This is one of the few films where the story plays out in real time. Star Gary Cooper has about 80 minutes before the Noon train brings a bad guy to town for a showdown and that's how long it takes. The train arrives on time and the shootout occurs on schedule.
It is the clock that makes this suspenseful Western work. Director Fred Zinnemann makes sure that the camera focuses often on the clock. As the time nears high noon the clock becomes noticeably bigger until the end the pendulum practically fills the screen. Don't bother with this movie on commercial television. Commercial breaks absolutely destroy the timing which drives this film.
The cast does an excellent job with the great script. Gary Cooper plays one of his best roles as the sheriff and Grace Kelly is very good as his Quaker wife who doesn't quite understand the need for violence. They are backed up well by Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges, Katy Jurado and Lon Chaney. Jack Elam has a good comic moment as a drunk sleeping it off in jail. Lee Van Cleef has a key role as one of the villains. He is the first of the four gunmen that the viewer sees, appearing in the opening credits. Incredibly, he gets through the entire film without uttering one word of dialogue.
The movie is loosely based on a story entitled "The Tin Star". The film has no connection to the movie of that name. The movie entitled "The Tin Star" ultimately honors the badge. In "High Noon" the sheriff finds that the badge carries little honor when the town doesn't support law and order. The townspeople are too eager to sacrifice Cooper to save the good name of the town. Much of the film follows Cooper as he tries to recruit help. He can't find any and perhaps he shouldn't have expected any. In "Rio Bravo" sheriff John Wayne turns down help from his old friend Ward Bond. "You're not good enough", he tells his friend. One of the great moments in "High Noon" is when Cooper realizes he will have to face the four baddies alone. He lays his head down on the desk and cries. It's a touching and credible moment in this great film.
The other element that makes this film work is the music. Dimitri Tiomkin's pulsating score repeats the title song "Do Not Forsake Me" over and over. This has the effect of increasing the tension and pacing the film. In the opening credits Tex Ritter sings Ned Washington's lyrics. The song won the Academy Award and helped the movie succeed at the box office when Frankie Laine--not Tex Ritter--made the song a hit.
It is the clock that makes this suspenseful Western work. Director Fred Zinnemann makes sure that the camera focuses often on the clock. As the time nears high noon the clock becomes noticeably bigger until the end the pendulum practically fills the screen. Don't bother with this movie on commercial television. Commercial breaks absolutely destroy the timing which drives this film.
The cast does an excellent job with the great script. Gary Cooper plays one of his best roles as the sheriff and Grace Kelly is very good as his Quaker wife who doesn't quite understand the need for violence. They are backed up well by Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges, Katy Jurado and Lon Chaney. Jack Elam has a good comic moment as a drunk sleeping it off in jail. Lee Van Cleef has a key role as one of the villains. He is the first of the four gunmen that the viewer sees, appearing in the opening credits. Incredibly, he gets through the entire film without uttering one word of dialogue.
The movie is loosely based on a story entitled "The Tin Star". The film has no connection to the movie of that name. The movie entitled "The Tin Star" ultimately honors the badge. In "High Noon" the sheriff finds that the badge carries little honor when the town doesn't support law and order. The townspeople are too eager to sacrifice Cooper to save the good name of the town. Much of the film follows Cooper as he tries to recruit help. He can't find any and perhaps he shouldn't have expected any. In "Rio Bravo" sheriff John Wayne turns down help from his old friend Ward Bond. "You're not good enough", he tells his friend. One of the great moments in "High Noon" is when Cooper realizes he will have to face the four baddies alone. He lays his head down on the desk and cries. It's a touching and credible moment in this great film.
The other element that makes this film work is the music. Dimitri Tiomkin's pulsating score repeats the title song "Do Not Forsake Me" over and over. This has the effect of increasing the tension and pacing the film. In the opening credits Tex Ritter sings Ned Washington's lyrics. The song won the Academy Award and helped the movie succeed at the box office when Frankie Laine--not Tex Ritter--made the song a hit.