Shane (1953)

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

Director:

George Stevens

Writers:

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

Stars:

Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin

Won 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Shane rides into a conflict between cattleman Ryker and a bunch of settlers, like Joe Starrett and his family, whose land Ryker wants. When Shane beats up Ryker's man Chris, Ryker tries to buy him. Then Shane and Joe take on the whole Ryker crew. Ryker sends to Cheyenne for truly evil gunslinger Wilson. Shane must clear out all the guns from the valley.

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Plot Keywords:

admired by a child | drink thrown into someone's face | cemetery | bare chested male | settler | 

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Taglines:

From the master producer-director George Stevens

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The background music played when Shane walks into the bar for the final confrontation with Ryker and Wilson is the exact same music played in The Glass Key (1942), also starring Alan Ladd. The music and rhythmic drum beating occur during two different scenes, one early on in the film when Ladd confronts several villains and then later on in the film, again during a confrontation with them.

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Goofs

The name Starrett is variously pronounced "Stark" or "Start" or with two syllables with the first pronounced like the word "stare".

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

Introducing Brandon De Wilde

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Alternate Versions

The film was shot in Academy Ratio (1.33:1 or 4:3), but this was done around the time widescreen filmmaking was coming around. As such, many theatres cropped the film into a widescreen ratio to take advantage of this, with many DVDs being cropped as well. The 2013 Blu-ray Disc release is in the proper Academy Ratio.

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Connections

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies: America's Greatest Movies (1998)

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Soundtracks

I Ride an Old Paint (I'm A-Leavin' Cheyenne)
(uncredited)
Words and Music by Frank Goodwin, ca. 1875
Played and sung by many at a meeting

User Reviews

Irony, irony, and more irony

After watching the massively depressing LOGAN (2017) and noticing that the closing scene pays homage to Shane (same dialog used to mark Logan's grave) I felt the need to do an update review on Shane.

According to traditional Hollywood history, Shane is one of the 100 greatest films of all time, iconic, and even the dialog is multi-layered.

There is a scene in the short-lived TV series THE OTHERS (done by the same two men who created X-Files) where one of the lead characters, who is blind, regularly goes to the movies to watch SHANE, over and over. In many ways, that has to be one of the grandest back-handed compliments you can pay to a film.

I wish however to also suggest there is a great deal of hidden irony in what otherwise appears to be a straightforward western.

For example, Ladd hated guns and, according to film legend (Wikipedia) had to do over 100 takes in the iconic scene where he teaches the boy to draw. Similarly, Jack Palance hated horses and was only able to do one successful "mount" after many takes. Director Stevens had to use this same piece of film over and over, even to the point of running the strip backwards to make it look like Jack was dismounting.

Wait, it gets better. Director Stevens hated violence and wanted SHANE to be be an anti-violence film. However, the trope he invented for the gunfight, where the actors were violently pulled backwards by ropes as bullets struck, is considered by film historians to have "forever changed the face of film action" and led to an entirely new generation of gunfighting in films where the violence increased by a factor of 100X. Even the infamous Hong Kong action film directors consider they owe a debt to Stevens.

The final irony is that, in the opinion of this reviewer, the film does not stand for what the screenwriter intended. To this reviewer, Shane is a metaphor for the evolution of the United States itself, an arc more visible when this review is penned (in 2017) than in 1953. Although even in 1953, at the end of WW2, the US as a nation was having to face introspection, as a nation which had hitherto prided itself on isolationism suddenly felt compelled to become policeman to the entire world.

Still a great film. But also an ironic one.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 October 1953 (Japan)

Also Known As:

George Stevens' Production of Shane

Filming Locations:

Teton Range, Wyoming, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,100,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min 90 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording) 3 Channel Stereo (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1