project on the life of Hiawatha, The New York Times reported, because the Onandaga chief’s efforts as a peacemaker among warring tribes “might cause the picture to be regarded as a message for peace and therefore helpful to present Communist designs.”

Carl Foreman and his wife, Estelle, had joined the Communist Party in 1938, quit in 1943 when he entered the Army, and rejoined for a year or so after the war. He later said he found out that the party was under the thumb of Moscow and operated undemocratically. Though his political instincts had remained decidedly left wing, he was far too busy writing screenplays to engage in political activism. Even so, he watched with growing dismay as former party members like Larry Parks (the Oscar-nominated star of The Jolson Story ) and Sterling Hayden (a former Marine just getting his start in pictures) were grilled or groveled on the stand and were compelled to name names. “Carl always said he was horrified by what happened to Parks,” says Eve Williams-Jones, Foreman’s second wife and widow.

Once Foreman got his subpoena, he knew he had to tell his High Noon collaborators. Zinnemann, a liberal who detested the blacklist, told Foreman he could count on him to be in his corner. So, surprisingly, did Gary Cooper, who was a conservative Republican and a charter member of the right-wing Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. Cooper had grown fond of Foreman, admired his skills as a screenwriter and producer, and believed him when he said he was no longer a party member. Cooper even volunteered to go before the committee and vouch for Foreman’s “Americanism,” but his lawyer quickly vetoed the idea.

At first, Stanley Kramer also gave Foreman his full support. But as the summer wore on, Kramer began to back off. His new business partner, Sam Katz, a hardheaded former production executive at MGM, warned that Foreman’s refusal to come clean with the committee could kill the larger deal with Columbia. George Glass, the company’s marketing wizard, also received a subpoena. At first, Glass said he planned to defy the committee. But within days he changed his mind, citing his loyalty to the company and a belatedly found hatred for Communism. Soon after, Glass named names in an executive session. Others attached to High Noon were also under the H.U.A.C. spotlight, including supporting actor Lloyd Bridges.

Kramer himself was a staunch liberal Democrat. But as far as H.U.A.C. and the F.B.I. were concerned, liberals were almost as bad as Communists. In June 1951 a supposedly reliable informant told F.B.I. agents that Kramer “had the reputation of being sympathetic to Communism.” Screenwriter Martin Berkeley, a former Communist who named more than 150 people in spectacular public testimony, told the F.B.I.’s L.A. office that while he knew nothing derogatory about Kramer personally, “the Kramer outfit is Red from the top to the bottom.”

Foreman argued in meetings with Kramer that the company could withstand H.U.A.C.’s political pressure so long as everyone stuck together. But Kramer grew wary. For one thing, he felt Foreman wasn’t being completely honest about his former party membership. And he didn’t like the idea that Foreman was planning to invoke the Fifth and refuse to answer the committee’s questions. In Kramer’s view, it would look like Foreman had something to hide, and the shadow of suspicion would inevitably fall on his colleagues. Kramer, Katz, and Glass were demanding to know where Foreman’s true allegiance lay.

Kramer and Foreman were also at odds over High Noon . Kramer didn’t like what he was seeing in the dailies. Floyd Crosby’s gritty style looked too dark. Kramer also didn’t care for Cooper’s laconic, minimalist performance. “He seemed not to be acting but simply being himself,” Kramer would recall in his memoirs. “The character Cooper played was meant to be a simple man, not a superhero, strong but not unafraid, a human being. I think Cooper could have played him in his sleep— there were times I thought that was just what he was doing .” Kramer was equally critical of Grace Kelly, remarking, “She was just too young for Cooper.”

Foreman, for his part, was fed up with Kramer. He believed the picture was being shortchanged because Kramer and the production department were too busy trying to meet the new demands of churning out six pictures a year for Columbia. As the date of Foreman’s H.U.A.C. appearance grew near, things deteriorated. “We seemed to buck each other on practically everything,” he would recall. “I was in no mood to compromise anymore, and I fought for everything I thought necessary all the way.”

Foreman refrained from telling his colleagues that High Noon was a blacklist parable. He thought Zinnemann had enough on his mind already, and he feared Kramer and the other partners might panic and pull the plug if they recognized what he was doing.

Still, as Foreman put the finishing touches on the screenplay, he found himself inserting words he was fielding from his so-called friends, including Kramer and Glass. “A lot of the dialogue was almost the dialogue that I was hearing from people and even in the company,” he would later note. “You could walk down the street and see friends of yours recognize you, turn, and walk the other way.”

The conflict finally came to a head during the second week of shooting. Foreman was summoned to a meeting at Columbia with Kramer and the others—Katz, Glass, and lawyer Sam Zagon. Kramer announced their verdict: Foreman was to stop working on High Noon , hand in his resignation, and turn over his stock holdings in the firm. All of this was designed to insulate the Stanley Kramer Company before Foreman testified. At a later date, he was told, they would reach an appropriate cash settlement with him.

Foreman resisted. He said he didn’t want to appear before the committee as a man who had already been tried and convicted by his own partners. Nor did he want to abandon the picture at such a crucial juncture. Kramer bridled and said he would take over the picture himself. Foreman objected, pointing out that Kramer, his hands already full with the Columbia deal, had had little direct involvement up to that point.

Two days later, Glass came by the Burbank set with an envelope containing two letters signed by Kramer suspending Foreman from the company and from any role on High Noon . “You are hereby further instructed and directed not to come upon the premises . . . nor upon any location where said motion picture is being produced.”

Soon after, Kramer went to Zinnemann and Cooper and to Bruce Church, a Salinas agribusiness magnate who had helped finance the film, to tell them he was taking over from Foreman. To his great surprise, all three objected. To add to Kramer’s problems, his lawyers quickly discovered that Foreman had never signed a standard agreement deferring part of his salary during production. Without the deferral, Bank of America could refuse to issue the loan the company needed to complete the picture.

Kramer and the other partners were stuck. The following day Foreman received a new letter restoring his role as writer and associate producer of High Noon until the film was completed. Neither side would comment about Foreman’s status at the company without the other’s consent. At Kramer’s request, he and Foreman met again the next day.

According to Foreman’s account, Kramer sounded bitter and resentful. “Well, you’ve won,” he told Foreman. Not really, Foreman replied. He had never wanted to hurt Kramer, and even now, Foreman explained, he hated to see Kramer humiliated or feel defeated. Foreman said he didn’t want to leave the company, but if Kramer insisted, he would. Just give me a decent settlement, Foreman told him.

