Touching western has a perfectly-cast Alan Ladd portraying a soft-spoken gunslinger on the verge of retiring, happening upon an innocent Wyoming farm family involved in a range war. Appealing picture in which all the good, decent folk fall under Shane's laconic charm (everyone gets a crush on him!). The bar fight between Alan Ladd and Ben Johnson is wonderfully crisp and exciting, shot and edited for maximum impact. Director George Stevens' pacing isn't always smooth, the film has some sound and continuity problems, and the second-half doesn't quite live up to the promise of the first, but the performances are all excellent (particularly by super child-actor Brandon De Wilde). Besides, it's a hardened man who doesn't tear up at the finale. *** from ****
Review of Shane
