Shane (1953)

Director:

George Stevens

Writers:

A.B. Guthrie Jr. (screenplay)
Jack Sher (additional dialogue)
(more)

Release Date:

24 September 1953 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Tagline:

The Greatest Story Of the West Ever Filmed [re-release]

Plot:

A weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smoldering settler/rancher conflict forces him to act.

Plot Keywords:

Gunfighter | Cattleman | Homestead | Gunslinger | Gun

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Alan Ladd	...	Shane
Jean Arthur	...	Marian Starrett
Van Heflin	...	Joe Starrett
Brandon De Wilde	...	Joey Starrett
Jack Palance	...	Jack Wilson (as Walter Jack Palance)
Ben Johnson	...	Chris Calloway
Edgar Buchanan	...	Fred Lewis
Emile Meyer	...	Rufus Ryker
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Stonewall Torrey
Douglas Spencer	...	Axel 'Swede' Shipstead
John Dierkes	...	Morgan Ryker
Ellen Corby	...	Mrs. Liz Torrey
Paul McVey	...	Sam Grafton
John Miller	...	Will Atkey - Bartender
Edith Evanson	...	Mrs. Shipstead
Leonard Strong	...	Ernie Wright
Ray Spiker	...	Axel Johnson - Homesteader
Janice Carroll	...	Susan Lewis
Martin Mason	...	Ed Howells
Helen Brown	...	Martha Lewis
Nancy Kulp	...	Mrs. Howells
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ewing Miles Brown	...	Ryker Man (uncredited)
Bill Cartledge	...	Ryker Man (uncredited)
William Dyer Jr.	...	Homesteader (uncredited)
Chester W. Hannan	...	Ryker Man (uncredited)
Alana Ladd	...	Little Girl (uncredited)
David Ladd	...	Little Boy (uncredited)
George J. Lewis	...	Ryker Man (uncredited)
Clayton Moore	...	Ryker Man (uncredited)
Howard Negley	...	Yank Potts (uncredited)
Charles Quirk	...	Clerk (uncredited)
Steve Raines	...	Ryker Man (uncredited)
William Simonds	...	Homesteader (uncredited)
Kathy Stainbrook	...	Lewis Child (uncredited)
Jack Sterling	...	Ryker Man (uncredited)
George Stevens	...	Knock Him Into That Pigpen, Chris! (voice) (uncredited)
Jo Ann Thompson	...	Lewis Child (uncredited)
Beverly Washburn	...	Ruth Lewis (uncredited)
Henry Wills	...	Ryker Man (uncredited)
David Wyatt	...	Homesteader Boy (uncredited)

Directed by
George Stevens

Writing credits
A.B. Guthrie Jr.		(screenplay)
Jack Sher		(additional dialogue)
Jack Schaefer		(based on the novel by)

Produced by
Ivan Moffat	....	associate producer
George Stevens	....	producer

Original Music by
Victor Young

Cinematography by
Loyal Griggs		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
William Hornbeck
Tom McAdoo

Art Direction by
Hal Pereira
Walter H. Tyler		(as Walter Tyler)

Set Decoration by
Emile Kuri

Costume Design by
Edith Head		(costumes)

Makeup Department
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John R. Coonan	....	assistant director (as John Coonan)

Sound Department
Gene Garvin	....	sound recordist
Harry Lindgren	....	sound recordist

Visual Effects by
Farciot Edouart	....	process photography
Gordon Jennings	....	special photographic effects

Stunts
Paul Baxley	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Wayne Burson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Danny Sands	....	stunts (uncredited)
Russell Saunders	....	stunt double: Alan Ladd (uncredited)
Ray Spiker	....	stunts (uncredited)
Henry Wills	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Irmin Roberts	....	second unit photography

Music Department
Sidney Cutner	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
John C. Hammell	....	music editor (uncredited)
George Parrish	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Leo Shuken	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Franz Waxman	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Joe De Young	....	technical advisor (as Joe DeYong)
Fred Guiol	....	associate director
Howie Horwitz	....	assistant to the producer
Richard Mueller	....	Technicolor color consultant
Charles Morton	....	script supervisor (uncredited)
Rodd Redwing	....	hand double: Alan Ladd (uncredited)
Gretchen Steinbrook	....	stand-in: Beverly Washburn (uncredited)
George Stevens Jr.	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures Corporation (as A Paramount Picture)

