 | Few films have ever moved me as much as this one. It is a enheartening testament to the indispensable importance of the lone, principled individual in a society ruled by fear, complacency, and terror.
Gary Cooper plays the soon-to-retire small town sheriff Will Kane, who has recently married the character played by Grace Kelly (in her debut film role). He learns that a bitter enemy outlaw, Frank Miller -- whom Kane had captured and sent to jail five years earlier -- has just been pardoned and released from jail instead of being hanged and is due to arrive in town by train at twelve p.m.... high noon... to settle an old score.
Kane turns to the people of the town for assistance in forming a posse to deal with Miller and his gang, only to discover that they will let him face the threat alone and are willing to adjust to life under the yoke of terror.
This film grips you like few others will. The dusty, sun-bleached town... the silent, frozen fear of the townspeople... the slow and cruel ticking of the clock as noon irreversibly approaches... the obvious battle in Cooper between his despair and disgust for being abandoned by all those who feigned courage, friendship, and support, and his weary resolve that evil must be vanquished instead of run from... all of these make this film not only unforgettable, but essential viewing for anyone who values integrity.
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