High Noon Reviews | RateItAll

High Noon

1952 American Western film produced by Stanley Kramer from a screenplay by Carl Foreman, directed by Fred Zinnemann, and starring Gary Cooper Website

Approval Rate: 88%

88%Approval ratio

Reviews 13

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  • by

    traditionalist

    Mon Jul 21 2008

    Don't let this review of mine influence you ;) Gary Cooper is my favourite actor. You can feel the tension in this movie. Captivating till the end. Nice western.

  • by

    spike65

    Fri Jun 27 2008

    One of the top three Westerns ever made. Coops best IMO.

  • by

    genghisthehun

    Mon Aug 29 2005

    It's a stretch to find Grace Kelly and Coop tying the knot but the story is tense and exciting. I guess in the West, such a vast difference in age was not uncommon. The real time moving of the clock is a classic. The score is terrific and the cameos of the slew of character actors really add to it. Coop won a well deserved Oscar.

  • by

    broughall

    Sun Sep 26 2004

    Those who see this movie as just another good versus evil movie are missing the point. This movie is about doing your duty and acting with integrity versus acting out of cowardly self interest. An entire town turns it's back on Will Kain, including his deputy, in his hour of need. Even his new wife is ready to abandon him because she won't try to understand why he feels he must stay to face Frank Miller, who has vowed to kill him. Even the one person who understands him, Helen Ramirez, turns away. The only people ready to stand with him are a drunk and a boy. Gary Cooper acts the part of Will Kain wonderfully. You can feel his quiet desperation and his self doubt, as he realizes that he will have to fight this fight alone against four men. When Kain finally realizes he will be alone, he sits in his office to write his will. What follows is simply one finest montages anywhere in cinema. As the clock ticks toward high noon and the music builds, we see the faces of all the peop... Read more

  • by

    jaywilton

    Fri Mar 05 2004

    Good vs. evil has never been done simpler-or better.

  • by

    tvtator

    Fri Jan 09 2004

    A rather boring movie. A story about good vs evil? Please. The movie could have been over in 5 minutes if Gary Cooper's character Will Kane had left town with his wife. Grace Kelly was rather stiff. Gary Cooper was fine. The most entertaining was Lloyd Bridges. The whole time I hear how evil this Frank Miller character was and he turned out to be a one note joke. I will say one of the best parts is when the towns people at the church voice their opinions on the whole matter. However there are better movies which deal with the issue of right and wrong.

  • by

    enkidu

    Tue Dec 16 2003

    A taut and memorable film, which for me is the most perfect expression of the American mythos: The Good, taking up arms against the Evil, in a world in which all either oppose the Good or are too cowardly to support: therefore the Good goes it alone, no matter what, and of course prevails. Black and white in this film never smudges into ugly and indistinct and oh-so-real gray, as it does in real life as perceived by more mature nations elsewhere on earth.

  • by

    jimmyinatlanta

    Mon Jun 23 2003

    I love,love,love this movie, and I'm not a huge pre-Eastwood western fan. However, the clever use of clocks and real time, the utter cowardice of the town, the gripping sense of suspense (Eastwood's High Plains Drifter copped a lot of this), and Cooper's fantastic performance all make this a classic. The ending, when he throws down the badge in disgust, had me cheering. I hated that town after all he went through for them, including his wife and ex-girlfriend. You see things like that so much in the world - High Noon really hit home for me. It left you questioning if the world is really worth saving - not the normal ending for a 50s flick!

  • by

    loadf19d

    Fri May 24 2002

    A quintessential western/suspense story. The idea to have the film take place within itself (the length of the film dictates how much time the marshall has until high noon) was absolutely brilliant on the part of the producers. And of course, there is Grace Kelly, in her her lead role, looking and sounding as best as she's ever been. Her performance in "High Noon" is one of the best in movie history.

  • by

    markono

    Sat Dec 22 2001

    Oh Grace Kelly - do not forsake me,oh, my darling !

  • by

    castlebee

    Sun Aug 05 2001

    Three words describe this movie to me - dull, dull, dull. And it was saying a lot for me to get this impression because I first saw it when I still enjoyed westerns and still didn’t have a clue as to how little this folklore had to do with reality. And I especially enjoyed the ones that had a love story going on. HOWEVER, I just could not take the practically comatose subtlety of Gary Cooper’s low-key acting style. He not only put me to sleep but he also looked more like Ice Princess Grace Kelley’s father than her hubby. Unfortunately, unlike the western genre, this denial of masculine age and the pairing of old dudes with young chicks still persists in Hollywood. And, it still seems like exactly what it is – a pathetic attempt to make the man feel and look younger. Oh, and by the way - it STILL doesn’t work.

  • by

    cman2099x

    Sat May 05 2001

    Excellent acting, beautiful B&W cinematography, superb editing, great directing and an all-too-fitting song. This film is so very simple, yet so very great.

  • by

    rematagol

    Wed Mar 21 2001

    Direct,simple western;but a great political film at the same time,one of the best in timing in all the history of cinema(it happens in ´real time¨.