Then, Foreman said, Kramer started talking about Foreman’s plan to invoke the Fifth Amendment on the witness stand. The minute you do that, Kramer told him, they’ll think you’re a Communist and they’ll suspect me as well. Foreman replied: if they ask me about you, I’ll say you’re a fervent anti-Communist, and I won’t do anything to hurt you or the company. As Foreman saw it, everyone else had caved too quickly to H.U.A.C.’s pressure. If he and Kramer held firm, they could beat this. The two men agreed to wait 60 days and see what happened, without taking action or commenting publicly. “Let’s fight as long as we can,” Foreman pleaded. Kramer, in Foreman’s recollection, agreed.

Over the years, Stanley Kramer would seldom discuss his breakup with Foreman or criticize his former friend and business partner. There was one notable exception: an interview Kramer gave in the 1970s to author and editor Victor Navasky for Naming Names , Navasky’s seminal book on the blacklist, in which Kramer contends Foreman was not honest with him about his past Communist connections and what he planned to say on the witness stand.

“In my negotiations with Foreman there was this veil of unspoken ideas about how my past connections could militate against me,” Kramer contended. “If he had leveled with me, if I had known all the facts, that would have been one thing. But he really didn’t. . . . We had a couple of meetings in which I locked the door and looked him right in the eye, and I just felt he didn’t look me back in the right way, and we parted. That’s it.”

Their final meeting lasted more than two hours. The two friends would never speak to each other again.

Dressed in a dark-blue suit and what he called “a very sincere tie,” Carl Foreman took the witness stand on Monday morning, September 24, 1951, in the small, claustrophobic Room 518 of the Federal Building in Los Angeles. His testimony took less than an hour. Asked if he was a Communist, Foreman gave a convoluted reply: a year earlier, he said, he had signed a loyalty oath as a member of the board of the Screen Writers Guild pledging he was not a member of the party. “That statement was true at the time, sir, and is true today,” he added.

But when asked if he had been a Communist before 1950, Foreman invoked the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination and continued to do so throughout the hearing. He also pointedly refused the invitation of several questioners to denounce the party or comment further about its activities except to say that if he had come across anyone with treasonous intentions against the United States, he would have turned them in.

Committee members denounced his refusal to cooperate. He didn’t budge. He went home exhausted and drained, but took the night train to Sonora County where the High Noon cast and crew were spending a week on location. The next day, he received word that Columbia had issued a statement under Kramer’s name citing “a total disagreement between Carl Foreman and myself.” The stockholders and company directors followed suit, effectively removing him from the premises and the picture. “They didn’t wait the 60 days,” Foreman would later recall. “They . . . threw me to the wolves.”

Foreman’s lawyer eventually negotiated a settlement with the company for an undisclosed amount to Foreman as severance pay, compensation for his shares, and his agreement to surrender his associate producer’s credit on High Noon . Foreman would later put the total payment at around $150,000.

Next, he announced he was starting his own independent production company. Gary Cooper agreed to invest and the two men spoke about the actor starring in one of Foreman’s first productions. The agreement lasted exactly eight days. Cooper came under extraordinary public pressure—from right-wing gossip columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, who publicly questioned what this icon of American values was doing going into business with a former Red; from studio executives at Warner’s, who threatened to invoke the standard morals clause in Cooper’s contract to shut him down permanently; and from Cooper’s pals in the Motion Picture Alliance, including John Wayne. Cooper took off for Sun Valley, Idaho, where he embarked on a hunting and fishing expedition with his good pal Ernest Hemingway. A few days later he phoned Hopper to tell her that while he was still convinced of Foreman’s “loyalty, Americanism, and ability as a picture maker,” he had received “notice of considerable reaction and thinks it better for all concerned that he does not purchase any stock.” Hopper’s story ran on the front page of the next day’s Los Angeles Times.

Foreman never complained about Cooper’s retreat—“He was the only big one who tried,” Foreman later said—but his hopes of continuing to work in Hollywood were now shattered. Several months later, he moved to London, where he would live for the next 25 years, working on a slate of films, most notably co-writing the Oscar-winning screenplay for The Bridge on the River Kwai with blacklisted colleague Michael Wilson. (The movie took home six Academy Awards, including best picture and best screenplay.) The official screen credit would go to Pierre Boule, the French author of the novel upon which the 1957 movie was based. This injustice wasn’t rectified until 1984, when the Motion Picture Academy recognized Foreman and Wilson as the actual writers.

By then, both men were dead. At a somber ceremony, Zelma Wilson and Eve Foreman, their respective widows, picked up their prizes.

High Noon Cover.

Controversy over High Noon didn’t end with Carl Foreman’s departure. After the filming, Kramer had it edited and re-edited to tighten the suspense. To almost everyone’s surprise at the Kramer Company, the little Western was an immediate hit upon its release in July 1952. President Eisenhower loved it, and 40 years later, so did Bill Clinton, who reportedly screened it some 20 times while in the White House. Over the years Kramer, film editor Elmo Williams, Zinnemann, and Foreman would debate endlessly just who was responsible for its abiding quality. “Of course the whole story behind the filming of High Noon is a comedy of errors and omissions—and a frantic scamper for credit by everyone since the film achieved some success,” Kramer would tell film historian Rudy Behlmer .

In the end, Carl Foreman’s career wasn’t the only victim of the blacklist. At least 500 people found themselves cast out of work, often for a decade or more. There were several suicides. There were premature deaths. Canada Lee, the African-American actor from Body and Soul, died at age 45; two weeks later, heart failure claimed his 39-year-old co-star, John Garfield. Hollywood carried on, of course. But the studios, more or less, stopped making socially conscious movies for fear of facing another congressional reign of terror.

One of the notable exceptions was Stanley Kramer. After his partnership with Columbia dissolved in a sea of red ink and acrimony, he became an independent producer and director. Among his first hits was The Defiant Ones with Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis playing escaped prisoners in the Jim Crow South who are chained together and must learn to cooperate to have any chance at freedom. The script was co-written by Nedrick Young, a blacklisted screenwriter.

When the screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award, no one attempted to hide Young’s identity. And when it won, Young and co-writer Harold B. Smith went up together to collect their Oscars. Kramer hired the two men again to write Inherit the Wind, and when the American Legion objected, he debated Martin B. McKneally, the organization’s commander, on national television. He branded the legion’s Red Scare crusade “un-American and reprehensible.”

