Product Description: A newly married town marshal defends an ungrateful town against outlaws. Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 02/01/2005 Starring: Gary Cooper Run time: 85 minutes Rating: Nr
Amazon.com essential video: One of the greatest Westerns ever made gets the deluxe treatment on this superior disc from Republic Home Video's Silver Screen Classics line of special-edition DVDs. Written by Carl Foreman (who was later blacklisted during the anticommunist hearings of the '50s) and superbly directed by Fred Zinnemann, this 1952 classic stars Gary Cooper as just-married lawman Will Kane, who is about to retire as a small-town sheriff and begin a new life with his bride (Grace Kelly) when he learns that gunslinger Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald) is due to arrive at high noon to settle an old score. Kane seeks assistance from deputies and townsfolk, but soon realizes he'll have to stand alone in his showdown with Miller and his henchmen. Innovative for its time, the suspenseful story unfolds in approximate real time (from 10:40 a.m. to high noon in an 84-minute film), and many interpreted Foreman's drama as an allegorical reflection of apathy and passive acceptance of Senator Joseph McCarthy's anticommunist campaign. Political underpinnings aside, this remains a milestone of its genre (often referred to as the first "adult" Western), and Cooper is flawless in his Oscar-winning role. The first-rate DVD gives this landmark film all the respect it deserves, beginning with a digitally remastered transfer from the original film negative. Additional features include the exclusive documentary The Making of High Noon, hosted by film historian Leonard Maltin and featuring interviews with the late Lloyd Bridges (who played Cooper's rival ex-deputy), director Fred Zinnemann, and producer Stanley Kramer. Also included is the original theatrical trailer and a special chapter stop highlighting the Oscar-winning song "Do Not Forsake Me." Offered in English and dubbed French and Spanish, with English closed-captioning or Spanish and French subtitles. --Jeff Shannon
Eternal Classic This is the ultimate American Western. Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood ain't got nothin on High Noon. White Hat guy vs. Black Hat guy, showdown at forty paces or whatever. The Best. That "courage" tag is right, because that's what this movie is: courage, in movie form.
Almost perfect, but... The movie is, of course, a classic, and the quality of the DVD is superb. The story teaches a great lesson about what America can expect from the rest of the world as we either face down our enemies or attempt to solve our current economy problems - ALONE.
My biggest problem with this "package" was the "Inside High Noon," documentary and it's many cuts to Bill Clinton giving his "take" on a story about a man of legendary courage and character. Can the irony GET any deeper? It is so incongruous I simply cannot watch it, and that's a shame because obviously somebody involved in this project is a big Clinton fan and decided this was an excellent chance to link this clown with a legend like Will Kane, showing the typical poor taste all Bill Clinton fans are cursed with.
I'll watch the movie over and over, but the 2nd disc was sentenced to the microwave and then the trash. Bill Clinton enjoyed 8 years in my house agianst my will, and that's all the time he'll get.
Sheriff Kane and Helen Ramirez When he goes to her room to warn her about Frank Miller's return they have this short exchange in Spanish which was very hard for me to make out even when I played it back several times. I felt it must be relevant since it was included and even more so now that I have the translation: "Un año sin verte" (A year without seeing you) "Si, lo se" (Yes, I know)
3 stars out of 4 The Bottom Line:
A movie that has been romanticized and over-analysed way out of proportion (if it's a McCarthyist parable, than pray tell, which character represents McCarthy?), High Noon is a solid western with a good performance by Gary Cooper, but it's neither the second coming nor one of the best movies ever made
High Noon high on my list. No self respecting collector of the western classic film genre should be without this cd. It ranks right up there with She wore a yellow Ribbon, The Searchers, Lonesome Dove, Bend in the River, Unforgiven, and Tombstone to name a few. Gary Cooper is at his best since his performance in Seargent York.
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