A Western?! How many of these are there?
On the bright side, this is the shortest Western I’ve ever heard of, at 84 minutes. It also flips the genre on its head by happening in real time, in one town, and without any chase scenes. Crazy right?
Oh yeah and Grace Kelly plays a Quaker!
Okay, so now that you’re probably down for this “barely longer than an episode of Game of Thrones” feature film, here’s what it’s about. High Noon tells the story of Will Kane (Gary Cooper), as he is about to leave for his honeymoon, when he learns that an old enemy of his, Frank Miller, is coming in to town on the noon train and wants to kill him. Apparently Kane tried to get Miller hanged for his crimes but he was released on a technicality. The whole town is mad at Kane for this and now no one wants to help him.
Especially not his pacifist wife, Amy Fowler (Grace Kelly). They get married in the first scene, and Kane is about to give up his job as the town marshal forever, until he learns of the return of his rival.
And the entire movie takes place between about 11 and 12:15! Kane runs from the saloon to the church to his ex-girlfriend to his successor as town marshal, and no one wants to help him out. Either because they believe Miller should kill him for letting him get away, or because they are mad at Kane for coming back when he had just given up his position as marshal.
The film culminates in Miller’s arrival, and the two battle it out for good old-fashioned patriarchal supremacy. But don’t expect only the guys to have all the fun! Kane’s (and also Miller’s) ex-girlfriend, Helen Ramirez, is a total badass, and also Mexican! (Even the actress, Katy Jurado, is Mexican!) The film takes place in New Mexico Territory.
High Noon went on to win four Oscars, including one for Gary Cooper. It ranks at #211 on the IMDb Top 250 and #27 on AFI’s 100 Films.
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