Kramer went on to make a series of meaningful “message” pictures, including On the Beach, Judgment at Nuremburg, Ship of Fools , and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner . Some were hits and some were clunkers, and Kramer took a lot of flak from critics like Pauline Kael, who called his films “irritatingly self-righteous” and “feeble intellectually.” Nonetheless, they paved the way for the political films of the late 1960s and 1970s, including MASH , written by Hollywood Ten member Ring Lardner Jr., and Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun —along with Midnight Cowboy, Serpico , and Coming Home , all written by blacklisted screenwriter Waldo Salt; Martin Ritt and Walter Bernstein’s The Front (which featured several blacklisted actors); as well as Hal Ashby’s Bound for Glory , Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now , and Warren Beatty’s Reds .

Viewed today, it’s hard to see High Noon as an anti-blacklist allegory. Gary Cooper’s Will Kane could just as easily be construed as Senator Joe McCarthy, standing bravely alone against an outlaw gang of Commies. But the arch conservative John Wayne smelled out the subversive politics lurking in the picture’s soul. He once called High Noon “the most un-American thing I’ve seen in my whole life.” Some distinguished critics have said it isn’t a Western at all but a modern social drama artificially grated onto an Old West setting.

Even so, despite its troubled and turbulent provenance, High Noon has succeeded in becoming, in the words of film critic and historian Leonard Maltin, “a morality play that just happens to be universal.”

Glenn Frankel

‘High Noon’: A Remarkable Take on Society Whatever You Find Lurking Beneath Its Surface

By Sven Mikulec

The fact that somebody shoots a gun is of no interest. what i want to know is why he shoots it and what the consequences are. — fred zinnemann.

Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon has enjoyed the reputation of being one of the most significant westerns of all time. An instant hit both with the critics and the public, the story of an honest, hard-working and just sheriff who postpones his honeymoon in order to confront a vicious bandit released from prison and determined to wreck chaos on the sheriff’s peaceful little town, captivated the imagination of the viewers, simultaneously inspiring film critics and theorists to dig deeper and find what contemporary truths and burning themes the movie echoed in its wonderfully staged 90 minutes of real-time action. It’s interesting to note that Gary Cooper, awarded an Oscar for his performance as the troubled central character here, was far from being the first choice. At this time, his career was in an obvious decline, as was his health, and it took Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston and John Wayne to decline the offer for him to be able to star. Despite his career’s downfall, Cooper was still a strong name, which certainly helped High Noon get the attention it deserved.

High Noon ’s screenwriter Carl Foreman was summoned to Washington during filming to be questioned about his Communist activities (he was a member, but left the party 10 years prior to this film), reportedly returning to the set frightened but inspired. He wrote in a series of scenes that reflected his own experience with the HUAC and the fact that he was soon to be blacklisted gave him vigor to make the most out of this story. There are, however, no traces whatsoever of Communist propaganda in the film: only strong feelings of disillusionment, sorrow and disappointment of a man left by his friends and colleagues to be eaten up by a malignant force threatening to disrupt a carefully built community of democracy and respect.

Some saw High Noon as an allegory of the Korean War, others connected the dots and concluded it was obviously Foreman’s effort to cinematically confront McCarthyism, but we opt for neither, choosing to see High Noon for what we in fact believe it to be—a marvelous story full of tension, uneasiness and anticipation that poses the crucial question of whether keeping civilization and order alive is worth risking one’s life for. However you call it, whatever you find lurking underneath its surface, High Noon is a remarkable take on society and morality.

A monumentally important screenplay. Screenwriter must-read: Carl Foreman’s screenplay for High Noon [ PDF ]. (NOTE: For educational and research purposes only ). The DVD/60th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray of the film is available at Amazon and other online retailers. Absolutely our highest recommendation.

  High Noon written by Carl Forman and directed by Fred Zinnemann was hailed upon its release in 1952 as an instant classic. It won several Academy Awards, including one for its legendary star, Gary Cooper. It was named the year’s best picture by the New York Film Critics Society. And yet, even though it’s high on the American Film Institute’s 100 Best Films of the Century, High Noon ’s respect has been hard won, indeed. Perhaps no other classic film has had such a rocky road as this “simple little western.”

  Inside High Noon , a documentary explores both the remarkable 1952 film and the gripping story behind its troubled production. When released, High Noon was seen as an attack on HUAC. However, this means little to an audience today. Inside High Noon examines with fresh insight what makes High Noon timeless, and why it works so powerfully still, over 60 years after its release. The newly edited with added footage behind the scenes Inside High Noon —Directors Cut documentary will be released Fall 2015 in Blu-ray with numerous special features on the DVD, says producer Richard Zampella.

  One of Hollywood’s legendary directors, Fred Zinnemann (1907–1997) refused to conform to the studio system. Rethinking traditional film genres and telling stories about outsiders and nonconformists were essential qualities of this master director, who created a true cinema of resistance. More than any director of his generation, Zinnemann researched, sketched, and annotated his shots—revealing a meticulous and bold cinematic artist with a complex visual style. The Getty Center celebrated the 60th anniversary of Fred Zinnemann’s classic and controversial western, High Noon (1952), with a conversation featuring the director’s son, Tim Zinnemann; Gary Cooper’s daughter, Maria Cooper Janis; and Getty scholar Jennifer Smyth following the screening at the Getty Center on April 17, 2012.

  The stark black and white deep-focus cinematography of Floyd Crosby perfectly captures the parched heat and dust of the sun-baked town. You can really feel the heat and taste the dust. Other striking elements of the film’s visual style include low angle shots of Kane, dressed in black, with his lanky frame as well as his anguished face, contrasted against a stark and cloud-less sky. Director Fred Zinnemann describes the visual style of the film: “For the visual concept, the cameraman, Floyd Crosby, and I started with the idea that we wanted to show a film set in 1880 that would look like a newsreel, if there had been newsreels and cameras in those days. So we deliberately set out to recreate that. I wanted to have a newsreel quality to give the thing a reality. No filters. This is also why I didn’t want to do it in colour.” — Revenge, Honour and Betrayal in High Noon

  The name Dimitri Tiomkin calls forth the image of one of Hollywood’s most distinguished and best-loved composers. Whether the genre was Westerns, drama, comedy, film noir, adventure, or war documentary, Tiomkin’s visceral, dramatic underscores helped bring more than 100 feature films to vivid life. The list of respected directors who continuously called on his services is impressive: Frank Capra, Howard Hawks, and Alfred Hitchcock among them. Tiomkin’s career spanned over six decades producing some of the most unforgettable film scores of our time, bringing us the familiar sounds from The Alamo , The Guns of Navarone , Rawhide , Dial M for Murder , High Noon and many more.

