Related
Summary
OneJohn Waynequote captures his sentiments toward one of the most rotatory westerly movies ever made . Wayne is one of the most notable Western virtuoso of the twentieth century and is largely responsible for shaping the musical genre in the American film industry and beyond . Wayne star in several groundbreaking Western flick himself admit John Ford ’s breakthrough hitsStagecoach(1939 ) andThe Searchers(1956).Wayne could have star in any Western moving-picture show he wanted to but famously passed on Fred Zinneman’sHigh Noon , harshly address it " the most un - American thing I ’ve ever see . "
release in 1952,High Noonwas a new eccentric of Western film that spiel out more like a tightly - cockle thriller . Starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly , High Noonwas unafraid to take exception the traditional figure of the American Western which Wayen had become the prized symbol of . Cooper diddle Marshal Will Kane , the emblem of shelter in a small town who has just gotten marital and is set to step down and crawl in from his role . That is until he gets word that a notorious outlaw named Frank Miller is on a train point to his town at high-pitched noon , wedge Kane back into his position as Marshal for one last showdown .
John Wayne’s Reasons For Turning Down High Noon Explained
Wayne’s conservative ideals prevented his involvement in the film
John Wayne believed thatHigh Noonwas " un - American " becausethe champion showed signs of disrespect towards his profession as a United States Marshaland American law enforcement altogether . At the destruction of the film , Cooper ’s Kane takes his badge off of his breast , hold it on the ground , steps on it , and walk away , which was the concluding straw for the extremely conservative John Wayne . Wayne play as the President of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals , which was cognise to be strictly adverse to communism during a prison term when McCarthyism was at its apex .
The screenplay forHigh Noonwas written by Carl Foreman , who was later blacklisted in Hollywood after being tried by the House Un - American Activities Committee for being a suspect communist and promoting communistic nonpareil inHigh Noon . Wayne realize some of the so - called " un - American " behaviors of Cooper ’s champion and lost interest . He also found the narration to be unrealistic , explaining toRoger Ebertthat"If I ’d been the marshall , I would have been so goddamned nauseate with those [ expletive ] that I would have just taken my wife and saddled up and rode out of there . "
High Noon Was A Different Kind Of Western - But It Worked
High Noon was praised by critics and won 4 Oscars
Both Wayne and celebrated Western director Howard Hawks took issue withHigh noonday , which ended up winning four Academy Awards and seven total nominations . hawk also took upshot with the character of Kane and the premise of the plastic film altogether , obtain him to be a sapless protagonist compared to the typical rugged cowpuncher archetype that Wayne so effortlessly professed . Despite these criticisms , Gary Cooper would get ahead Best Actor for his portrayal of Kaneand the film would also win Best Editing at the 1953 Academy Awards .
Ironically , many fan and critics alike would disagree with Wayne ’s criticism that Cooper ’s Kane did not constitute a straight American Cuban sandwich . Kane does not back down and egotistically ride off into a peaceful life with his honeymooner , provide his town in duress , which embodies Kane ’s power to fend up for what ’s right . Many modern protagonists are sculpture with this character of courage and sympathy in mind , observe the encroachment ofHigh Noonto this day . Further , the fact that the film was n’t the received run - of - the - mill Western of the prison term with shootouts , chase scene , and landscapes of the American West , excited audiences and challenged Wayne ’s notion of the traditional Western genre .
John Wayne’s Rio Bravo Was Made As A Response To High Noon
Hawks and Wayne teamed up for 1959’s Technicolor Western
Wayne and Hawks gravel back withRio Bravoin 1959 , ascertain to tarnish the bequest ofHigh Noonwhich was suspected by some of being an allegory of the Red Scare , McCarthyism , and the Hollywood Blacklisting . Rio Bravotells a similar report toHigh Noon , although it take every luck it capture to undermine any hint of communistic ideals , leaving the scheme and the violence to John Wayne ’s Sheriff John T. Chance and those he ensure fit to defend the law .
The main difference between Chance and Kane is that the former constantly rebut help from others , kick upstairs the thought of the American soul , while the latter relied on the help of the community , ensue in Wayne ’s " Un - American " criticisms of the celebrated and rotatory classic . While Rio Bravo is look at one of Wayne ’s good films in his longstanding career , his critiques ofHigh Noonand screenwriter Carl Foreman , who he hand a hand in getting deported from the U.S. , seem fast-growing in retrospect .
