Saturday Night Cinema: High Noon (1952)

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President Trump inspired tonight’s Saturday Night Cinema classic, Stanley Kramer’s High Noon – thanks in large part to an article GR reader Muriel sent over by Patricia McCarthy over at The American Thinker (see below).

Few westerns have conveyed fear so potently as Kane (Gary Cooper)  tries to persuade the townsfolk to stand against Miller and his gang, while the clock runs down in real time.

 

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High Noon 1952 Gary Cooper from THE REEL COWBOYS of HOLLYWOOD from THE REEL COWBOYS on Vimeo.

September 28, 2019

Donald Trump at High Noon

By Patricia McCarthy

The classic Western film High Noon, released in 1952, offers a compelling analogy to the Trump presidency. Set in New Mexico territory sometime in the late 1800s, it starred Gary Cooper as Marshal Will Kane and Grace Kelly as Amy. Her character is a Quaker. She had seen her brothers and father die by gunfire, so she is a pacifist. The two of them marry in the first moments of the film but then learn that a man the Marshal had sentenced to hang, but was released by an early version of an Obama-appointed judge, is coming to their town with three henchmen to kill Kane. The Marshal and his new wife quickly leave to seek the life they’ve planned, but he soon turns around in a crisis of conscience, realizing that if he runs from this man, Frank Miller, he will always be running. He returns to Hadleyville and attempts to deputize other men in the town to help him face off the murderers.

But not one of the townsmen will agree to help. They are all cowards (Republicans) in fear of their lives, or they are friends and admirers of the outlaw Frank Miller and want to welcome back to the town (Democrats). Bottom line? Not one man will stand with Kane or defend the peace and safety he has brought to their town. All the men he’s tried to recruit only want Kane to leave; they think if he’s not there, there will be no trouble, rather like those who want to dispense with ICE, DHS and the police. No law enforcement, no crime. Sure. We all know how that goes. Like The Magnificent Seven, this film, too, proves the age-old fallacy that submission to evil brings only violence and grief. It is generally “toxic” masculinity that saves the day.

“People gotta talk themselves into law and order before they do anything about it. Maybe because down deep they don’t care. They just don’t care.” This line is spoken by Kane’s mentor, who is too old to help. That pretty much sums up our Left today. They refuse to approve border security and they above all want to protect criminal illegal migrants, no matter the cost to our citizens. They don’t care about the horrific consequences of open borders. The men in the film are merely cowards. Our Democrats and silent Republicans are worse than cowards. Their lives are not at stake, just their standing in the beltway and the leftist media party circuit is at risk. They don’t want to jeopardize their social status in DC. They are worse than cowards, those who do not stand up and fight for this President. Those who do are our champions and we all know who they are.

Consider how few Republican men and women in our Congress are willing to fight for Trump, despite his phenomenal accomplishments in office. A few of them seem to be actively hoping to see him impeached; Paul Ryan and Romney, for example. What disappointments those two are along with the rest of their squishy ilk. Like Kane, Trump is largely on his own but for his legions of supporters throughout the country. Most of the Republicans in the House and Senate, but for our small group of heroes, are as cowardly as all the men in Hadleyville. We are not electing the right people.

Back to the film; in the end, as the four men determined to kill Kane advance into the town, all the townspeople scatter and hide, cowards all. It is Kane’s Quaker wife, the anti-gun woman so sure of the morality of her pacifism, who picks up a gun and kills one of the men to save her husband. There is a clear Second Amendment lesson in the film. Defense of one’s loved ones, if necessary, is righteous.

High Noon is an almost perfect analogy for the Trump presidency, especially now. The radicalized Left that to this day cannot accept the fact that Trump won the election, has spent every moment since trying to undo his win. Poor Hillary is rotting from the inside out due to decades of her own corruption, but she never tires of revealing her inner, hoary nature. She is probably planning to enter the 2020 race. As if, knowing what we know now, she could possibly win. Adam Schiff and the rest of the Left have been driven mad by Trump’s success as president but by every turn they’ve been unable to thwart him. They employed countless people to bring him down — Mueller and his team of back-stabbing, double-crossing men and women who hate Trump more than they love our country. When that failed, they almost immediately came up with a new “dossier,” a hearsay complaint by yet another Democrat loyalist willing to offer himself up as fodder for what they hope will be Trump’s downfall in Ukraine-gate. Their desperation is not only showing, it is flashing in neon and so they are making mistakes. Impeaching Trump will backfire. He will be re-elected in a landslide.

Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling was the theme song from High Noon. That lyric is as apt now as it was then. Trump is constantly forsaken by the people who, if they had a spine, should be fighting as hard for him as he fights for us, for the country. Did they listen to his speech at the UN? This man is a great President. He is disdainful of no one but those who deny freedom and safety to their own people or of those who try to submarine him. Obama, Hillary and their pals are contemptuous all of us who do not toe their party line. It is that crowd, that clique that has been running the “Impeach Trump!” show since November 8, 2016. It is very likely that they, along with George Soros, are behind the seditious plan to terminate Trump’s presidency these past three years. May they all be exposed for their crimes and may the yellow-bellied scaredy-cats among conservatives be somehow punished for their cowardice.

THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; ‘ High Noon,’ a Western of Rare Achievement, Is New Bill at the Mayfair Theatre

By Bosley Crowther, NY Times,July 25, 1952

Every five years or so, somebody—somebody of talent and taste, with a full appreciation of legend and a strong trace of poetry in their soul—scoops up a handful of clichés from the vast lore of Western films and turns them into a thrilling and inspiring work of art in this genre.

Such a rare and exciting achievement is Stanley Kramer’s production, “High Noon,” which was placed on exhibition at the Mayfair yesterday.Which one of several individuals is most fully responsible for this job is a difficult matter to determine and nothing about which to quarrel. It could be Mr. Kramer, who got the picture made, and it be Scriptwriter Carl Foreman, who prepared the story for the screen. Certainly Director Fred Zinnemann had a great deal to do with it and possibly Gary Cooper, as the star, had a hand in the job. An accurate apportionment of credits is not a matter of critical concern.

What is important is that someone—or all of them together, we would say—has turned out a Western drama that is the best of its kind in several years. Familiar but far from conventional in the fabric of story and theme and marked by a sure illumination of human character, this tale of a brave and stubborn sheriff in a town full of do-nothings and cowards has the rhythm and roll of a ballad spun in pictorial terms. And, over all, it has a stunning comprehension of that thing we call courage in a man and the thorniness of being courageous in a world of bullies and poltroons.Like most works of art, it is simple—simple in the structure of its plot and comparatively simple in the layout of its fundamental issues and morals. Plot-wise, it is the story of a sheriff in a small Western town, on the day of his scheduled retirement, faced with a terrible ordeal. At 10:30 in the morning, just a few minutes after he has been wed, he learns that a dreaded desperado is arriving in town on the noon train. The bad man has got a pardon from a rap on which the sheriff sent him up, and the sheriff knows that the killer is coming back to town to get him.Here is the first important question: shall the sheriff slip away, as his new wife and several decent citizens reasonably urge him to do, or shall he face, here and now, the crisis which he knows he can never escape? And once he has answered this question, the second and greater problem is the maintenance of his resolution as noon approaches and he finds himself alone—one man, without a single sidekick, against a killer and three attendant thugs; one man who has the courage to take on a perilous, righteous job.How Mr. Foreman has surrounded this simple and forceful tale with tremendous dramatic implications is a thing we can’t glibly state in words. It is a matter of skill in movie-writing, but, more than that, it is the putting down, in terms of visually simplified images, a pattern of poetic ideas. And how Mr. Zinnemann has transmitted this pattern in pictorial terms is something which we can only urge you to go yourself to see.One sample worth framing, however, is the brilliant assembly of shots that holds the tale in taut suspension just before the fatal hour of noon. The issues have been established, the townsfolk have fallen away and the sheriff, alone with his destiny, has sat down at his desk to wait. Over his shoulder, Mr. Zinnemann shows us a white sheet of paper on which is scrawled “last will and testament” by a slowly moving pen. Then he gives us a shot (oft repeated) of the pendulum of the clock, and then a shot looking off into the distance of the prairie down the empty rail-road tracks. In quick succession, then, he shows us, the tense faces of men waiting in the church and in the local saloon, the still streets outside, the three thugs waiting at the station, the tracks again, the wife of the sheriff waiting and the face of the sheriff himself. Then, suddenly, away in the distance, there is the whistle of the train and, looking down the tracks again, he shows us a whisp of smoke from the approaching train. In a style of consummate realism, Mr. Zinnemann has done a splendid job.And so has the cast, under his direction. Mr. Cooper is at the top of his form in a type of role that has trickled like water off his back for years. And Lloyd Bridges as a vengeful young deputy, Katy Jurado as a Mexican adventuress, Thomas Mitchell as a prudent townsman, Otto Kruger as a craven judge and Grace Kelly as the new wife of the sheriff are the best of many in key roles.Meaningful in its implications, as well as loaded with interest and suspense, “High Noon” is a western to challenge “Stagecoach” for the all-time championship.

HIGH NOON, screen play by Carl Foreman; directed by Fred Zinnemann; produced by Stanley Kramer. A Stanley Kramer Production released by United Artists. At the Mayfair.Will Kane . . . . . Gary CooperJonas Henderson . . . . . Thomas MitchellHarvey Pell . . . . . Lloyd BridgesHelen Ramirez . . . . . Katy JuradoAmy Kane . . . . . Grace KellyPercy Mettrick . . . . . Otto KrugerMartin Howe . . . . . Lon ChaneyWilliam Fuller . . . . . Henry MorganFrank Miller . . . . . Ian MacDonaldMildred Fuller . . . . . Eve McVeaghCooper . . . . . Harry ShannonJack Colby . . . . . Lee Van CleefJames Pierce . . . . . Bob WilkeBen Miller . . . . . Sheb WoolleySam . . . . . Tom LondonStation Master . . . . . Ted StanhopeGillis . . . . . Larry BlakeBarber . . . . . William Phillips

