High Noon (1952)
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, (more)
- Director(s):
- Fred Zinnemann
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- NR
- Category:
- Westerns
Member Rating
My RatingTheatrical Release Information | See Details About All Versions
This Western classic stars Gary Cooper as Hadleyville marshal Will Kane, about to retire from office and go on his honeymoon with his new Quaker bride, Amy (Grace Kelly). But his happiness is short-lived when he is informed that the Miller gang, whose leader (Ian McDonald) Will had arrested, is due on the 12:00 train. Pacifist Amy urges Will to leave town and forget about the Millers, but this isn't his style; protecting Hadleyburg has always been his duty, and it remains so now. But when he asks for deputies to fend off the Millers, virtually nobody will stand by him. Chief Deputy Harvey Pell (Lloyd Bridges) covets Will's job and ex-mistress (Katy Jurado); his mentor, former lawman Martin Howe (Lon Chaney Jr.) is now arthritic and unable to wield a gun. Even Amy, who doesn't want to be around for her husband's apparently certain demise, deserts him. Meanwhile, the clocks tick off the minutes to High Noon -- the film is shot in "real time," so that its 85-minute length corresponds to the story's actual timeframe. Utterly alone, Kane walks into the center of town, steeling himself for his showdown with the murderous Millers. Considered a landmark of the "adult western," High Noon won four Academy Awards (including Best Actor for Cooper) and Best Song for the hit, "Do Not Forsake Me, O My Darling" sung by Tex Ritter. The screenplay was written by Carl Foreman, whose blacklisting was temporarily prevented by star Cooper, one of Hollywood's most virulent anti-Communists. John Wayne, another notable showbiz right-winger and Western hero, was so appalled at the notion that a Western marshal would beg for help in a showdown that he and director Howard Hawks "answered" High Noon with Rio Bravo (1959). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 85 mins
Complete Cast:
- Gary Cooper - Will Kane
- Thomas Mitchell - Jonas Henderson
- Katy Jurado - Helen Ramirez
- Lon Chaney, Jr. - Martin Howe
- Ian MacDonald - Frank Miller
- Morgan Farley - Minister
- Lee Van Cleef - Jack Colby
- Sheb Wooley - Ben Miller
- Ted Stanhope - Station Master
- Jeanne Blackford - Mrs. Henderson
- Cliff Clark - Weaver
- Lucien Prival - Bartender
- Howland Chamberlain - Hotel Clerk
- Jack Elam - Charlie
- Tim Graham - Sawyer
- Tom Greenway - Ezra
- John Doucette - Trumbull
- Harry Harvey - Coy
- William Newell - Jimmy
- Grace Kelly - Amy Kane
- Lloyd Bridges - Harvey Pell
- Otto Kruger - Percy Mettrick
- Henry Morgan - Sam Fuller
- Eve McVeagh - Mildred Fuller
- Harry Shannon - Cooper
- Robert J. Wilke - James Pierce
- Tom London - Sam
- Larry Blake - Gillis
- James Millican - Baker
- Ralph Reed - Johnny
- Guy Beach - Fred
- Virginia Christine - Mrs. Simpson
- Paul Dubov - Scott
- Nolan Leary - Lewis
- Dick Elliott - Kibbee
- Virginia Farmer - Mrs. Fletcher
- William "Bill" Phillips - Barber
- Director(s):
- Fred Zinnemann
- Writer(s):
- Carl Foreman
- Producer(s):
- Carl Foreman, Stanley Kramer
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- NR(Mild Violence, Adult Situations)
- Categories:
- Westerns
- Closed Captioning:
- Check All Versions
- Subtitles:
- Check All Versions
- 1998 - High Noon - American Film Institute - 100 Greatest American Movies
- 1952 - High Noon - Hollywood Foreign Press Association - Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
- 1952 - High Noon - Hollywood Foreign Press Association - Best Cinematography - Black and White
- 1952 - High Noon - Hollywood Foreign Press Association - Best Original Score
- 1952 - High Noon - Hollywood Foreign Press Association - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
- 1988 - High Noon - Library of Congress - U.S. National Film Registry
- 1952 - High Noon - New York Film Critics Circle - Best Director
- 1952 - High Noon - New York Film Critics Circle - Best Picture