  Here are several photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon . Courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences © Paramount. Intended for editorial use only. All material for educational and noncommercial purposes only.

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• Director: Fred Zinnemann
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Movie Review: High Noon

by Scott Holleran | Feb 1, 2017 | Movies

United Artists’ High Noon (1952) is a lightning rod of controversy. This compelling movie was made with the best talents and its taut, purpose-driven plot gains and keeps attention. Any honest appraisal must account for its flaws, too. I recently saw it again at the Autry Museum of the American West, where the movie will be discussed in a program next year comparing the classic Western to what’s become known as the Hollywood blacklist.

The picture’s timely connection to a congressional campaign against Communism pertains to its downside. High Noon has a stagy, stiff quality that feels pedantic, forced and overproduced. In that sense, like Gary Cooper’s film for Warner Bros., The Fountainhead (1949), it’s too obviously delivering a message. Part of the problem is the age difference between Cooper as Hadleyville’s marshal Will Kane and Grace Kelly ( Rear Window ) as his deeply religious bride. And this problem feeds off the plot’s need to make the marshal more like a prop than a fully developed character.

On its own terms, however, High Noon engages to a degree. Marshal and Mrs. Kane flee from an evildoer on their wedding day—as the married couple does in Oklahoma! , also directed by Fred Zinnemann ( From Here to Eternity , A Man for All Seasons , The Nun’s Story )—though they are not forced to do so and this, in particular, is a crucial distinction. To his credit, the marshal has retired his badge and job by the time he turns tail and gallops with his blonde young bride and, though he changes his mind, he later changes it again after putting the badge back on and decides to flee from harm. This is important because it shows that the lawman is conflicted.

So, infamously, is the town of Hadleyville. But the audience is supposed to morally judge them, and not him, for being conflicted. This while the marshal eventually, strictly and stubbornly out of a sense of duty carries out his mission to confront the evildoer coming in on the noontime train. Add a constant tick-tock clock and a song sung by Tex Ritter, with Dimitri Tiomkin’s Oscar-winning score, complex and interesting supporting roles and High Noon holds interest. As allegory for what the writer apparently considers an unjust anti-Communist hunt, High Noon does not hold up.

See the movie and judge for yourself. What works as moral dilemma is what drains and undercuts the allegorical warning. This explains why High Noon , first offered to John Wayne (who rejected the leading role) and held up by leftists and those who condemn anyone (such as director Elia Kazan, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn , Viva Zapata! , On the Waterfront ) who named Communists (such as High Noon ‘s credited screenwriter, Carl Foreman) in the HUAC hearings, gets praised and claimed across the political spectrum. The movie is mixed.

No one scene explicitly captures this more than the speech in church by the morally gray, rotten character played by Thomas Mitchell, who basically endorses pragmatism (speaking of timely political references) as the reason for denying a defense of the town, on the grounds that protecting Hadleyville from thugs jeopardizes government handouts. This from a character who says he admires Will Kane and rightly demands that Will Kane be heard in his plea for help, that the hearing be civil and that the townspeople do, in fact, contrary to some claims, constitute the whole town.

“This is our town,” pleads Mitchell’s character and then he proceeds to make the case for abandoning its defense and appeasing its enemies (speaking of timely political references again). It’s not surprising that the mixed, pragmatic philosophy of this movie, chosen by the Autry’s members as the audience favorite in 2016’s Western film series, dominates today’s culture, politics and foreign policy; anyone on the left, right or in the middle can justifiably project himself onto the Will Kane character. High Noon was apparently one of Ronald Reagan’s favorite movies yet Bill Clinton showed it in the White House numerous times.

What decent person wouldn’t want to see himself as the crusading hero seeking to render justice in a “dirty little village in the middle of nowhere” (starting with a lonely train station as in 1955’s Bad Day at Black Rock ) as Katy Jurado’s Mexican character puts it? With producer and director Stanley Kramer ( Judgment at Nuremberg , Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner , Inherit the Wind ) producing and said to be heavily involved with the filmmaking, how could High Noon not end up being serious, topical and absorbing? The cast of characters, though there are too many and they say too much, are a fascinating assortment of profiles in cowardice.

As evil men gather over the movie’s signature song at the start, church bells ring and religion comes off as the antidote selected by the townspeople to deal with whatever’s wrong with the world. They dread facing the truth, and, while the voice of reason is also a voice for pragmatism, he gathers and rallies the town in a church, where the parson, all but ceding that sermonizing offers no real, practical value here on earth, fully abdicates religion as a philosophy. Hadleyville’s lone intellectual, the judge who marries Will and Amy Kane, cites 5th century BC history and the fact that he’d previously fled a similarly challenged town called Indian Falls as he packs up and folds an American flag to get out of town. Lloyd Bridges’ deputy marshal sees himself as a victim who knows on some level that he lives through others. An innkeeper (who today would be a vocal proponent of Donald Trump ) is more explicit in stating that the ends justify the means.

In this sense, Hadleyville’s a stand-in for America and its religion is pragmatism and High Noon certainly rings true in this regard, down to the fact that the whole place’s days are numbered. To this point, the Battle Hymn of the Republic plays in the climax as the clock ticks, emphasizing that the town’s doom comes closer while the town prays away precious seconds. While Gary Cooper’s Will Kane runs around town pleading for help against the four monsters about to strike, a character played by Harry Morgan hides, making the town’s cowardice more explicit, in case the audience misses the point. Someone asks: “How do we know that [the villain] is on the train?” Someone asserts that “it’s not our jobs” to protect the town. Even Will Kane’s mentor, an arthritic, old man, opposes confronting the thugs, telling him: “It’s all for nothing.”

But why would a hero go to enlist an old man in the first place? This is the problem with High Noon, which contradicts Kane’s heroism at every turn.

Whether he’s riding out of town after retiring his badge—and he was uncertain and unsteady in both decisions from the start—Will Kane can’t seem to stand on his own and decide what’s right. On one hand, with a town so undeserving—and you learn how thugs came to rule as the town’s lousy characters come along—it’s easy to see why the former marshal doesn’t want to go it alone. It’s hardly worth the effort as the town’s already half-dead. As the Tex Ritter song, “Do Not Forsake Me, My Darling” plays as a taunt in the saloon, it’s as though Will Kane goes door to door taunting himself, doubting whether he does have a moral duty to save a town that won’t defend itself (he doesn’t), casting himself adrift wherever he goes. When his ex-deputy (Bridges) asks Kane “Why?” Kane answers: “I don’t know.”

