High Noon

Defiant lawmen, whiskey drinking cowboys, showdowns in the street with outlaws and the list goes on. These days it's easy to put old westerns into a list of cliches that left the once popular genre for dead with only the occasional signs of life since the 1970s. Described as the film for people who do not like westerns, High Noon from 1952 takes a very straight-laced approach and has continued to win a lot of praise avoiding some of those cliches but let's see how it holds up today.

Like many westerns, it involves a lawman in the shape of a tired Gary Cooper who has worked hard to clean-up his town and make it safe for all. However, upon the day he marries Grace Kelly, who looks like his daughter but I guess it was a different time, Cooper receives word that a man he arrested has dodged death-row and plans to return on the afternoon train. This causes an uproar amongst the town as to who should help Cooper as the villain only wants him. Should he leave town with his wife or hold onto the badge and finish what he started? Being a seasoned lawman it doesn't take much to guess what happens next, but director Fred Zinnemann does a fantastic job at ramping up the tension with a 24-esque use of realtime.

Unlike other westerns, the majority of High Noon is spent in the preparation before the villain arrives at the end. This brought a real sense of realism and danger as Cooper tries to form a posse to fight back. This is made worse when he realises a group of outlaws are waiting at the train station to join their leader and take revenge. However, some might find the foreboding sense of danger undercut by the ballad which runs throughout which can date the film by today's standards.

But if this doesn't bother you, High Noon is an extremely enjoyable western that it tightly constructed and never wastes a single gorgeous black-and-white frame. Gary Cooper is immediately likeable as the man who will not move as if some higher force compels him to stay, and also Grace Kelly shines in a considerably smaller role. If I had one gripe though about the casting, it would be Ian MacDonald as the villain who struggles to live up the reputation established early on. Without spoilers, we hear stories of a vicious, cold-blooded mad man and what steps off the train is hardly that.

Regardless, High Noon deserves the praise it receives and should certainly be on the watchlist for any western fans.