Rating: 
Summary: One of the greatest of the genre and it never looked better
Review: I must have seen High Noon 20 times since I was an 11-year old boy, and even now it remains one of my favorites. I never tire of seeing it again and admire the story of a brave man abandoned by an entire town as he chooses to face his enemies alone. Even if you own this movie on video - let alone a TV copy - you'll love this DVD presentation (and even if you are not a B&W aficionado, you'll understand why colorization was such a bad idea). The package comes with full DVD goodies: The original movie trailer, a fascinating documentary hosted by Leonard Maltin, and it was great to hear the classic "do not forsake me" song in French!
Rating:
Summary: Best of the West
Review: This movie, amazing in that it is almost in "real time", is the best western I have ever seen. (Go to Henry Fonda's "My Darling Clementine" for number two). Cooper is excellent as a man who feels obligated to save his town on his wedding day, and Grace Kelly is fine. Because the movie is in real time, that is, the film takes as long as the action on the screen does, the suspense is riviting. You will be biting your nails, waiting for the clock to strike twelve and (I don't want to give it away) whatever happens to happen. The end could be considered anti-climactic, but it's a good surprise and a good end to an excellent, excellent movie.
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Summary: A Hero is Defined By The Alternative He Chooses
Review: Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly are both excellent in this film. The content was similar, yet different from a lot of other westerns. Allegory and story combine to make one of the stronger social statements to ever come out of Hollywood.
Rating: 
Summary: High time for High Noon
Review: "High Noon" is the classic western movie about a marshall facing down four badmen alone after the townsmen refuse to help him. Although it has a western setting, it could have easily been most any other locale because the psychological and social aspects are the important themes, not the old West, or riding horses. Made during the time of McCarthy and the Communist witch hunt, many have read political undertones into the movie. A seemingly unusual cast includes Gary Cooper ("Sergeant York", "Pride of the Yankees") as the good-guy out-going marshall, Grace Kelly ("Rear Window") as his new wife, Lloyd Bridges ("Sea Hunt", "Airplane") as the deputy, Lee Van Cleef (the "bad" of "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly") as one silent badguy, Lon Chaney ("The Wolfman"), and Henry Morgan ("MASH"). The movie proceeds in nearly real time - it starts about 10:30 AM and ends shortly after noon - and clocks are increasingly prominent in nearly every scene. The leader of the badmen, Frank Miller, who was sent to prison by the marshall under a death sentence but was released, is now coming to town on the noon train to kill marshall Kane. Three of his friends are waiting at the station to greet and assist him in killing the marshall. That same morning, Kane is getting married to a violence-abhoring Quaker woman and is going to give up being marshall because of it. After learning Frank Miller is coming to town, the wife convinces Cane to essentially skip town and they leave, but the marshall gets his sense of duty back and returns to town. He and his wife argue, and she is determined to leave on the noon train. The judge also packs his things and leaves town. The marshall's deputy also quits. Kane goes around town trying to organize a posse, but only one capable man volunteers (the other is a one-eyed drunk) but he subsequently backs out. Cane is forced to face the men alone. I won't spoil the ending. At a time when movies (even bad ones) were being made in color, "High Noon" was shot in black-and-white, trying to get an unglamorous look to it modeled after Matthew Brady's photographs of the civil war, and succeeds. There is no beautiful sky and clouds, or cactus and sunsets. It is great cinematography however. Oscars for Best Actor, Editing, Song and Score. Reasonably-priced DVD picture and sound are good. It has an average commentary by daughter of actor, son of singer, son of writer and son of director. Also has a short documentary, a fair behind-the-scenes, and a 5-plus minute radio interview with singer Tex Ritter.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Westerns ever. Gary Cooper wins 2nd Oscar!
Review: This Western is told in a real time, nail biting, how does it feel to be alone scenario. Digitally remastered the picture & sound are extrodinary to the story telling. Oscar winning opening song "Don't Forsake Me" sung by Tex Ritter sets the stage for the "Miller Gangs" return. Will Cain (Cooper) on this his happiest day of his life having a wedding and retirement ceremony (from being the town Marshall) has his past suddenly become the challenge of a lifetime. Vengeful returning outlaws are seeking Cain. Everyone wants him to go on his honeymoon and leave town immediately. His sense of loyalty & duty is to stay until the new Marshall arrives. Problem no one stands beside him to defend the town. Will Cain must do it alone. What is so wonderful about this classic black & white western is the real-time scenario from about 10:40 am until 12:00pm "High Noon". Clocks & railroad tracks are the major ingredients to the suspense. These desparados are coming on the noon train. This is a great movie and "The Making of High Noon" with Leonard Maltin is wonderful. You'll be watching this movie more than once. This is a western to have in your DVD library now!
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Summary: Fabulous movie, great acting and screenplay
Review: High noon is one of the great movies of Gary Cooper and Fred Zinneman. Gary Cooper got his secong Oscar for this movie, a well deserved one. This movie has everything that one would hope for in a movie, including the ultimate accolade, a man of honor who does not shirk his duty despite the odds. Though the movie drags out a bit during some periods, it is well worth it. He cleans up the town and makes it safe for people without having to worry about hooligans.
