"High Noon" has been discussed ad infinitem, but it is a great western, and Gary Cooper deserved his Oscar for it. His face tells it all. The rest of the cast is brilliant as well. I am not a fan of Grace Kelly's acting, she was a model, not an actress, and her voice, like Winona Ryder's, was thin, scratchy and carried no power. She was best when she was looked at: "Rear Window", "To Catch a Thief" and roles with great clothes. It was a travesty she won the Oscar for "The Country Girl". Basically, they gave it to her because she didn't wear makeup, as they gave one to Nicole Kidman for marring her model face with a false nose. But her casting works here, because she is shallow and pretty, without any life knowledge or wisdom. Supposedly in real life she slept around, but she makes a perfect virgin. She is a girl.
The woman in this movie is Katy Jurado, perhaps the most beautiful woman ever on film. And she could act. The flaw of Cooper's character is that he wants a church going girl, when he could have Jurado, sensual, smart, wise and with a depth of passion Kelly would never know how to muster. She's the other reason to see the movie besides Coop. Maybe if she'd been born later they'd have dared put her in films, like Salma Hayek and Eva Mendes, but even those two get short shift, given their beauty and talent. Ingrid Bergman could use that lusciousness to advantage in her career, but Jurado was Mexican, and the film industry wasn't ready for her.
Lloyd Bridges is terrific as Jurado's lover and a cowardly deputy not up to Coop's courage. And the character actors are all icons in westerns.
The movie is helped greatly by it's conciseness, it almost happens in real time, and a great song that sets the tone. Is there a better western? I kind of doubt it.
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