Yet when Katy Jurado’s morally ambiguous character—depicted as decent but remember she’s been the hero’s and the villain’s leading lady—proclaims that “when [Kane] dies, this town dies, too,” what’s the evidence that the town’s worth saving, or that the man who’d risk dying for a town that isn’t worth saving is any kind of hero? Will Kane takes his final steps past the offices of Julius Weber, the watchmaker, reasserting the theme that civilization is running out of time, closeups come in a cluster when the clock strikes noon and, as the camera pulls back making Cooper’s Kane smaller and smaller, it’s clear that he’s puny. And he’s alone.

Or is he? This is High Noon ‘s final deceit, and, in its resolution, High Noon sort of justifies every pragmatic argument anyone in town’s ever made. You can have your cake and eat it, too, this classic movie aims to say, with Howard Hawks and John Wayne teaming for 1959’s underrated and emotionally superior counter-argument, Rio Bravo , several years later. The evidence that this picture won the audience is strong. Look around, down to who rules the day, and mark High Noon as an artful example of anti-heroism that dominates and influences in fiction and in fact.

Scott Holleran

The views expressed above represent those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editors and publishers of Capitalism Magazine . Capitalism Magazine sometimes publishes articles we disagree with because we think the article provides information, or a contrasting point of view, that may be of value to our readers.

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Film Review: High Noon

A basic western formula has been combined with good characterization in "High Noon," making it more of a western drama than the usual outdoor action feature. With the name of Gary Cooper to help it along, and on the basis of the adult-appealing dramatic content, the business outlook is favorable.

By William Brogdon

William Brogdon

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A basic western formula has been combined with good characterization in “High Noon,” making it more of a western drama than the usual outdoor action feature. With the name of Gary Cooper to help it along, and on the basis of the adult-appealing dramatic content, the business outlook is favorable.

The Stanley Kramer production does an excellent job of presenting a picture of a small western town and its people as they wait for a gun duel between the marshal and revenge-seeking killer, an event scheduled for high noon. The mood of the citizens, of Gary Cooper the marshal, and his bride ( Grace Kelly ), a Quaker who is against all violence, is aptly captured by Fred Zinnemann’s direction and the graphic lensing of Floyd Crosby, which perfectly pictures the heat and dust of the sun-baked locale.

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Zinnemann carefully and deliberately makes the most of the mood cast by the threat of impending violence. Script sometimes gets him a bit too involved in the development of side characters and their reactions, but he manages to keep the tension constantly mounting until it is resolved in the highly satisfactory, guns-blazing climax. Script was based on John W. Cunningham’s mag story, “The Tin Star,” and is rather derisive in what it has to say about citizens who are willing to accept law and order if they do not have to put personal effort into obtaining it.

Cooper does an unusually able job of portraying the marshal, ready to retire with his bride and then, for his own self-respect, called upon to perform one last chore as a law man even though it is the duty of the town’s citizens. Plot shows him turned down in every quarter, forced to go against the wishes of his bride and, finally, facing the deadly threat of the returning killer alone. Miss Kelly fits the mental picture of a Quaker girl nicely, but the femme assignment that has color and s. a. is carried by Katy Jurado, as an ex-girlfriend of the marshal. While the character is somewhat shadowy of purpose as written, her personality makes it stand out.

Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges, Otto Kruger, Lon Chaney, Henry Morgan, Morgan Farley, Harry Shannon, Tom London, Larry Blake and James Millican are among some of the townspeople adding to the film’s tempo. Ian MacDonald, the killer returning from jail to get Cooper, is excellent, as are Lee Van Cleef, Robert Wilke and Sheb Wooley, his gun pals.

Throughout the film is a hauntingly-presented ballad that tells the story of the coming gun duel. It wears the picture’s title and is tellingly sung by Tex Ritter. On the cleffing chore were Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington. Tiomkin also composed and directed good background score.

1952: Best Actor (Gary Cooper), Song (‘High Noon’), Scoring of a Dramatic Picture, Editing.

Nominations: Best Picture, Director, Screenplay

• Production: Kramer/United Artists. Dir Fred Zinnemann; Producer Stanley Kramer; Screenplay Carl Foreman; Camera Floyd Crosby; Editor Harry Gerstad, Elmo Williams; Music Dimitri Tiomkin Art Dir Rudolph Sternad. Previewed April 28, '52.
• Crew: (B&W) Available on VHS, DVD. Original review text from 1952. Running time: 84 MIN.
• With: Will Kane - Gary Cooper Jonas Henderson - Thomas Mitchell Harvey Pell - Lloyd Bridges Helen Ramirez - Katy Jurado Amy Kane - Grace Kelly Percy Mettrick - Otto Kruger Martin Howe - Lon Chaney Sam Fuller - Henry Morgan Frank Miller - Ian MacDonald Mildred Fuller - Eve McVeagh Minister - Morgan Farley Cooper - Harry Shannon Jack Colby - Lee Van Cleef James Pierce - Robert Wilke Bell Miller - Sheb Wooley Sam - Tom London Station Master - Ted Stanhope Gillis - Larry Blake Barber - William Phillips Mrs. Henderson - Jeanne Blackford Baker - James Millican Weaver - Cliff Clark Johnny - Ralph Reed Jimmy - William Newell Bartender - Lucien Prival Fred - Guy Beach Hotel Clerk - Howland Chamberlin Mrs. Simpson - Virginia Christine Charlie - Jack Elam Scott - Paul Dubov Coy - Harry Harvey Sawyer - Tim Graham Lewis - Nolan Leary Ezra - Tom Greenway Kibbee - Dick Elliott Trumbull - John Doucette

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High Noon Reviews

• 89   Metascore
• 1 hr 25 mins
• Drama, Suspense, Action & Adventure
• Watchlist Where to Watch

A retiring town marshal is left on his own as he prepares for a high-noon showdown with a gang of vengeful outlaws whose leader he arrested. As the town clock ticks down, even the marshal's new Quaker bride is nowhere to be found.

