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Why am I reviewing High Noon? Extreme Movie Watchers normally review movies from the 1980's on up to the new releases now in theaters. Well, fellow reader, I am a Film Major at Georgia State University and I am in a Film Aesthetics class right now. High Noon is a movie I had to watch for the class. Gary Cooper is a sheriff who just got married and is ready to turn over his badge to the hot-shot rookie Lloyd Bridges. Things take a turn for the worse when Cooper discovers his arch-nemesis is arriving on the Noon train. High Noon was more enjoyable than I expected. Gary Cooper does a good job in the lead and it's funny to see Lloyd Bridges look so young. The pace works well because High Noon takes place in real time-the movie is about 90 minutes long, and Gary Cooper has 80 minutes of time in the movie before his nemesis arrives on the train. The music is all variations on the ballad played a zillion times throughout the movie, "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling." I found the ballad to be unintentionally hilarious, and it never loses its hilarity throughout the movie. High Noon is also an allegory for the "Red Scare" in Hollywood during the wacky time known as McCarthyism, so the ending has a neat "Fuck You" message to McCarthy-ish groups. The plot gets a little slow sometimes, but I really liked this movie despite the fact that I don't much care for westerns. I give High Noon *** out of ****. |