High Noon

On the day the Marshall Will Kane (Gary Cooper) gets married, he also receives a message that Frank Miller, a murderer he helped put away, has been pardoned. The news gets worse: Miller will arrive in town on the noon train to take his revenge on Marshall Kane.

At first, he and his bride, Amy (Grace Kelly) get on a wagon to leave town. But on his way out of town, Kane decides he can't just "run", otherwise he'll be running for the rest of his life. So he comes back and tries to form a posse to help him face Miller. Unfortunately, no one in town is willing to help. Most feel that Kane has brought this on himself, as well as on their town. Furthermore, his bride is angry that he feels he has to stay, so she buys a ticket out of town, and tells him she's leaving with or without him.

The movie is in real time, as we await the arrival of the train at high noon. Minute by minute, we watch as Kane deals with his fear and the fact that he's on his own to face Miller's gang.

I love a good western. But his one just didn't do it for me. It was a little corny. Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly had absolutely NO chemistry as a couple. I couldn't even tell Kane liked Amy that much. He was pretty emotionless. The only thing he really conveyed well was fear. A very young Lloyd Bridges was in the movie as well - a major character, but really, a pretty useless one. It would have been the same movie without him.

I feel kinda funny being critical of such a classic film! I mean, if millions before me have dubbed this "classic, who am I to say it stinks? I just felt like the story had great potential in so many areas, but instead, it was just a good story with dry characters that had no connection. Even the scene where he comes face to face with Miller arrives and leaves us with hardly any dramatic climax.

Best dramatic part was the final drive-away scene. Those five seconds had more drama and power than the entire movie.