high noon movie review

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Common Sense Media Review

By Nell Minow , based on child development research. How do we rate?

Tense 1950s Western is still a cinema classic.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that women are depicted as exceptionally intelligent and respected, compared to other movies of the era. Helen speaks of the prejudice she faced as a Mexican woman, and Amy listens sympathetically.

Why Age 11+?

Drinking in bar, bad guys drink.

Any Positive Content?

Women are exceptionally intelligent and respected.

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Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents Say (4)
• Kids Say (5)

Based on 4 parent reviews

11+Rating is for theme, content-wise it's ok for 9 and up

What's the story.

In this classic 1950s Western, Marshall Will Kane (Gary Cooper) marries Amy (Grace Kelly) and turns in his badge. She is a Quaker, and he has promised her to hang up his gun and become a shopkeeper. But they get word that Frank Miller is coming to town on the noon train. Kane arrested Miller and sent him to jail, and Miller swore he would come back and kill him. Will and Amy leave town quickly. But he knows that wherever they go, Miller will follow them. And he has a duty to the town. Their new marshal does not arrive until the next day. Will seeks help from everyone. but is turned down over and over again. Amy says she will leave on the noon train and the one man who promised to help backs out when he finds out that no one else will join them. The only others who offer to help are a disabled man and a young boy. Will must face Miller and his three henchmen alone. At noon, Frank Miller gets off the train. The four men come into town. Will is able to defeat them, with Amy's unexpected help. As the townsfolk gather, Will throws his badge in the dust, and they ride off.

Is It Any Good?

This outstanding drama ticks by in real time, only 84 tense minutes long. Will gets the message about Frank Miller at 10:40, and we feel the same time pressure he does, as he tries to find someone to help him. We see and hear clocks throughout the movie, and as noon approaches, the clock looms larger and larger, the pendulum swinging like an executioner's axe. In the brilliant score by Dimitri Tiomkin (sung by Tex Ritter) the sound of the beat suggests both the train's approach and the passage of time.

HIGH NOON is like a grown-up Little Red Hen story. Will cannot find anyone to help him protect the town. Everyone seems to think it is someone else's problem (or fault). Teenagers may be interested to know that many people consider this film an analogy for the political problems of the McCarthy era. It was written during the height of the Hollywood "red scare." After completing this screenplay, the writer, an "unfriendly witness" before the House Un-American Activities Committee, was blacklisted. But this unforgettable drama of a man who will not run from his enemy, or his own fears, transcends all times and circumstances.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how everyone seems to have a different reason for not helping Will. How many can you identify? Which reasons seem the best to you? Which seem the worst? What makes Amy change her mind? Why does Will throw his badge in the dirt? Do you think the screenwriter chose the name "Will" for any special reason? How do you decide when to stay and fight and when to run? How do you evaluate the risks? What should the law be?

Movie Details

• In theaters : July 30, 1952
• On DVD or streaming : October 22, 2002
• Cast : Gary Cooper , Grace Kelly , Lon Chaney Jr.
• Director : Fred Zinnemann
• Studio : Twentieth Century Fox
• Genre : Western
• Run time : 85 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : May 26, 2024

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High Noon (United States, 1952)

By 1952, movie-goers knew exactly what to expect from a Western: a clean-cut, self-assured hero facing down a good-for-nothing villain in a climactic shoot-out, lots of action, gorgeous scenery, and not much in the way of thematic depth. This was a time when the Western was at the height of its popularity, and when stars of the genre, like John Wayne and Gary Cooper, were revered as heroes of the Old West. Then along came Stanley Kramer and Fred Zinnemann's High Noon , and the Western was never quite the same.

Many fans of the genre regard High Noon as the best Western ever made. There are other contenders for the titles (including, but not limited to The Searchers; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; The Wild Bunch; Unforgiven ; and Dances With Wolves ), but there's no debating that High Noon is amongst the elite - it is as much above the garden variety Western as something like Die Hard is above the generic shoot-'em-up action thriller.

