Wednesday, June 25, 2008

High Tech Noon

When I was young(er), one of my favorite films was High Noon, with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. My readers are probably too young to know or to even have heard of that film (sometimes I feel like I'm the oldest person in the world).

From Wikipedia:

High Noon is a 1952 western film directed by Fred Zinnemann, about a newly married town marshal who is forced to face a gang of killers by himself.

Will Kane (Gary Cooper), the longtime marshal Hadleyville, has just married Amy (Grace Kelly), turned in his badge, and is preparing to move away to become a storekeeper. Soon after, the town learns that Frank Miller, a criminal Kane brought to justice, is due to arrive on the noon train. Miller had been sentenced to the gallows, but was pardoned due to a technicality. In court, he had vowed to get revenge on Kane and anyone who got in his way. His three gang members wait for him at the station. The worried townspeople encourage Kane to leave, hoping to defuse the situation... In the end, Kane faces the four gunmen alone. He guns down two of Miller's men, though he himself is wounded. Amy chooses her husband's life over her religious beliefs and kills the third gunman by shooting him in the back. Miller then takes her hostage and offers to trade her for Kane. Kane agrees, coming out into the open. Amy, however, claws Miller's face, causing him to release her. Kane then shoots and kills him. Then, as the cowardly townspeople emerge, Kane contemptuously throws his marshal's star in the dirt and leaves town with his wife.

In 1989, High Noon was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", entering the registry during the latter's first year of existence. The film is #27 on the American Film Institute's 2007 list of great films.

Anyhoo, somebody did a remake of the climax scene: the final shootout, by turning the bad guys into robotic aliens, and creating another masterpiece.



3 comments:

* ღ [heet4h * ღ said...

i am a new comer. i find out ur blog. then i think ur blog has lots of things to read and watch. i hope i can connect to u soon. look forward to hearing u. nice day

Buddhist with an attitude said...

Hi MinhHuong178, welcome!

Anonymous said...

Le train sifflera trois fois le titre français, non? Un grand classique du western. J'adore...