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Rating: 5 - "Prove it"
Shane is a movie with proven formulas that work for the western; good guys, bad guys, homesteaders, cattlemen who made the land suitable for homesteaders (not purposely) and want them gone and the gunfighter who's hired to put down this uprising of intruders. And it's always great to see a bad guy (Ben Johnson) decide to become a good guy. Westerns just don't have the latitude that other types of movies like dramas and mysteries do. Life was simpler then, not easier, but simpler. Compared to other westerns this rates high, especially when you consider when it was made. Alan Ladd (Shane) is a likeable stranger who wants to leave his past behind but can't. Compelled to go on using his guns, he doesn't want to stay in one place long. You know there's going to be a showdown between Ladd and Palance at the end. And Jean Arthur's abhorrence of firearms is a ridiculous. Without them there wouldn't have been a homestead for them to go to in the first place.

Rating: 5 - Jack Palance's Big Moment
SHANE is usually on anyone's list of favorite Westerns. It is a story about a range war between cattlemen and homesteaders in Wyoming. A loner named Shane (Alan Ladd) rides into the thick of the battle and settles down as a guest of one of the farmers (Van Heflin). Shane is trying to forget his past as a gunman. He is much admired by Van Heflin's son (Brandon de Wilde) and also in a seemingly innocent way by Van Heflin's wife (Jean Arthur).

The movie is filled with an abundance of memorable scenes. One is a gunfight between a hired killer (Jack Palance) and a stubborn homesteader named Frank 'Stonewall' Torrey (Elisha Cook, Jr.). It is hard to believe that Palance was not comfortable with horses as suggested by the Internet Movie Database.

The big competition for Academy awards in 1953 came from ROMAN HOLIDAY, STALAG 17 and FROM HERE TO ETERNITY. In spite of the tough field, SHANE still managed to win an Oscar for best Color Cinematography and nominations for Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Brandon de Wilde , Jack Palance) and Screenplay.

Rating: 5 - Western Classic
Shane might well be the greatest western ever made and a true American classic. Recently in a New York Times article, Woody Allen of all people considered it the best American film of all time. The movie is about a mysterious stranger who unexpectently comes into a homestead family's life and helps in their battle against a greedy landowner who is threatening them to move off their land.

Alan Ladd stars in the title role and he exudes an air of calm control and dark mystery. Shane is an expert gunman and a skilled fighter, but he doesn't want any trouble. He tries hard to avoid a fight in the local saloon, but no matter how hard he tries, trouble finds him. The homestead family is played by Van Heflin, Jean Arthur and the young Brandon De Wilde. Mr. De Wilde is excellent as a wild-eyed youngster who grows to idolize Shane. Mr. Heflin plays the strong, defiant landowner, but also loving husband to his devoted wife, played tenderly by Ms. Arthur, and his son. He stands by his new friend Shane, when the other homesteaders want him to leave when they feel he's stirring up trouble. A young Jack Palance is menacing as an icy hired gun hired to drive the homesteaders off their land. The showdown between him and Shane is a tense and taut showdown. Director George Stevens captures the breathtaking beauty of the American Old West. Shane was nominated for several Academy Awards, but failed to win any. Despite that fact, it remains a brilliant film worth repeated viewings.

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