High Noon contains many of the elements of the traditional Western: the gun-toting bad guys, the moral lawman, the pretty girl, and the climactic gunfight. But it's in the way these elements are blended together, with the slight spin put on them by Zinnemann and screenwriter Carl Foreman, that makes High Noon unlike any other Western. Audiences in the early '50s were drawn to the theater by the promise of a Gary Cooper film. Many viewers left confused, consternated, or vaguely dissatisfied, because things didn't play out in the expected way. It is rumored that John Wayne criticized High Noon 's ending as being "un-American."

Indeed, 1952 was the time of "un-American" things, with Senator Joseph McCarthy wielding the power of paranoia and fear in Washington as he presided over the 20th century Salem Witch Trials. This time, the targets weren't servants of the Devil, but Communists (although some at the time might have said there was no difference). Carl Foreman, the screenwriter of High Noon , was blacklisted soon after writing the script. Also on McCarthy's list were actor Lloyd Bridges and cinematographer Floyd Crosby. To hear McCarthy tell it, High Noon was a veritable hotbed of "un-American" activity. And the story can easily be seen as allegorical -a man is turned on by those he called friends and comrades, and comes to see that the most valued principle of the masses is self-preservation.

Foreman's script was loosely based on the story "The Tin Star", by John W. Cunningham. Although there were only bare-bones similarities, Kramer bought the rights to "The Tin Star" to avoid copyright issues. Foreman fleshed out the tale using a combination of his imagination and his real-life experiences with the McCarthy Commission. The more one considers the atmosphere in which Foreman wrote High Noon , the easier it is understand the grim tone that underscores nearly every frame of the motion picture. The typical Western was a story of great heroism and derring-do. High Noon highlights much of humanity's base nature.

Cooper plays Marshal Will Kane, and, when High Noon opens, it's a little after 10 o'clock in the morning, and he is being married to Amy Fowler (Grace Kelly), a woman less than half his age. At the same time, trouble has arrived in Kane's sleepy Western town. Three outlaws, the henchmen of convicted murderer Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald), are waiting at the railroad station, where Miller, recently freed from prison, is expected on the noon train. He has one goal: revenge, and the target of his hatred is Kane, the man who brought him down. Kane's friends, including the town's mayor (Thomas Mitchell), the local judge (Otto Kruger), and the former Marshal, Martin Howe (Lon Chaney), urge him to flee, but he can't. Against the wishes of his Quaker wife and with no one in the town willing to stand beside him, Kane prepares to face Miller and his gang alone.

High Noon is about loyalty and betrayal. Loyalty on Kane's part - even when everyone deserts him, he stands his ground, though it seems inevitable that the action will cost him his life. And betrayal on the town's part. Many of the locals are agreed that they owe their prosperity to Kane, but they will not help him or defend him, because they believe his cause to be hopeless. There are even those who welcome Miller's return. In the end, Kane is forced into the showdown on his own, until, at a crucial moment, Amy proves herself to be a worthy wife.

The movie transpires virtually in real time, with a minute on screen equaling one in the theater. In one of many departures from the traditional Western, there is little action until the final ten minutes, when Kane shoots it out with Miller's gang. The lone exception is a fistfight between Kane and a former deputy, Harvey Pell (Lloyd Bridges). Other than that, the movie is comprised primarily of Kane's failed attempts to rally the townspeople to his cause. High Noon 's tension comes through Kane's desperation, aided in no small part by Elmo Williams' brilliant editing as the clock ticks down to twelve. For a motion picture with so little action, the suspense builds to almost unbearable levels.

Many have called High Noon more of a morality play than a Western, and, in some ways, that's an accurate description. Aside from the primary plot thread, there are other quandries to be considered. Amy must choose between her dearly-held peaceful beliefs (which she adopted after her brother and father were killed) and standing by her husband. It's easy to be non-violent when there's no price to pay. Harvey Pell must decide between ego and friendship. High Noon places many facets of human nature under the microscope, and therein lies the complexity in a seemingly simple idea. The deeper one looks, the more High Noon has to offer.