Not a frame is wasted in this taut, superbly directed, masterfully acted film, the first so-called "adult Western," in which the traditional and predictable elements of action, song and minimal romance give way to a swift, intense unraveling of a situation and complex character development. HIGH NOON is also the story of a western town, Hadleyville, and its sometimes stouthearted citizenry, the most prominent of whom is the stoic, heroic Will Kane (Gary Cooper), a lawman surrounded by friends and admirers at the start, deserted and doomed at the finish. Just married, Will and his beautiful blonde Quaker bride, Amy (Grace Kelly), are about to leave town forever, intending to put peacemaking behind them to settle down to ranch life. However, news comes that a fierce killer, Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald), is about to arrive and take vengeance against Will and the town for sending him to prison years earlier. Miller's brother (Sheb Wooley) and two gunslingers (Bob Wilke and Lee Van Cleef) are already at the depot, waiting for the train carrying Miller, which is due to arrive at high noon. In a moment of panic, urged on by his friends, Will races his buckboard and bride out of town and down the road into the open prairie, but he suddenly pulls up. When Amy asks him why he is stopping, Will tells her that he has to go back, that it's his duty to return. A landmark Western in every sense, HIGH NOON was shot by cinematographer Floyd Crosby in high contrast, an approach director Fred Zinnemann used to bring documentarylike authenticity to the film. Zinnemann's outstanding economical direction is in full force here, every minute pertinent and packed with suspense. Significantly, the film takes almost as much time to unreel as Will Kane takes in the story to prepare for the gun battle. For Cooper, this was a tour de force, a film wherein his mere presence overwhelms the viewer and carries a story that is believable only through his actions. He utters no long speeches, yet his expressions and movements are those of a man resolute in his lonely duty and resigned to his own doom. Every confrontation with the unresponsive townspeople causes him to suffer; in truth, Cooper was in real agony during the production, enduring a bleeding ulcer and an injured hip. After finishing the film, he said, "I'm all acted out." Cooper's exhaustion is evident in his onscreen appearance, but reportedly an appropriately haggard-looking Will Kane was just what Zinnemann was after, despite Hollywood's proclivity for dashing leading men. Though Kramer later claimed that the project was entirely his own creation, writer Carl Foreman contended neither Kramer nor his associates had any interest in the film from the outset. Kramer did, however, view the first showing with concern. Believing that it had a lot of dead spots, he ordered a series of closeups showing the anxiety lining Cooper's face, and included many quick cuts to clocks ticking relentlessly toward the doom of high noon. To further heighten the tension Kramer asked Dmitri Tiomkin to write a ballad that could be interwoven with the action. Though the composer protested that he only wrote scores, he and Ned Washington produced the wonderful "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin')", sung by Tex Ritter. The song has since become a classic, along with Tiomkin's memorable score.

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High Noon Parent Guide

Suitable for teens and adults, "high noon" should be high on your family's list of film classics to enjoy together..

Retired sheriff Will Kane (Gary Cooper) has barely said, “I do” to his new bride (Grace Kelly) before an old enemy seeking revenge forces him to pin his badge on again. Along with defending himself, Will also wants to protect the local citizens, even thought they are too cowardly to join him at the showdown.

Release date July 30, 1952

Run Time: 85 minutes

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by kerry bennett.

The job of a US Marshal is a thankless one. But Will Kane (Gary Cooper) is about to put that behind him. As a married man for mere minutes, he turns over his badge to the town officials. Then he discovers Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald), an ex-con, is arriving on the noon train. And the convicted gunslinger’s only intent is to exact revenge on the lawman that sent him to prison.

Will’s new bride Amy (Grace Kelly) begs her husband to leave with her. But he refuses to run—choosing instead to protect the citizens of Hadleyville even though he is officially retired.

This 1952 script covers only a few hours from start to finish and revolves around the marshal’s disillusionment as he looks for even one supporter. In this sense, the film differs from the typical posse chase scenes and shoot ‘em up action that were popular in Western movies of the era. While alcohol and smoking are depicted, the violence in this film comes mainly from the foreboding sense of doom for the marshal and a few scuffles that prelude the final gunfight on the deserted street of the New Mexico Territory whistle-stop.

Gary Cooper earned a Best Actor Oscar for his role as the resolute man behind the badge. The film also won three other Academy Awards including one for the song “Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’”. Cited as one of the American Film Institute’s Top 10 Westerns, this tale brings to the screen a more brooding perspective on the life of a frontier lawman. Suitable for teens and adults, High Noon should be high on your family’s list of film classics to enjoy together.

About author

Kerry Bennett

High noon rating & content info.

Why is High Noon rated Not Rated? High Noon is rated Not Rated by the MPAA

Violence: A woman discusses the death of family members. A man is punched in the face and knocked to the floor. Children play a game of pretend shooting. Men engage in a fistfight that results in some bloody injuries and one man being knocked out. Several characters are shot (some blood depicted) and killed. A barn is started on fire with a man inside. A woman is taken hostage.

Sexual Content: A married man and woman kiss. References are made to a woman’s past love interests.

Language: None noted.

Alcohol / Drug Use: Numerous scenes of smoking and drinking are included. A man drinks as a way to dealing with his guilt.

Page last updated July 17, 2017

High Noon Parents' Guide

Frank goes free because of a jury’s decision. How is the work of police officers stymied when a criminal is released back to the streets rather than sentenced to do time for his or her crime? How can different levels of the justice system work together effectively?

Why does Will’s wife detest violence? How does that affect her religious choices? Do you agree with Will’s decision to put his job (even though he is officially retired) above his commitment to his new bride?

Why are the townsfolk so reluctant to stand up to Frank and his gang? Does this kind of fear allow bullies to continue in their ways? Why does Will choose to stand up to Frank even when no one will join him?

The most recent home video release of High Noon movie is September 20, 2016. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes: High Noon Release Date: 20 September 2016 High Noon relelases to Home Video (Blu-ray) with the following extras: - “A Ticking Clock” - Academy Award-nominee Mark Goldblatt on the editing of High Noon - “A Stanley Kramer Production” - Michael Schlesinger on the eminent producer of High Noon - “Imitation of Life: The Blacklist History of High Noon” - with historian Larry Ceplair and blacklisted screenwriter Walter Bernstein - “Ulcers and Oscars: The Production History of High Noon” - a visual essay with rarely seen archival elements, narrated by Anton Yelchin - “Uncitizened Kane” - an original essay by Sight & Sound editor Nick James - Theatrical trailer

Related home video titles:

In The Alamo , Texan soldiers defend their fort against an invading Mexican army despite overwhelming odds against their success. The 1939 film The Four Feathers and the 2002 remake introduce a young officer whose dislike for the military results in him being branded a coward.