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DemocracyRules
DemocracyRules
4 years ago

Great choice!
And there is great history to this movie. Stanley Kramer, a strong socialist made this movie. The script writer was a blacklisted communist who later moved to Britain to find work. They saw the story as an allegory of the blacklisting process. The blacklisted individual was left to fight on alone, abandoned by friends and colleagues…
Bill Clinton viewed this movie several times while he was at the White House.
Stanley Kramer went on to make several more ‘message movies’, like ‘Guess Who Is Coming To Dinner’
In real life, Western Towns were not easily cowed by a few bandits. Many Westerners were Civil War veterans, and most knew a lot about guns. There are numerous historical instances where criminals were shot or hung summarily by the citizenry.

DemocracyRules
DemocracyRules
4 years ago
Reply to  DemocracyRules

In Tombstone, shortly after Billy the Kid had died in a nearby county, a drunken youth in a saloon demanded to others that he should now be called Billy the Kid. An older man laughed. Billy challenged him to a fight outside, and waited for him, with pistol ready. The older man stepped out a saloon side-door with a rifle and shot Billy dead. No charges were laid, because this was an ‘agreement to fight’, and time-honored common law specifies that this is a legal activity, and the outcome is what it is.

One apocryphal western story recounts that a bandit used a pistol to ambush a man on a country trail. The man took out a rifle, and shot the bandit dead. The town doctor, looking at a pistol versus rifle duel, wrote ‘suicide’ as the cause of death on the bandit’s death certificate.

Lorraine
Lorraine
4 years ago
Reply to  DemocracyRules

I believe President Trump is a contemporary version of the man who finds himself in a position where he’s left alone to defend good against evil. They often stand alone but their mission is nonnegotiable. It’s the ultimate heroic battle that must be fought.

IndigoRed
IndigoRed
4 years ago

Absolutely fabulous film. One of the first films to get interested at a young age in films that take time to develop and for the majority of the film nothing happens. The tension created by the ticking clock is palpable and rivals the suspense of any Hitchcock film.

leonore35
leonore35
4 years ago

Great movie but I do not see any analogy here. Kane the former sheriff, had zero support, everybody was afraid for their own a** in spite of what Kane had done for them. In any case two or three men with rifles could have wiped out Miller’s gang easily. No need for pistol work at all, Kane has rifles but does not use them. But then it would not have made such a powerful film. Trump on the other hand has lots of support he is not fighting alone. Similar movies 3.10 to Zuma (Glenn Ford version) Last train from Gun Hill with Kirk Douglas. They do not make ‘stars’ like that anymore!

SoftwareBabeOHIO
SoftwareBabeOHIO
4 years ago
Reply to  leonore35

………..THE DAY HOLLYWOOD DIED…………..when John Wayne died.

Michelle
Michelle
4 years ago

The ONE difference in the analogy was that a decided pacifist climbed off her soapbox and did what was necessary to defend not only right but her love interest. Can anyone actually see these pacifists, both literal and pretenders, doing the same thing now? I was a pacifist until I was taught the nasty lesson that those without ethics and scruples(but who always claim otherwise) see pacifists as really easy meat to devour with no thought or regret and that includes leftists and muslims. The irony here is that both of these groups have the nerve to claim the high moral ground. If you want to see a really progressive joke do look at the nations on the United Nations Human Rights Council.

MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
4 years ago
Reply to  Michelle

The membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council makes it crystal clear the entire organisation needs to be scrapped.

MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
4 years ago

Gary Cooper the last of the “strong silent type” actors?

SoftwareBabeOHIO
SoftwareBabeOHIO
4 years ago

NO, he was just one of them. John Wayne, a Conservative was another!

RetiredNavyphotog
RetiredNavyphotog
4 years ago

We are truly locked in a battle of good vs. evil.
Please God, protect President Trump and this great country.

SoftwareBabeOHIO
SoftwareBabeOHIO
4 years ago

THIS WAS AN EXCELLENT MOVIE!
I think THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN was also a movie that challenged good people to stand up against evil. I especially liked the latest one with Chris Pratt.

Good Americans stood up to the Democrat Party, the deep state and their evil by electing Donald Trump. It is time to stand up to them again in 2020. And, when re-election comes around for the Senators and Reps in Congress, give the Dems and RINOS the boot! Personally, I am sick and tired of these liberals who think THEY OWN AMERICA. We, the People own America, IF WE CAN KEEP HER!

IF WE, THE PEOPLE DO NOT TAKE A STAND AGAINST THE EVIL COMING AGAINST OUR CONSTITUTION AND WE, THE PEOPLE THEN WE DESERVE WHAT WE GET. We will lose our Republic.

TRUMP 2020

turkeychoker
turkeychoker
4 years ago

thank you, ms geller !

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