The climactic gunfight is not played out with two men staring down one another across an empty expanse of street, with a tumbleweed or two blowing around in the background. Instead, it's a quick and dirty business, with a hostage-taking and a man being shot in the back. When Kane wins the day, as he must (this is, after all, Gary Cooper), it has the feeling of a hollow victory. And the Marshal's final action - throwing his badge into the dirt before he and Amy ride out of town - gives us a taste of the bitterness that has settled in his mouth.

There are really only two men one could envision playing the part of Marshal Kane - James Stewart and Gary Cooper. Cooper, the older of the two men, is the better choice. He brings a world-weariness to the part. From the beginning, we sense that he's a reluctant hero, and this is confirmed as the story moves along. He admits to being afraid, and one senses that he wants nothing more than to get on the wagon with his wife and head out of town before Miller's arrival. But his overpowering sense of duty, coupled with the concern that Miller will eventually hunt him down, is strong enough to keep him where he is. Cooper imbues Kane with equal parts dignity and humanity. There's no doubt that he's a hero, but, unlike the usual Western good guy, he is filled with doubts and all-too-human weaknesses. These are the frailties each of us finds in ourselves; seeing them in Kane allows us to identify with him intimately. It makes the film more personal. In 1952, the movie was unsettling for some because they were unprepared to see a reflection of themselves on the screen. They expected an invulnerable hero; they got a man.

As important as it was to humanize High Noon 's protagonist, so the villain remained largely faceless - an unseen menace riding in on the railroad tracks. Although his presence looms large over the proceedings, it isn't until the final fifteen minutes that Miller finally shows up, disembarking from the train, girded for battle. In a way, the arrival of actor Ian MacDonald is almost anti-climactic. By this point, Miller had been so thoroughly demonized that the appearance of a normal (albeit tough-looking) man is a little disappointing.

High Noon offered high-profile exposure to two actresses. Katy Jurado, a Mexican performer, received rave reviews for her tough-as-nails portrayal of Helen Ramirez, Kane's former lover. This movie represented Jurado's entré into American cinema; after High Noon , she enjoyed a nice career in Westerns, appearing in such notable films as Broken Lance (for which she earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination) and One Eyed Jacks . High Noon also offered the first high-billed opportunity to Grace Kelly, who would go on to capture an Oscar, the eye of Alfred Hitchcock (she became his favorite female lead), and the hearts of millions (including the Prince of Monaco). For Kelly, this certainly isn't a great performance (she is a little wooden at times), but it was enough to get her noticed.

As is true of nearly every great film, all of the elements mix together in High Noon . The black-and-white cinematography is perfect for setting the dark mood. The music is relentless. And the editing (with the possible exception of the fight between Kane and Pell, which is choppy) is nearly flawless. But the real elements to applaud are the acting, the script, and the direction, all of which are top-notch. Cooper appeared in more than 100 films during his long career; few aspired to the level of High Noon , much less attained it. And no credit on Zimmermann's resume is as impressive. The Western may be one of the few truly American art forms, and High Noon shows exactly how much potential it can embrace.

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• Cast & crew

User reviews

"A person is smart but people are dumb panicky animals and you know it"...

• Aug 22, 2016

Citizen Kane

• Aug 28, 2004

Ante Meridiem...

• Sep 2, 2020

Remarkably well-organised western in which not one single second is wasted and the tension is built up admirably.

• barnabyrudge
• Apr 15, 2006

A Man Who Won't Run Away

• SnorriGodhi
• May 28, 2006

Tense and Suspenseful Western

• claudio_carvalho
• Mar 17, 2018

superlative 50s western

• Mar 21, 2004

"I've Got To. That's The Whole Thing."

• Jul 14, 2000

Famed Western with a magnificent Gary Cooper and a splendid Grace Kelly

• Sep 12, 2006

"Oh, To Be Torn Twixt Love And Duty"

• Apr 21, 2006

Film Editing 101

• evanston_dad
• Jun 27, 2006
• Mar 23, 2012

Venting about High Noon (spoilers)

• donaldgilbert
• Mar 27, 2011

Overrated Western

• Jun 24, 2010

High Noon assessment

• Sep 18, 2004

A Classic Western and More

• Oct 26, 2003

Not the best Western ever,...but pretty darn close

• planktonrules
• Mar 20, 2007
• Nov 12, 2004

I don't get it

• Jun 30, 2007

A Classic Western

• Jun 19, 2022

A Western of rare achievement!

