How well does Fred Zinneman's "High Noon" stand up after over 60 years since its original release? Can it still be entertaining in modern day viewing situations where the Western is apparently "dead" and when it is present, it is amped-up to satisfy the short attention spans of present-age viewers? Sadly, the answer to that would be "no" to most viewers in today's viewing climate. But to this Gary Cooper stars as Will Kane, a marshal of a small Western town. He's just been married to a beautiful Quaker girl (Grace Kelly) and is hanging up his badge. But just as he's about to ride into the sunset with his new bride, news comes that a criminal is coming to town on the noon train and he intends to cause nothing but trouble and mischief for the town's poor inhabitants. Its all pretty predictable what happens next.
The film is quite unique in that the screen time is quite parallel to the story time. An hour and a half of a movie takes place over an hour and half in the story of the film, in other words. Not a lot happens over that hour and half and you often wonder if there is enough material here to stretch it into an hour and a half.
As far as Westerns go there are definitely far better ones, especially from this era. "Red River" is a far more invigorating and enjoyable film. Still, this film holds your attention and the performances are strong.
viewer and others like me who are more patient and respectful of the past, it is still entertaining, sometimes compelling, even though predictable.
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