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1953) (USA) (theatrical)
• AFEX (1953) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Paramount (1953) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1959) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Paramount Pictures (1960) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Paramount Pictures (1966) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1968) (USA) (TV)
• Paramount Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2001) (Germany) (VHS)
• Cine Plus Home Entertainment (2003) (Germany) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Emerald (2007) (Argentina) (DVD)
• CIC Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (????) (Brazil) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"George Stevens' Production of Shane" - USA (complete title)

Runtime:

118 min | West Germany:90 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1953) | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (certificate #15895) | UK:PG (video rating: DVD audio commentary) (2003) | UK:U (1960) (passed with cuts) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG | Australia:G | West Germany:12 (f) | New Zealand:G | Germany:6 (DVD rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1986) | UK:PG (tv rating) | USA:Unrated | Brazil:Livre

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #45 Greatest Movie of All Time.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Joe Starrett points the gun at Shane when Shane has just arrived at the Starretts house, at the very beginning, the view from the back of Joe shows him raise the gun up. Then from the front view of Joe he raises the gun up again.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Joey:Somebody's comin', Pa!
Joe Starrett:Well, let him come.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "What's My Line?: Episode dated 30 September 1956" (1956)

Soundtrack:

I Ride an Old Paint (I'm A-Leavin' Cheyenne)

A sweeping and memorable movie

So much has been written over the years about SHANE; it's beautiful composition, its precise, if mechanical direction by George Stevens, and its good against evil theme, that there seems to be little left to say in the way of superlatives, but I will give it a try.

There are so many scenes in SHANE that standout as epic. They are like the jagged mountainscapes that dominate the picture: A young boy, slogging around in a marsh, aims his toy gun on a deer grazing on some grass stems, the deer lifts it's antlers and perfectly frames a lone rider approaching in the distance, a struggling family homestead held together by hard work, the father splitting wood, the mother baking in the kitchen, and always the mountains jutting upwards away off in the distance.

We have a stranger, lean and handsome, dressed in fringed buckskin. His dress and gun belt suggest something other than a farmer or rancher, yet we never really know, or ever know, of his past. He is kind and modest, and takes time to address the boy as though someone worth talking to, "You were watching me down the trail quite a spell, weren't you. I like a man who watches things going around.....He can make his mark someday." the boy smiles up at him, and an instant bond is formed, an idol worship in the making.

We have snickering, troublesome ranchhands who spend any free hours swilling whiskey at Graftons General Merchantile. "I thought I smelled pig. Which one of those tatter-pickers are you working for? Or are you just squattin' on the range?" this is the kind of menace that dogsany farmer who dares to come into town.

We have Shane, although trying to lead the simple life of farming, goaded into a fight by a sweaty-faced cowpoke (Ben Johnson). His bloodying of the cowpoke is like a violent ballet, graceful and cutting.

There is a meeting of the homesteaders, huddled together by lamplight, trying to solve there problems by resolving to go into town all together so that they would have strength in numbers. This is a rather sad scene since WE know that will be in vain.

There is touching elegance to the 4th of July celebration where there is fiddle music and dancing. Shane and Marion (the boy's mother) take a few turns to a reel..... dancing with others in the corral. Van Heflin (the Boy's father) is symbolically shut out beyond the fence. "Marion, they fenced me out" he grins. Yet we know that there is a growing affection between the two dancers.

There is tension in the late evening when the head of the ranchers pays visit to the homestead. "Look Starrett. When I come to this country you weren't much older than your boy there........ How would you like to go partners with me." It's sad because this is a real if clumsy attempt to "be reasonable" But as Shane would say on more than one occasion, "it's no use".

I could go on; the murder of the Stonewall at the hands of an especially evil hired gun from Cheyenne has great impact. And, the final confrontation at Graftons one fateful night, is one of the best in Westerns.

The characters are well developed and the story, while exiting, is a little melancholy.

The best Western ever made.