• Nazi_Fighter_David
• Jan 7, 2000

One of the most amazing westerns I've seen

• maccas-56367
• Apr 29, 2019

Vastly overrated western lookalike

• Epaminondas
• Jan 2, 2005

good, but yet bad

• Sep 6, 2000

The definitive western movie

• Jan 30, 1999

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High Noon Reviews

It’s a film with an universal and timeless story, good versus evil. It’s an straightforward film with a clearly defined hero and villain. To say that they don’t make films quite like High Noon, is an understatement.

Full Review | Jul 31, 2024

High Noon is not only one of the best Western films of all time but changed the way people viewed the Western genre.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | May 7, 2024

Without question, this is one of the three best westerns since Stagecoach (the other two being The Westerner and My Darling Clementine). But my admiration for it is not without qualification.

Full Review | Oct 4, 2022

Fred Zinnemann’s film generates suspense — and stark social commentary...

Not since My Darling Clementine have we seen a more exciting gun battle on the screen than that in High Noon.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 20, 2022

Add a string of plausible characterizations and an excellent performance by Gary Cooper as a former town marshal, and High Noon moves up into the class of absorbing drama.

Full Review | Sep 20, 2022

Director Fred Zinnemann's expert hand has made High Noon one of the best film western of all time.

This gives us some time-tested staples: Gary Cooper, a pioneer Western town, lawlessness, gun-shootin' and a haunting theme song you've probably heard already. To these add a movie rarity -- a mature point of view.

High Noon is just what a Western should be -- a page out of American folklore, a close-to-the-soil delineation of human characters, played against a true-to-life background.

Its insights are primer sociology, and the demonstration of the town's cowardice is Q.E.D. It's a tight piece of work, though -- well directed by Fred Zinnemann.

High Noon tries for art, but it succeeds only in being overly arty.

It's Cooper's show all the way and to him goes the credit for that different and wonderful Western you've hoped for.

Here's a western story with the hero being human, and not a far-fetched hero, afraid of nothing. You worry about Cooper in this film. You don't worry about the average western hero. The human quality in this makes it different.

This is a film of integrity and purpose, a revelation of human character and a masterpiece of the story telling art.

Cooper performs magnificently and the rest of the cast also are very good in what are essentially routine roles.

High Noon achieves a shattering tension. It is a remorselessly deliberate pace at which Zinnemann follows his story's hero along the desperately lonely trail of courage against ever-mounting odds.

What it comes down to is that the makers of High Noon, in an attempt to inject new content into the standard Western formula, have raised vexing moral issues that they have no intention of treating in a responsible way.

Mr. Kramer has produced an exciting western, but he has ended it on a sour and dubious note.

This Stanley Kramer production is a taut and absorbing western melodrama, distinguished by fine directions and performances, particularly that of Gary Cooper in the leading role.

A tense and exciting evening's entertainment for adults. As a parable of humanity's moral cowardice, however, the film rings false.

• United Artists

Summary This classic 1952 Western 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.

Directed By : Fred Zinnemann

Written By : Carl Foreman, John W. Cunningham

Where to Watch

Gary Cooper

Marshal will kane, grace kelly, amy fowler kane, thomas mitchell, mayor jonas henderson, lloyd bridges, deputy marshal harvey pell, katy jurado, helen ramírez, otto kruger, judge percy mettrick, lon chaney jr., martin howe, harry morgan, ian macdonald, frank miller, eve mcveagh, mildred fuller, morgan farley, harry shannon, lee van cleef, robert j. wilke, sheb wooley, ernest baldwin, benjie bancroft, church member, george bell, critic reviews.

