Classic 50s Movie: “High Noon”

May is Classic 50s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Jeff Messerman.

Title: High Noon

Year: 1952

Writers: Carl Foreman (allegedly based on a magazine story called “The Tin Star” but that’s not entirely accurate…more on that later)

Lead Actors: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Lloyd Bridges, Thomas Mitchell, Lon Chaney Jr., and Henry (Harry) Morgan

Director: Fred Zinnemann

IMDb Plot Summary: Told almost in ‘real time,’ a town marshal is forced to take on a band of revenge-fueled killers on his own.

Why I Think This Is A Classic 50s Movie: This is, arguably, THE Western to end all Westerns. I know, I know…The Searchers! Stagecoach! Unforgiven! True Grit! The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance! Believe me, I’m with you. I adore them all too. But there’s something special about High Noon that trumps them all for me. Perhaps because this thing is nothing less than downright Shakespearean. You have a hero on shaky moral ground, not too proud to admit his failings and fears. Then there’s the town itself, seemingly comprised of ‘decent folk,’ and yet none of them are courageous or morally poised enough to stand with the man who saved the town from itself in the first place. For our purposes as screenwriters, the best thing this film does is establish an enormous sense of history, both in character and setting, without resorting to cheap tomfoolery like flashbacks or long-winded backstory. A glance, a single word, a quick interaction and you feel the history between these folks and their town. Isn’t that, ultimately, what we all hope for in our work…to make the audience ‘feel the history?’

I also love how Tex Ritter’s dirge-ish theme song plays almost constantly throughout. Never overbearing, it plays almost in the shadows, sliding in and out like an audio apparition, echo-like, a constant reminder that the fates of Kane and Miller are on an inevitable collision course.

My Favorite Moment in The Movie: This might sound silly but for me it’s a continual static shot…train tracks. It’s referenced quite a bit. Just a static shot of train tracks. And knowing something’s coming…the threat of these simple tracks is absolutely palpable. Always a good reminder for me in my projects. Instead of laboring the point, why not reference a simple image?

My Favorite Dialogue in the Movie: I give this one to the great Lon Chaney, Jr., as the prior marshal of the town who understands Kane’s predicament all too well. Honestly, doesn’t this speech sound like it could be torn right from the headlines of today?

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

Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie: One must not lose sight of what a little coup this film was back in 1952. By then most films were in color and yet the stark black and white photography serves this story (where things are anything but “black and white,” metaphorically speaking!) so well. Also the casting of Gary Cooper, considered by then an ‘over the hill’ actor, was an inspired bucking of the trend — hell, even the script called for Will Kane to be in his early 30’s…and yet Cooper was well over 50. Screenwriter Foreman, who was a victim of the Red Scare Blacklists of the time, was keenly aware that his film was slowly morphing into a very apt parable. Like so many in Hollywood at that time, the ‘good people’ of the world turn their backs on Will Kane and he must go it alone.

By the way, on the DVD extras, director Zinnemann recalls that it was a “first draft script by Foreman with a little help from (producer) Stanley Kramer.” FIRST DRAFT! Let that sink in for a while…

Now THAT’S a montage!

Fact: John Wayne apparently HATED High Noon (probably because “it was about and written by a bunch of commie pinko subversives!”…I hope you said that in your best Wayne voice!). Now watch this!

The movie’s original trailer:

Thanks, Jeff! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!

We already have a set of classic 60s Movies, 70s movies, 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on 50s movies.

Here is an updated list of 29 fine folks who have already volunteered [those who I put in bold have already sent me their posts]:

12 Angry Men — Ipsita Barik
A Place in the Sun — Zach Jansen
A Star is Born — Melinda Mahaffey
A Touch of Evil — David Joyner, Vincent Martini
All About Eve — Ricardo Bravo
American in Paris — stefani1601
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof — uncgym44
File on Thelma Jordon, The — David Joyner
Harvey — Felicity Flesher
High Noon — Jeff Messerman
Invasion of the Body Snatchers — Rick Dyke
Kiss Me Deadly — John Henderson
Marty — jetwillie69
Night of the Demon — David Hutchison
Night of the Hunter — Mark Twain
On the Waterfront — Bilbo Poynter
Pickpocket — Zach Jansen
Pick Up on South Street — Vincent Martini
Quiet Man, The — Traci Nell Peterson
Rear Window — Roy Gordon
Rebel Without a Cause — Jack McDonald
Searchers, The — mkm28
Seven Samurai, The — Paul Graunke
Singin’ in the Rain — Maegan Kelly
Some Like It Hot — Will King
Stalag 17 — James Schramm
Sunset Blvd. — Lisa Byrd
Tokyo Story — Jeff Messerman
Vertigo — Jason Pates

I’m looking for 31 guest posts, one for each day of May. Why not pitch in to help add to this online resource to inspire writers to learn about and — most importantly — watch great movies.

If you have a classic 50s movies on which you’d like to do a writeup, please either post in comments or email me.

Thanks in advance!

For the original post explaining the series, go here.

For all of the 50s movies featured in the series, go here.