The screenplay by Carl Foreman was outstanding. It was unfortunate the HUAC took him for a Communist and though Gary Cooper testified that he was no Communist, he was hounded by the McCarthys. Though he later wrote screenplay for "Bridge on the River Kwai", he was never acknowledged for it. Pierre Boulez, who did know a word of English got the award for that movie. He later wrote screenplay for "Guns of Navarone" and other movies. He was one of the most creative screenplay writers and was hounded out of Hollywood without a shirk of proof. It was only when Carl Foreman died that he got a posthumous award. For all the "history buffs", I would ask you to go back and reread your history. It almost seems that US is more obsessed with Communism that with Nazism - that is a shame. The fact is that Communism is dying if not dead, whereas the other one is not. People who cannot get used to it must visit Austria and pretend that they are Jewish and see how they are treated. I am tired of people who feel that they have to clean up the world and not do anything about it except rant and rave. They should learn from Gary Cooper and work at it instead of talk. Then, they will understand the meaning of the word, honor, as it is not easy to come by. Frankly, I do not see anything honorable about the way Carl Foreman was treated.
Rating:
Summary: Buy it for the movie, not the extra features
Review: I have nothing to say about HIGH NOON that hasn't been said before. The DVD is worth the price for the film alone. If you don't have a previous edition, buy it.
The special features are tremendously disappointing: A couple of standard-issue making-of documentaries and the very worst commentary track I have ever heard.
Why they thought that the filmmakers' kids would have anything to offer is baffling. They should have gotten a critic or film historian or someone who actually had something relevant to say (apart from the usual complaints about the Evil Senator McCarthy). Instead, we listen to a bunch of people we've never heard of (and John Ritter) engaging in amateur film criticism.
It's like watching a movie with four of your least insightful acquaintances.
Rating:
Summary: The forgotten-future western star
Review: This is a great western classic..In the opening scene comes a rider down a hill approaching a man waiting for him.It's
LEE VAN CLEEF in his very first movie.And he has no lines to say whatsoever.26 plus years later here he is in "For a Few Dollars More"follow by "The Good,The Bad And The Ugly"-the man in blacx.He had a very hard time getting good roles till he & Clint Eastwood went to Spain.High Noon..in my opinion should have been film in SEPIA...not b/w.It would have been a GIANT STEP for HOLLYWOOD..to make it that way..giving it the old west look...like old pictures from the end of the 19th century.
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Summary: Man Alone.
Review: I never saw this movie before until today. For the most part, it's not dated in the least. Gary Cooper plays a forlorn, beaten sheriff who even makes out his last will and testament before Miller arrives on the high noon train for his revenge. Grace Kelly, at the end of the film, is unforgettable. The build up towards the final scene is masterful as it shows the way human beings really act. Cooper's friends all leave him and he walks, runs, and fights alone...but that does not mean he cannot win. All the old school manly virtues of stoicism, bravery, loyalty, chivalry, and duty are on display. It was pretty amazing.
Rating: 
Summary: Proof of how insidious Communism was
Review: When commie Carl Foreman wrote this, he was following in the footsteps of his fellow Communists in blurring, blending, twisting and ultimately distorting the age old story of good vs. evil. Many of the reviews of this movie over the decades have said that this movie was a way for Foreman to portray himself vicariously as Cooper in standing up for what is right when he lied before the House Un-American Committee about his Communist ties. His testimony occurred long before Senator Joe McCarthy showed up, but this film is somehow an attack on "McCarthyism" and McCarthy, who never served in the House of Representatives or on HUAC. It is a classic example of how the communists were so successful in infiltrating the US opinion makers. The recent revelations of the KGB have shown that McCarthy was essentially correct, and that Communists in the USA took their orders from Moscow during the Cold War.
The good part of the movie is that the USA has historically had men and women who have stood up for what is morally right. The bad part of this movie is that the extraordinary country that the USA is had been co-opted in many ways by a very smart and very smarmy Communist like Foreman, who steals the ideal, and like the rat that he was, contaminates it to make it something closer to his goal of using good motives for evil purposes. Try to find a movie that exposes the fact that Stalin murdered millions more than Hitler in his evil program to advance communism. You won't find one because the ethos of Hollywood is still steeped in the tradition of supporting communism as these multi-millionaires have their chauffeurs drive them to the studio from their seaside mansions in Malibu or Beverly Hills.
Cooper is great in this movie, but it is defiled by the legacy that its author was yet another commie agent who viewed the masses as stupid and easily subject to manipulation. Kind of like a Cold War Moore. Unfortunately he was very right in this regard as proven by many who view this movie as a triumph of attacking a Senator who has been shown much more correct than wrong. Sad thing about the end of the Cold War. When it ended, the rocks got picked up and the roaches had nowhere to hide. And Foreman would have been left exposed to explain himself if he had still been alive when real freedom triumphed over the evil he supported all of his life.
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