Yesterday evening when zapping through the TV-programs I stopped at Western classic „High Noon“. And of course, I had to watch it until the end, until this incredible final scene when Gary Cooper throws his Marshal`s star into the dust after having saved the town without anybody helping him except his pacifist wife, Grace Kelly, who shoots one of the four gangsters in the back.
I have loved this movie as a child, but yesterday for the first time I realized how political it is and how true still today.
For the ones who do not know this great movie which was directed by Fred Zinneman – hard for me to imagine there are any – here is a short summary:
The movie starts the day of Marshal Kane`s marriage. Because his wife, Grace Kelly, is a Quaker and therefore pacifist, he has decided to give up his job and move with her to another town. When he has just turned in his badge, he gets the very bad news that a criminal, Frank Miller, has been pardoned by “people up North” and is due to arrive on the noon train, his gang waiting for him at the station. The new sheriff is only to take up office the next day. Kane is still leaving town with his wife, but after a short while he turns around saying: “They’re making me run; I’ve never run from anyone before” and “They’d just come after us, four of ‘em, and we’d be all alone on the prairie”.
His wife does not want him to face the fight, but he says he has to. At that moment, of course, he expects finding a lot of people to help him. But as time goes on, it becomes clear that no one is willing to get involved. The townspeople are split into two camps. There are the ones who openly welcome the gunmen to come back, to bring back “life” to town. These are men in the saloon or e. g. the hotel-clerk. They are even cheering. And there are the ones, who do not want the criminals to come back, but who are too scared to fight or who are lying to themselves hoping that this is just a “personal” thing between the marshal and the gunmen. And when Kane goes to church and asks for help, at first there are quite a few wanting to help him, but then they decide to have a discussion and at the end of this discussion one of the town elders argues that it’s a matter of economics: if people hear about a shootout, they won’t bring business to town, so he urges Kane to flee: “It’s better for us.” And the priest when being asked prefers staying impartial … “Thanks!” Kane says and leaves the church.
The town’s previous marshal, and Kane`s mentor, Martin Howe (Lon Chaney Jnr) tries to explain why people take so much time talking: “Deep down inside, people just don’t care”. And he is not willing to help Kane either: “It’s a great life. You risk your skin catching killers and juries turn ‘em loose so they can come back and shoot at ya again. If you’re honest, you’re poor your whole life. And in the end, you wind up dying all alone on some dirty street. For what? For nothing. For a tin star.”
So, Kane has to fight the gunmen all alone. And the only one who helps him at the end is his (pacifist!) wife. As soon as all gunmen are dead the so far hidden townspeople come out to cheer and congratulate Kane, but he only takes off his badge of office, throws it contemptuously into the dust and leaves town with his wife. Great!
What a powerful anti-appeasement movie! I see Munich 1938 and European appeasement towards Hitler, I see Europe today and Germany`s flourishing trade with Iran, I see the United Nations debating instead of taking action. And I suspect the old marshal is right when he says that deep inside people simply do not care. Sad, very sad and hard to imagine, but there seem to be a lot of people who simply do not care whether Israel is going to be wiped off the map or not.
Hard to believe this movie has been realized in 1952! All the questions it is asking are still relevant today. Questions about civil responsibility, about love and friendship, gratefulness, loyality and betrayal, courage and cowardice.
A man gives up a job he loves out of respect for his wife`s religious convictions. His wife one and a half hour later gives up exactly these beliefs to save her husband`s life.
Church people, one minute after having prayed to Jesus Christ, are putting short term economic interest above loyality. One of them is even questioning the Marshal`s right to fight. A legitimate question in times of peace, as Marshal Kane has in fact officially turned in his badge and taken it back by himself when returning. But the new marshal is due only the next day and the clock is ticking. But the church people prefer having a discussion to helping the one who once helped them. After all it was marshal Kane who cleaned up their town and made it safe. But they are too short-sighted to see that allowing the gunmen to come back will also affect their lives sooner or later. But apparently they are hoping for “later”.
“High Noon” is definitely not just a great western, superbly written and brilliantly directed, but one of the most moving and convincing anti-pacifist and anti-appeasement movies I have ever seen. And I would even say that there is quite a strong neo-conservative touch in it.
But it has been interpreted in many different ways. Some saw it as an allegory of the McCarthy era showing how people in Hollywood had remained silent while their colleagues were blacklisted. Others used it in their fight against Communism: In Poland, “High Noon” was an inspiration for the election poster of the Solidarity movement. The poster featuring Gary Cooper became an inspiration for the Polish people and a Polish cultural symbol.
Lech Wałęsa wrote:
Under the headline “At High Noon” runs the red Solidarity banner and the date–June 4, 1989–of the poll. It was a simple but effective gimmick that, at the time, was misunderstood by the Communists. They, in fact, tried to ridicule the freedom movement in Poland as an invention of the “Wild” West, especially the U.S. But the poster had the opposite impact: Cowboys in Western clothes had become a powerful symbol for Poles. Cowboys fight for justice, fight against evil, and fight for freedom, both physical and spiritual. Solidarity trounced the Communists in that election, paving the way for a democratic government in Poland. It is always so touching when people bring this poster up to me to autograph it. They have cherished it for so many years and it has become the emblem of the battle that we all fought together.
I like this view and I can only hope that the US will not throw their badge into the dust …