10 Best Gary Cooper Western Movies, Ranked

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Gary Cooper was one of the world's greatest actors during Hollywood's Golden Age. Cooper began his career as a supporting actor during the silent era, with his most notable role occurring in the World War I epic Wings . By the early 1930s, Cooper emerged as one of Hollywood's premier leading men, excelling across multiple genres, such as romantic dramas, screwball comedies, war films, and sports movies. Cooper was also a seminal actor in Golden Era Westerns, appearing in 42 films within the genre throughout his nearly 40-year career in Hollywood.

During his career, Cooper earned five Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role, winning twice for his performances in Sergeant York and High Noon . Cooper possessed a commanding screen presence, frequently portraying soft-spoken, yet morally righteous characters who epitomized the ideal American hero. Charlton Heston said of Cooper, "He projected the kind of man Americans would like to be, probably more than any actor that's ever lived." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Cooper the eleventh greatest male star of Hollywood's Golden Era. Cooper's Westerns rank among some of the best works within the genre.

10 Distant Drums Is a Rare Western Set in Florida (1951)

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• IMDb Rating: 6.4

A rare work within the Florida Western subgenre of Westerns, Raoul Walsh's Distant Drums takes place during the Second Seminole War. Cooper stars as Captain Quincy Wyatt, who helps lead an attack on a Spanish fort. After rescuing several prisoners, the group must face the dangerous Everglades and hostile Indians to reach safety.

Distant Drums was a box office success that offered audiences breathtaking on-location Technicolor cinematography. In regards to Distant Drums shooting in the Everglades, Cooper complained he "donated a gallon of his best blood to the mosquitoes and leeches." Walsh, a top-notch action filmmaker , received praise for his handling of Distant Drums' action sequences. Today, many know Distant Drums because they originated the Wilhelm scream. An iconic stock sound effect, the Wilhelm scream has appeared in over 400 films since 1951, including Star Wars , Reservoir Dogs , and Toy Story . In Distant Drums , Sheb Wooley births the Wilhelm scream when he yells as an alligator attacks him.

9 Springfield Rifle Is a Western Set During the American Civil War (1952)

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• IMDb Rating: 6.6

If someone mentions a Cooper Western from 1952, odds are High Noon is the focus of the conversation. However, Cooper also starred in Springfield Rifle in 1952, an overlooked Western directed by André de Toth. In the film, Cooper plays Major Alex "Lex" Kearney, a counterespionage agent who attempts to discover who stole Union cavalry horses during the American Civil War.

As is the case with many de Toth films, Springfield Rifle has enjoyed a more positive reception in recent years compared to when it first premiered. Nowadays, de Toth's filmography earns admiration for its cynical, brutal takes on the Western and film noir genres. Richard Harland Smith wrote of Springfield Rifle , "Clearly inspired by Anthony Mann's superior Winchester '73 , Springfield Rifle is not in the same league but remains a rousing and suspenseful programmer for the duration of its running time. If Cooper lacks a worthy costar, the supporting cast of contract players nonetheless keeps the viewer guessing as to whom the protagonist can trust, bestowing upon this oater the nervous energy of a crime thriller."

8 The Virginian Provided Cooper With His Breakout Role (1929)

• IMDb Rating: 6.7

Due to the Western genre's propensity for on-location shooting, Westerns faced many difficulties during the early sound era. The Virginian was Cooper's first full sound film. Cooper nervously accepted the role even though he worried his voice was not suitable for sound film. In the movie, Cooper stars as the Virginian, a good-natured cowboy who has a crisis of conscience when he discovers his best friend partakes in cattle rustling. Owen Wister's 1902 novel of the same name served as the movie's source material.

The Virginian went on to become one of the most successful Westerns of the early sound era. The film provided Cooper with his breakout performance , turning him from a supporting actor into a major movie star. Years later, Cooper referred to The Virginian as his favorite film role. In 2003, the American Film Institute nominated Copper's performance as the Virginian for their list of American cinema's greatest movie heroes. The American Film Institute also nominated Cooper's line, "If you wanna call me that, smile," for their list of Hollywood cinema's top film quotes. The Virginian later became a popular television series that ran for 249 episodes between 1962 and 1971.

7 Cooper Teams With Cecil B. DeMille for The Plainsman (1936)

• IMDb Rating: 6.8

A founding father of American cinema, Cecil B. DeMille was a prolific producer/director known for his epics in both the silent and sound eras. In 1936, DeMille cast Cooper in the Western The Plainsman , which tells a fictionalized account of the adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, and Buffalo Bill. Cooper stars as Wild Bill Hickok, while Jean Arthur co-stars as Calamity Jane, and James Ellison plays Buffalo Bill.

The Plainsman was a tremendous financial success, finishing 1936 as the third highest-grossing North American release. The film earned positive reviews from critics, who praised DeMille's direction and the performances given by Cooper and Charles Bickford. In his review of The Plainsman , Graham Greene wrote, " The Plainsman is certainly the finest Western since The Virginian : perhaps it is the finest Western in the history of the film. Indeed one might wonder whether Mr. de Mille's name had been taken in vain if it were not for the magnificent handling of the extras in the big sets: the brilliant detail, depth, and solidity of the dockside scenes at St. Louis, the charge of the Indian cavalry." In 2008, the American Film Institute nominated The Plainsman for their list of Hollywood cinema's best Westerns.

6 Friendly Persuasion Won the Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival (1956)

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• IMDb Rating: 7.3

The second Western collaboration between Cooper and William Wyler, Friendly Persuasion is a family drama set during the American Civil War based on Jessamyn West's 1945 novel The Friendly Persuasion . In the film, Cooper portrays Jess Birdwell, the patriarch of a Quaker family whose pacifist beliefs face scrutiny as a result of the American Civil War. Michael Wilson, Friendly Persuasion's screenwriter, initially did not receive credit for the film due to his blacklisting related to the House Un-American Activities Committee. Wilson did not receive credit until 1996, 18 years after his death.

Friendly Persuasion was a box office success that received six Academy Award nominations at the 29th Oscars ceremony. A few months after the Academy Awards, Friendly Persuasion won the Palme d'Or at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival. For his performance, Cooper earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor - Drama. The National Board of Review named Friendly Persuasion one of the year's Top Ten Films. The organization was also awarded Dorothy Maguire Best Actress. In 2005, the American Film Institute nominated Friendly Persuasion for their list of American cinema's greatest movie scores. The American Film Institute also nominated Friendly Persuasion's song, "Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)," for their list of the best Hollywood film songs.

