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High Noon (Collector's Edition)Rating: 5 - High Noon: One Of The Best Of All Time Gary Cooper is one of an handful of actors whose strong moral compass never fails to ring true. From his earliest films in the silent era right up till his last works, Gary Cooper continually shows the viewer some lessons right out of Acting 101. He makes it look so easy, how to radiate controlled fear while disguising it as bland bravery. In HIGH NOON, Cooper learns a brutal lesson that everyone in the film well knew. In a moment of crisis, you can't count on ordinary folk for help. Ironically, it is the evil ones who are made of the required stern stuff to face a six-gun. When Cooper, who plays Marshall Will Kane, learns that a recently released from prison convict is returning to town to settle a grudge against him, Cooper tries to enlist the aid of anyone who can help. His friends, his deputy, even his wife fail to recognize the code that forms the bulk of his core. Just as his friends feel they cannot help him, Cooper is just as impelled to the opposite. By movie's end, he meets the bad guys, kills them, and then is stunned to realize that as this external battle has ended, a far more complex internal one is just beginning. HIGH NOON stands out as a masterpiece, partly due to Cooper, but also to a fine supporting cast which acts as universal lightning rods to attract a swirling torrent of fear, from which not even Cooper is immune. Lon Chaney as the cowardly politician, LLoyd Bridges as the equally cowardly deputy, Katy Jurado as the Mexican woman who once loved Kane but has lost him to Grace Kelly all shine in roles that require them to walk a fine line between bouncing off Kane with just the right force to serve as a dramatic foil and yet not divert the audience's attention for too long as Kane sees who they are and what he must be. HIGH NOON is no subtle exploration of the different essences that separate hero from villain from coward. This movie delineates in a starkness that matches the black and white filming the need for even a brave man to look within to find the strength that others routinely know is missing in them but take for granted in him. Rating: 5 - Dark Western, Cooper Aces Gary Cooper in perhaps his most powerful role on the screen. Cooper won an Oscar for his portrayal of Marshal Will Kane, a man suddenly at a crossroads. About to retire and move away from Hadleyville, Kane marries Amy, Rather than run, Kane decides to stay. This infuriates Amy, who fears that she'll be a widow before the day is out. Kane embarks on a search for deputies to help him put a stop to Miller. But no one will help. Kane is alone. Even Amy says she's leaving on the train that will bring Miller to Hadleyville. What will Kane do? Throughout this film, shot in gritty black and white, Tex Ritter's haunting "Do Not Forsake Me, O My Darling" plays in the background, adding to the ever-present drama and tension. Well, one thing is clear. I still love the song. And it's no wonder that it's so memorable. It's performed over and over throughout the film. The words tell the whole story, simply and completely. The melody is haunting and a perfect background for the story, which also seems simple but deals with big themes - the struggle between good and evil, loyalty and betrayal, courage and cowardice and what it is to be a man. Gary Cooper is cast in the role of the Sheriff, who has just wed his bride, Grace Kelly, and is giving up his badge because she is a Quaker. He's been a good sheriff, brought peace and prosperity to the town. But now, a man he had sent to jail five years previously has been pardoned instead of being hanged and has sworn to kill the sheriff. Now he's coming back to town on the noon train. Of course there are complications. Grace Kelly refuses to support her new husband and buys a ticket on the train out of town. A young hotshot deputy, Lloyd Bridges, who is romancing Cooper's former girlfriend, brilliantly played by Katy Jurado, gets into a fistfight with him. But mostly, it's the townspeople who turn away from him in his hour of need and most of the film consists of Cooper going from barroom to church trying to enlist a posse to help him. Everyone turns their backs on him. And when the showdown comes he's all alone. It's a brilliant performance as we see the disappointment on his face over and over again and his expression of determination to stand tall and refuse to run away. Cooper was 51 years old at the time and shows every bit of it. There are lines in his face, bags under his eyes and looseness to his flesh. It's a refreshing reality in these days of plastic surgical perfection. Grace Kelly, who was 23 at the time, is pretty but her performance rather stiff. This was her first big role though and brought her the attention she needed as she established her career. I felt the tension as the clock ticked away, enjoyed the clarity of the story. I, too, counted the minutes till the whistle of the train and the bad guy stepped off. However, at that point I fell asleep and when I awoke the film had just ended. I was annoyed with myself. But I glad this was a video and I could re-wind and watch it again. And so I did, forcing myself to stay awake. I then realized that it wasn't just because I was sleepy that I fell asleep. The actual showdown was boring to me. Fifty years of watching movies since then has spoiled me. I just can't feel tension in this kind of gun battle in which the conclusion is evident. This of course is not the fault of the film. In the context of its time, it must have been great. And it still holds up as a classic and that's why I give it an unqualified recommendation. It's just a little hard to go back into a 1952 mindset.
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