Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952)

High Noon insert movie poster image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

Director Fred Zinnemann and United Artists delivered High Noon to movie theaters in 1952. Gary Cooper plays the besieged town marshal, with Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell and Lloyd Bridges in gripping support.

John W. Cunningham’s The Tin Star

High Noon is based on the short story “The Tin Star” by John W. Cunningham (1915-2002), which first appeared in the December 6, 1947, issue of Collier’s.

It was Carl Foreman, in partnership with producer Stanley Kramer at the time, who broached the idea of bringing “The Tin Star” to the silver screen. Foreman wrote the screenplay and Fred Zinnemann (The Men, Oklahoma!, A Man for All Seasons) directed. Dimitri Tiomkin created the original music score and Floyd Crosby delivered the stark b/w cinematography.

Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly in High Noon

Gary Cooper (Marshal Will Kane) and Grace Kelly (Amy Fowler Kane) head the cast. Other players include Thomas Mitchell (Mayor Jonas Henderson), Lloyd Bridges (Deputy Harvey Pell), Katy Jurado (Helen Ramirez), Otto Kruger (Judge Percy Mettrick), Lon Chaney Jr. (Martin Howe), Harry Morgan (Sam Fuller), Ian MacDonald (Frank Miller), Eve McVeagh (Mildred Fuller), Morgan Farley (Dr. Mahin), Harry Shannon (Cooper), Lee Van Cleef (Jack Colby), Robert J. Wilke (Jim Pierce), Sheb Wooley (Ben Miller), Lee Aaker (Boy), John Doucette (Trumbull) and Jack Elam (Charlie).

The role of Will Kane was originally offered to Gregory Peck, who turned it down. Peck’s reasoning: he had just played Johnny Ringo in The Gunfighter (1950), and the two roles were just too similar for his taste.

High Noon Filmed in California

Budgeted at $750,000, High Noon was filmed in California. Locations used included Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, the Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth, Columbia State Historic Park, the Melody Ranch in Newhall, Railtown 1897 State Historical Park in Jamestown and St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Tuolumne City.

Shot in a scant 28 days, High Noon’s first cut proved unacceptable, with producer Stanley Kramer complaining that it contained too many dead spots. He then ordered Fred Zinnemann to film a series of closeups featuring Gary Cooper’s lined, anxiety-ridden face along with intermittent cuts to various clocks as they ticked their way to high noon.

Kramer also instructed Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington to write a moody ballad which could be used to effectively convey Will Kane’s lone, desperate stand against the Miller Gang. The result was the haunting “Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’, performed by Tex Ritter in the soundtrack.

Following completion of the film, writer and associate producer Carl Foreman was blacklisted due to his lack of cooperation before the red-baiting House Un-American Activities Committee. Foreman sold his share of High Noon to Stanley Kramer Productions for a reported $285,000 and promptly departed for Europe.

Marshal Will Kane vs. the Miller Gang at High Noon

Set in Hadleyville, New Mexico Territory (population 650), High Noon opens with the marriage of Marshal Will Kane and his Quaker bride Amy. Will plans to hang up his badge and take up ranching, much to the delight of his young wife.

Word is received that gunslinger Frank Miller, whom Kane had sent away to prison years earlier, is out for revenge against the lawman, with several of his cohorts waiting for his arrival at the train station. Rather than turn tail, Will decides to face Miller and his gang, only to discover that he will have to do it alone as the frightened townspeople now consider it a “private matter.”

Abandoned by his friends and deputies, the clock ticks away, with Frank Miller making his arrival. Meeting him at the train station are three gunfighters: brother Ben Miller, steely-eyed Jack Colby and the grizzled Jim Pierce. Strapping on a six-shooter, Frank Miller leads his boys into town, looking for the lone Will Kane.

A wicked gunfight erupts in the largely deserted Hadleyville, as Marshal Kane takes on the Miller Gang. And when the dust and gunpowder has finally settled, a wounded Kane has somehow prevailed. The marshal then tosses his badge and leaves town in a buckboard, with his loyal wife Amy at his side.

High Noon Opens in New York City

High Noon premiered at New York City’s Mayfair Theater on July 24, 1952.

“Meaningful in its implications, as well as loaded with interest and suspense, High Noon is a western to challenge Stagecoach for the all-time championship,” reported Bosley Crowther of the The New York Times (7/25/52).

“A basic western formula has been combined with good characterization in High Noon…With the name of Gary Cooper to help it along, and on the basis of the adult-appealing dramatic content, the business outlook is favorable,” observed Variety (4/29/52).

High Noon Box Office, Academy Award Nominations, Trivia, DVD

• High Noon grossed $3.4 million at the American box office, good for the #12 position on the list of the top moneymaking films of 1952.
• Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Cooper,won), Best Screenplay, Best Film Editing (Elmo Williams, Harry W. Gerstad, won), Best Music Score (Tiomkin, won), Best Original Song (Tiomkin, Washington, won).
• Frankie Laine’s version of “Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’,” released as “High Noon” on Columbia Records single #39770, climbed all the way to #5 on the Cash Box charts.
• High Noon is reportedly former President Bill Clinton’s favorite film.
• Television remake: High Noon (2000) starring Tom Skerritt and Susanna Thompson.
• Auction results for original High Noon movie memorabilia, courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries, Dallas, Texas: one sheet poster ($1,673), insert poster ($1,015.75), half sheet poster ($896.25), title lobby card ($286.80), 40×60-inch poster style Y ($2,151), 1987 reissue Polish poster ($30).
• On DVD: High Noon Two-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition (Lionsgate, 2008).