High Noon

Hi Viper

It's bee a long time since I saw High Noon but like you I enjoyed it and have it in my collection at home.

The theme music is among the all time great western themes whether your choice is the Frankie Laine or Tex Ritter versions (personally I have no preference) and I like the idea of telling the story by musical narrative, a la Gunfight at the OK Corral, and The Man Who Shot lLberty Valance etc.

Gary Cooper always seemed to me in real life and on screen a man with a 'slow burn' type of personality and it came across in his screen persona, he took a time to rile but when he was look out.

The tension builing up and the clock ticking as one by one he loses his deputies and all efforts to recruit assistance fails leaving him to face the millers alone, with only grace Kelly to ultimately help him.

I believe Jack Elam was also in the picture and didn't say a word throughout, or was that Gunfight at the OK Corrall?

I also believe that John Wayne later picked up the Academy Award for Gary Coopers performance in High Noon and in his speech praised the writer saying that he wished he had been given a part like that.

This, seems hard to reconcile in view of what subsequently transpired with Hawks and Wayne in Rio Bravo which was in a deliberate contrast to High Noon and which when talking about both films Wayne was less than complimentary about the Fred Zimmerman product, and actually ridiculled the scene where Cooper drops his badge into the dirt at the end of the film, as something that no self respecting peace officer would do. And also turning round the story and, with the notable exception of Colorado and Dude, instead of recruiting the townspeople to assists him rejects them. I think I wished that the Dobe Carey scene hasd been left in by Hawks as it might have illustrated this better, but if you read Carey's book he explains why it wasn't.

I think that both films have their place in history, of the two High Noon because it was first thus setting the standard will be easily remembered, but Rio Bravo took a long time to earn autere status but runs a very close second.

Regards

Arthur

When I look at a masterpiece such as High Noon, I think it's sad that Wayne even 20 years after it, in his infamous Playboy-interview, said, he was "glad that I ran him out of the country", that's Carl Foreman who worked in England after that (did Guns of Navarone, for instance). Though I can understand why certain people in Hollywood hated the film at that time, Wayne being one of them, for it really was an off-beat western, targeting the McCarthy people. Emotinally, Wayne had a memory of "old Coop stepping on the sheriff's badge" which isn't true, of course - he just drops it.

(Arthur, Jack Elam is the guy in jail, set free by Cooper just at High Noon)

I just watched this movie about a week ago and I thought it was great. Liked the theme song as well even if this music style is pretty far away from my personal taste.

Thanks for those insightful comments Arthur and Itdo. The part about John Wayne not liking the movie I had read on this message board before so I was aware of it when watching the movie, but still some of it was lost to me. Just makes the film more interesting.

The first time I saw it, I disliked it because I was too young to appreciate what the real meaning of the movie was. I then watched it again a few yeard ago and thought it was pretty decent. I have always like Gary Cooper. Still, I think his best movie was when he played Beau Geste in Beau Geste.

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Originally posted by The Ringo Kid@Nov 13 2004, 01:23 PM
I think his best movie was when he played Beau Geste in Beau Geste.

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Have you ever seen "Friendly Persuasion", Ringo? That was by far my favorite Coop film.

Greetings Stumpy. I have seen Friendly Persuasion before. It was about 15 or so years ago and was played on Thanksgiving. I don't remember enough about it to say anything but, I do believe I liked it.

Is this the movie where he was a Quaker or something and he later on joins the Union Army? I seem to recall something about a Goose as well.

BTW, on the day this movie was played, I do remember that WTBS was playing a marathon of great movies on Thanksgiving. I remember it because I taped three that were played in a row. They played: Mutiny On The Bounty (the one with Charles Laughton and Clark Gable) Boys Town w/ Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney and Sergeant York with Gary Cooper, George Tobias and Walter Brennan.

I had this great combination of movies until I loaned my tape out to a friend who accidently recorded over it with Down and out in beverly hills.

I also keep forgetting about other Cooper classics like: Springfield Rifle, The Westerner, They Came To Cordura and Vera Cruz.

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Originally posted by The Ringo Kid@Nov 13 2004, 01:52 PM
Is this the movie where he was a Quaker or something and he later on joins the Union Army? I seem to recall something about a Goose as well.

Yes, he and his family were Quakers living on a farm in Indiana during the Civil War. Dorothy McGuire played his wife and Anthony Perkins his oldest son. Near the end, Perkins takes up arms to repel Confederate raiders which, as you know, is strictly against Quaker teachings. It was an extremely charming movie. One of my favorites.

I didn't much care for the Cooper films "They Came To Cordura" or "Vera Cruz". I liked him in "Sergeant York".

Thanks for the info on that movie. I had forgotten that Anthony Perkins was in it. I'm not familiar with Dorothy McGuire though.

I think I have a soft spot for Vera Cruz because of the star power it had in it like: Burt Lancaster, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam and Charles Bronson--all in early career roles. Cesar Romero who was the actor who played the Joker in Batman, was also in this movie. I have always liked his acting as well.

