Post by telegonus on Jul 30, 2018 4:28:50 GMT
Great film. Perfect in every detail. I don't get why it's seen as un- or anti-American. It's very American. That it became, even at the time of its first release, such a bone of contention between Hollywood's Left and Right confounds me, as it plays straight with the viewer; the average viewer, I mean; and it was enormously popular back in 1952. It's not like the movie is endorsing everything its protagonist does. One can see the tragedy of the marshal and his deputy coming to blows when they ought to have been working together. The marshal drops his badge on the ground at the end. There's neither an implicit approval nor disapproval of this in the film.
The case, or rather cases, against the marshal for staying in town to fight the Miller gang was well made in the church. Sooner or later the Millers would be dealt with, severely, by a representative of the law. It was a matter of time.Will Kane's reasons for wanting them taken out were only partly ethical. They were also deeply personal, as one can see in the course of the film. High Noon is a western, yet it's also a dramatic film, deeply dramatic. Some have called it a civics lesson more than a movie, especially a western one. The same (civics lesson, I mean) could be said of many outstanding films, though (I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang, They Won't Forget, The Grapes Of Wrath).
The case, or rather cases, against the marshal for staying in town to fight the Miller gang was well made in the church. Sooner or later the Millers would be dealt with, severely, by a representative of the law. It was a matter of time.Will Kane's reasons for wanting them taken out were only partly ethical. They were also deeply personal, as one can see in the course of the film. High Noon is a western, yet it's also a dramatic film, deeply dramatic. Some have called it a civics lesson more than a movie, especially a western one. The same (civics lesson, I mean) could be said of many outstanding films, though (I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang, They Won't Forget, The Grapes Of Wrath).