HIGH NOON is a movie that can be taken down from the DVD or Tape shelf and played again and again. Gary Cooper fans will find this to be one of the best, if not THE best, Cooper performance. The plot, the performances, the brutal series of events leading up to the final show down gun fights all contribute to a feeling one has that it truly is noon day with a relentless sun beating down. This is a Western which almost makes one smell the dust of the town streets. The sheer masculinity of Marshall Kane is beautifully balanced with superb feminine grace and strength found in Grace Kelly and Katy Jurado. Ian MacDonald's Frank Miller comes across as a villain par excellence. This is a perfect presentation for black and white. Color would have diminished the sense of impending death that builds relentlessly with each coward's refusal to help Marshal Kane. The film emphasizes that triumph often comes with a price. In the end, Kane removes his lawman's badge and throws it down into the dust, and he rides off with his Quaker bride who must forever live with the fact that she took a human life in violation of her religious convictions. Courage and valor do not come easily.