5 Vera Cruz Is a Precursor to the Spaghetti Western (1954)

• IMDb Rating: 7.0

Throughout the 1950s, Westerns began to change, more closely emulating the pessimistic sentiments of post-World War II film noir than that of the traditional Western. Westerns directed by Anthony Mann and Budd Boetticher pushed the Western genre to more violent, cynical heights. Robert Aldrich's Vera Cruz fits into this same category of Western that bridges the gap between traditional Westerns of the 1930s and 1940s and revisionist Westerns of the 1960s and 1970s. In Vera Cruz , Cooper and Burt Lancaster star as Americans who partake in a revolution in Mexico for their profit.

Vera Cruz became a massive box office hit and emerged as one of the most influential Westerns of the 1950s. Championed by filmmakers such as Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah, Vera Cruz proved to be an important precursor to Leone's spaghetti Westerns and Peckinpah's revisionist Westerns. Like Leone and Peckinpah's films, Vera Cruz features amoral characters who make decisions solely based on self-interest. In Vera Cruz , the characters do not care about the revolution, they do not put any importance on loyalty. Instead, they make choices that will simply make them more money. Cooper's performance as Benjamin Trane is one of his best. It is a character way more complex than Cooper's usual clean-cut heroes.

4 The Westerner Is a Fictionalized Account of Judge Roy Bean (1940)

The Westerner

In a classic Western tale, a lone drifter finds himself in the middle of a bitter land dispute between homesteaders and a ruthless judge known for his harsh tactics. As he navigates the complexities of frontier justice, his own code of ethics leads him to unexpected alliances and confrontations, shaping the fate of the community.

Judge Roy Bean was a Justice of the Peace in Texas who famously called himself "The Only Law West of the Pecos." Over the years, Judge Roy Bean became a popular figure in Western media, with films and literature greatly exaggerating his life experiences. William Wyler's The Westerner , a highly fictionalized account of Bean's life, features Walter Brennan in the role of Judge Roy Bean. In the film, Cooper portrays Cole Harden, a drifter who opposes Bean's oppressive policies.

The Westerner is notable for Gregg Toland's magnificent cinematography, Niven Busch and Jo Swerling's screenplay, and Brennan's unforgettable performance. At the 13th Academy Awards, Brennan won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Brennan's win was his record-setting third win for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, a record that still stands today. The Westerner also earned Academy Award nominations for Best Writing, Original Story, and Best Art Direction, Black-and-White. In 2008, the American Film Institute nominated The Westerner for their list of the best American Westerns ever made.

3 Cooper Plays One of His Most Mysterious Characters in The Hanging Tree (1959)

• IMDb Rating: 7.1

Directed by prominent Western filmmaker Delmer Daves, The Hanging Tree sees Cooper playing one of his most mysterious characters. In the film, Cooper stars as Joseph Frail, a doctor with a dark past who settles down in a small mining town. Pretty quickly, Frail saves a young thief from punishment and nurses a Swiss immigrant back to health. Gossip, greed, and the evil miner Frenchy all complicate matters for Frail, culminating in a life-or-death climax.

Arguably the last great film of Cooper's career, The Hanging Tree was a critical success. At the 32nd Academy Awards, The Hanging Tree received a nomination for Best Music, Original Song. Cooper earned rave reviews for his performance, winning the Laurel Award for Top Action Performance. The Hanging Tree also garnered Laurel Award nominations for Top Action Drama, Top Male Supporting Performance, and Top Song. Jeff Stafford wrote of the film, "Underrated at the time of its release, The Hanging Tree is now considered a superior western from the waning years of that popular genre which coincided with the end of the studio era. It is also considered one of Gary Cooper's best performances from his final decade in film, comparable to his fine work in High Noon and Man of the West ."

2 Many Consider Man of the West Anthony Mann's Magnum Opus (1958)

Man of the West

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A reformed outlaw becomes stranded after an aborted train robbery with two other passengers and is forced to rejoin his old outlaw band.

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Anthony Mann directed some of the best Westerns of the 1950s. Winchester '73 , The Furies , The Naked Spur , and The Man from Laramie are just a few of his many masterpieces within the genre. However, many consider Mann's collaboration with Cooper, Man of the West , his magnum opus. In Man of the West , Cooper plays Link Jones, a man content with leaving his violent past behind him. After surviving a train robbery, Jones shacks up with his old gang. To survive, Jones must pretend he desires to rejoin his former outlaw crew.

Upon its debut, American critics and audiences met Man of the West with indifference. However, in France, critics such as Jean-Luc Godard lauded the movie and Mann's direction. Godard wrote that in the film, "each shot of Man of the West gives one the impression that Anthony Mann is reinventing the western, exactly as Matisse’s portraits reinvent the features of Piero della Francesca...In other words, he both shows and demonstrates, innovates and copies, criticizes and creates." Regarding Cooper's performance, The Guardian's Philip French wrote, " Man of the West was Cooper’s penultimate western and arguably his greatest performance, to which he brought a characteristic blend of decency, resolution, and self-doubt."

1 High Noon Is the Best Cooper Western (1952)

A town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon train.

• IMDb Rating: 7.9

High Noon is the best Western that stars Gary Cooper. Produced by Stanley Kramer and directed by Fred Zinnemann, High Noon finds Cooper portraying Will Kane, a newly married Marshall set to retire. However, upon learning an outlaw he once sent to prison is about to return to town to enact his revenge, Kane decides to stay and confront the situation head-on. Complications arise when no one agrees to help Kane handle the conflict.

High Noon was a critical and commercial success. The film finished 1952 as the year's tenth highest-grossing North American release. At the 25th Academy Awards, High Noon received seven nominations, winning for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Original Song, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. The American Film Institute placed High Noon 20th on their list of 100 Years...100 Thrills, 27th on their list of 100 Years...100 Cheers, and 27th on their list of 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition). The organization also named Will Kane the fifth-greatest hero in American cinema. Additionally, High Noon's score finished 10th on the American Film Institute's list of the best Hollywood scores, and the song "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin')" placed 25th on the organization's list of the greatest American movie songs. In 1989, High Noon became one of the first 25 films inducted into the National Film Registry.