High Noon (1952)

Nominated for 7 Academy Awards:

Best Picture

Best Director: Fred Zinnemann

Best Actor: Gary Cooper (WON)

Best Writing, Screenplay

Best Editing (WON)

Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (WON)

Best Original Song (WON)

 

What I discovered about High Noon today is that the film was a metaphor and a parallel to what was going on at the time with the Un-American Activities Committee, which gave it an extra layer of awesomeness, because the film is pretty cool anyway. It’s a sharp western, beautifully directed, with no unnecessary scenes, with a simple story, in a short timeframe, but very effective.

Gary Cooper does more with it than I expected, and while he is a bit old for the part (definitely in comparison to Grace Kelly, his love interest), he gets it done in a great fashion. He is the good guy and ends up like an authentic hero, and Cooper makes it look easy and natural, with some convincing acting and owning all of his close-ups. Bonus points to the writing for giving the women something interesting to act with, which this genre often fails to do. I didn’t love how abruptly it ended, but the message is powerful enough.

 

I give it: 8.5/10

IMDB LINK