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Film Review: ‘High Noon’

A basic western formula has been combined with good characterization in "High Noon," making it more of a western drama than the usual outdoor action feature. With the name of Gary Cooper to help it along, and on the basis of the adult-appealing dramatic content, the business outlook is favorable.

By William Brogdon

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A basic western formula has been combined with good characterization in “High Noon,” making it more of a western drama than the usual outdoor action feature. With the name of Gary Cooper to help it along, and on the basis of the adult-appealing dramatic content, the business outlook is favorable.

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Zinnemann carefully and deliberately makes the most of the mood cast by the threat of impending violence. Script sometimes gets him a bit too involved in the development of side characters and their reactions, but he manages to keep the tension constantly mounting until it is resolved in the highly satisfactory, guns-blazing climax. Script was based on John W. Cunningham’s mag story, “The Tin Star,” and is rather derisive in what it has to say about citizens who are willing to accept law and order if they do not have to put personal effort into obtaining it.

Cooper does an unusually able job of portraying the marshal, ready to retire with his bride and then, for his own self-respect, called upon to perform one last chore as a law man even though it is the duty of the town’s citizens. Plot shows him turned down in every quarter, forced to go against the wishes of his bride and, finally, facing the deadly threat of the returning killer alone. Miss Kelly fits the mental picture of a Quaker girl nicely, but the femme assignment that has color and s. a. is carried by Katy Jurado, as an ex-girlfriend of the marshal. While the character is somewhat shadowy of purpose as written, her personality makes it stand out.

Throughout the film is a hauntingly-presented ballad that tells the story of the coming gun duel. It wears the picture’s title and is tellingly sung by Tex Ritter. On the cleffing chore were Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington. Tiomkin also composed and directed good background score.

1952: Best Actor (Gary Cooper), Song (‘High Noon’), Scoring of a Dramatic Picture, Editing.

Nominations: Best Picture, Director, Screenplay

• Production: Kramer/United Artists. Dir Fred Zinnemann; Producer Stanley Kramer; Screenplay Carl Foreman; Camera Floyd Crosby; Editor Harry Gerstad, Elmo Williams; Music Dimitri Tiomkin Art Dir Rudolph Sternad. Previewed April 28, '52.
• Crew: (B&W) Available on VHS, DVD. Original review text from 1952. Running time: 84 MIN.
• With: Will Kane - Gary Cooper Jonas Henderson - Thomas Mitchell Harvey Pell - Lloyd Bridges Helen Ramirez - Katy Jurado Amy Kane - Grace Kelly Percy Mettrick - Otto Kruger Martin Howe - Lon Chaney Sam Fuller - Henry Morgan Frank Miller - Ian MacDonald Mildred Fuller - Eve McVeagh Minister - Morgan Farley Cooper - Harry Shannon Jack Colby - Lee Van Cleef James Pierce - Robert Wilke Bell Miller - Sheb Wooley Sam - Tom London Station Master - Ted Stanhope Gillis - Larry Blake Barber - William Phillips Mrs. Henderson - Jeanne Blackford Baker - James Millican Weaver - Cliff Clark Johnny - Ralph Reed Jimmy - William Newell Bartender - Lucien Prival Fred - Guy Beach Hotel Clerk - Howland Chamberlin Mrs. Simpson - Virginia Christine Charlie - Jack Elam Scott - Paul Dubov Coy - Harry Harvey Sawyer - Tim Graham Lewis - Nolan Leary Ezra - Tom Greenway Kibbee - Dick Elliott Trumbull - John Doucette

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High Noon Reviews

• 89   Metascore
• 1 hr 25 mins
• Drama, Suspense, Action & Adventure
• Watchlist Where to Watch

On the day he gets married and hangs up his badge, Marshal Will Kane is told that a man he sent to prison years before, Frank Miller, is returning on the noon train to exact his revenge. Having initially decided to leave with his new spouse, Will decides he must go back and face Miller. However, when he seeks the help of the townspeople he has protected for so long, they turn their backs on him. It seems Kane may have to face Miller alone, as well as the rest of Miller's gang, who are waiting for him at the station.