They Came To Cordura, is enjoyable in my book but is not a great movie. I think I liked it more because of the recognizable faces in it as well. Dick York and Tab Hunter come to mind. I wonder whatever happened to Tab Hunter? As far as I know, he is still living.

As for Sergeant York, it is one of my all-time favorite movies about ww1. It is only beat by James Cagney, Alan Hale Sr and Pat O.Brien in; The Fighting 69th.

Gary Cooper is great and he was never better than in High Noon. This movie boast one of the best scenes in any movie just before the train arrives Cooper is looking at the clock, the camera pans to his so called friends etc, then to the chair where Miller vowed to kill Cooper and finally the tension is materilised via the whistles of the train.

Although as an non Amercian I realiese the the community were not reflective of the American population I did like the idea of them turning their backs on Cooper simply because it made for a great story. One final note about this movie you could be forgiven for thinking that the characters are real due to superb acting and script writting, the church scene and the scene where he talks the the ex marshall whom he idolised as a kid come to mind.

I don't agree with what John Wayne said about the movie but I am hard pushed to decide whether it or Bravo was better. Whereas Noon mainly focuses on ideals Bravo focuses on people, the action in Bravo is better, the tension in noon is better, Bravo has more comedy than Noon, I feel Noon has a touch more quality than Bravo and I still can't decide which is better.

I do seem to remember that High noon did have a great deal of tension for the lead character, and I thought that was a great thing to have in the movie. Kinda reminds me a bit of: "Last Train From Gun Hill" which has Kirk DOuglas and another favorite of mine: Anthony Quinn. I liked the movie but did not like that Anthony Quinn was the main bad guy--though he was great in that role.

Sorry I got off topic

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Originally posted by The Ringo Kid@Nov 14 2004, 03:17 PM
Kinda reminds me a bit of: "Last Train From Gun Hill" which has Kirk DOuglas and another favorite of mine: Anthony Quinn. I liked the movie but did not like that Anthony Quinn was the main bad guy--though he was great in that role.

Are you awaree, Ringo, that "Last Train From Gun Hill" was released on DVD last Tuesday? You can buy it from Deep Discount DVD for $9.36, with free shipping.

Thank you Stumpy, I was not aware it was released. I too buy from Deepdiscountdvd.com and I noticed that they actually not only have the better deals with free shipping but, they have THE BEST selection of older movies on the market. I'm hoping that "Santa" will give me that movie as well as Treasure of the Sierra Madre; for Christmas ;-))

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Originally posted by The Ringo Kid@Nov 14 2004, 03:30 PM
I'm hoping that "Santa" will give me that movie as well as Treasure of the Sierra Madre; for Christmas ;-))

It's great to encounter someone your age who has an appreciation for the older films which, for the most part, were much better movies than those made in recent years. In reading the posts on IMDB and similar web sites, it sometimes seems that almost everyone under 40 likes nothing but horror and gore, with generous dollops of sex thrown in. What would be really great is to see enough people like you cause Hollyweird to revise its' thinking and bring back westerns and old-fashioned comedies.

Hi Stumpy

Someone to do the Hawks comedies with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn, and
where will you find todays equivilant of Gary Cooper, Scott, McCrea and the other middle of the road western heroes who made such brilliant pictures.

Regards

Arthur

To get in on the HIGH NOON discussion...

I really like this one. My hubby and I watched it together Friday night and he really liked it too. I'd seen it more than once before but it was fun to watch it again.

I love ol' Coop in this... the way he's tough and cool and nervous and scared all at once. His performance is quite low-key but still very powerful. A lot of his acting is very internal in this - he conveys tons with his eyes and his body language.

At times I was a little annoyed with Will Kane for trying to recruit help. It seemed sort of weak and needy and it's his job as marshal to handle the bad guys. On the other hand, they owed him a lot for helping them out in the past and handling four guys with guns is a tall order for anyone. It's everyone's town. Plus, in some ways it takes a bigger man to admit when you need help.

I realize Fred Zinnemann leaned to the left, but I think the film is enjoyable enough on its own merit; we don't have to consider the political implications if we don't want to. I saw the big moment at the end (when he throws the tin star on the ground) as a quiet way of telling the townsfolk off. They left him all alone when trouble came, but as soon as he was the big hero and all was safe they all wanted to be around him. No thanks, I say. Seeya.

Hi Jen

I kind of like the film where the marshal goes up against four men but instead of using a pistol he turns a sawn off shot gun at them and facing the prospect of a wide scattering of pellets they back off. It might not make the marshal a great hero, but I bet that it was more realistic and probably kept him alive longer.

Regards

Arthur

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Originally posted by arthurarnell@Nov 15 2004, 01:16 PM
I bet that it was more realistic and probably kept him alive longer.

You got that right, Arthur. A sawed-off 12 gauge loaded with double-ought will do more damage to the bad guys than 37 six-guns. :lol: