Gary Cooper had one of the most interesting backgrounds of any movie star. He was a real working cowboy who had been educated at a prestigious English Public School. He was equally at home playing cowboys and senators. May I suggest you watch "Sergeant York" (Coop's first Oscar) and "Ball of Fire" in that order? Be sure to watch "Sergeant York" first.

This movie is known as a portrait of heroism, but it's just as much a portrait of collective cowardice.

Thank you, Madison! You always seem to be reacting to classic movies that I've always enjoyed. What's interesting about this movie is it was filmed in real time (time passage of the movie is the same as the story's time passage). In the same era as this movie was made (1953 instead of 1952), another classic western hit the screens. It has the same mature characters and story as "High Noon". It's called "Shane", and I don't know which one I like more, but I might give the edge to "Shane". Two great westerns that stand the test of time.

High Noon is the best western I have seen in all my years.

Gary Cooper in 1940's "The Westerner" really is a great role that shows his talent as an actor and his ability to play a part with humor. Walter Brennan as Judge Roy Bean plays a great villain to Cooper's semi-hero. Cooper was an all-time great in many genres.

"High Noon" tells the tale of the Hollywood blacklist, and how "friends" abandoned totally anyone who was blacklisted. Carl Foreman, the writer, was blacklisted.

Thank you Madison for reacting this masterpiece High Noon starring by Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Katy Jurado and Lloyd Bridges. The song is just epic and beautiful 🎵 Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darlin 🎵

This is one of my favorite Western movies! They even did a remake of the movie in 1981 as a Sci Fi space thriller called OUTLAND starring Sean Connery as a law enforcement officer on Jupiter's moon Io where he has a showdown with drug smugglers.

Tex Ritter, who sang High Noon was the father of John Ritter, known for his character on TV's Three's Company. Many great character actors in this film, including Katy Jurado who always seems to be unmatched in her presence. Don't know if you have watched George Stevens' Shane starring Alan Ladd, it too has many themes including possibly one about a constitutional amendment. Always a Great Reaction! :)

Another outstanding film staring Cooper is Sergeant York. He also won an Oscar for that roll. In all it was nominated in 11 categories. Amazing supporting cast including the timeless Walter Brennan. Ward Bond, Noah Beery Jr , June Lockhart and my young crush Joan Leslie. It's really worth watching. Based on a true story. I enjoyed your analysis of High Noon I'd love to hear your reaction to the other.

One of the finest westerns ever made. The 27th best American motion picture ever made, according to the American Film Institute (AFI). And a wonderful performance by Katy Jurado (my humble opinion) - " I don't like anybody to put his hands on me unless I want him to, and I don't like you to, anymore" uuuUO!!

Probably one of the best Westerns ever made and you being a Western author never seen this, oh my..like Christmas for you. Great reaction, glad you finally got to see it.

Fred Zinnemanns masterpiece was "A Man For All Seasons" but it wasn't a western lol. But don't let "Shane" pass you by. It's iconic, it's brilliant, it's a western it has freaking Jack Palance in it lol.

The Peter Hyams film "Outland" (1981) is a loose remake of this film, set on a mining colony on Jupiter's moon Io. Hyams later went on to direct 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), the pretty-good sequel to Stanley Kubrick's "2001: a Space Odyssey" (1968).

High Noon is the right choice. Rio Bravo is merely a good Western; High Noon is ranked by the American Film Institute (AFI) as the 32d best movie of all time, in any genre, and one of the most imitated, parodied, and culturally significant movies ever made. Some of the cultural tropes that came from this movie include: the hero riding off into the sunset at the end with the girl; the phrase "a man's got to do what a man's got to do" (although Gary Cooper never actually said this, it was the advertising slogan); and the phrase "high noon" itself to refer to an appointment with destiny.

I highly recommend "Sergeant York" too based on a WW1 American hero. The acting from all the characters is fantastic.

The song HIGH NOON was recorded in 1952 by Tex Ritter. A British singer called LITA ROZA also recorded this song. I'm not sure if it was before or after Tex Ritter's version, but I think it was the same year, 1952. I have Lita Roza's version on 78rpm shellac record.

John Wayne had a complex reaction to this film. Upon it's release, he called it Un-American because he viewed it, as many others did, as an allegory against blacklisting, which Wayne actually supported. He also didn't like that the protagonist basically begs for help, which I guess for Wayne was not "manly". Yet, when Cooper was unable to accept the Academy Award for best actor, it was John Wayne who accepted it on his behalf. He also later joked that he was going to fire his manager for not getting him the role

Once Cooper was informed of the situation the movie basically runs in real time.

I knew you were going to love this movie! Cooper is masterful. Not a western, but another great Cooper performance (along with the incomparable Ingrid Bergman) is For Whom the Bell Tolls. I think you'll love that one too!.

You're right! It IS "Thou Shalt not Murder." All this time, we've been suffering with a mistranslation of this word. Just as in English, we have separate words for "kill" and "murder" so has Ancient Hebrew and the word used in the Torah in this instance is the word for murder. Good on you for intuiting this out. Very impressive.

The final scene when he throws the badge on the ground says so much.

It's Lloyd Bridges! Looks like he picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

Great review Madison. I've always loved this movie; the story, the cast, the score and above all Gary Cooper. He played this part with so much feeling and emotion. He is a hero, ofcourse, but he showed his insecurity, doubts and fear througout this movie. He is a tough guy, but at the same time is not afraid of looking very vulnerable. Gary Cooper is one of those actors who had so much charisma that your eyes are always automatically focussed on him. The story is great, the conversations are great and the whole movie functions as a kind of a mirror of our society, of us, people. So thanks again for this review.

Probably the best review of this movie i've heard.

Wonderful reaction and analysis, Madison!!! Fred Zinnemann's direction, Floyd Crosby's cinematography and Dimitri Tiomkin's score created so much tension that when you hear the train's whistle, you almost feel like you've just run a mile race, or that's the way it was for me anyway. Great film, great script and great performances from everyone!!!

Thank you for these classics: they really are 'classic' for a reason. That you watch with an unbiased eye and allow for what was the norm at the time is amazing. I'm thrilled to be a humble subscriber!

It’s very effective the way director Fred Zinnemann displays a clock frequently throughout the movie to remind us that time is running out for Will Kane. You can see the desperation in Kane’s face as the situation becomes more dire.

Gary Cooper has also made comedies: "Good Sam," "The Cowboy and the Lady," "You're in the Navy Now." He also starred in the live action fantasy "Alice in Wonderland."

Another underrated western is The Gunfighter, starring Gregory Peck. 1950

I really enjoyed how invested you was in this movie. You're going to love Rio Bravo. 🙂

Always a good day when our renaissance host (painter, artist and author) loads up a western, and puts on the hat.

Ms. Madison, thank you for continuing to bring us these Western classics. It really sets your channel apart. And girl, you can rock a cowboy hat like few others. 😉 High Noon was adapted into a science fiction film called Outland, starring Sean Connery. I think you’d like it. Excited for your merch!

Thank you. Your video comments were very good, adding to the movie itself.

thanks Madison, you made my day. High Noon is such a must-watch on so many levels, what you said, comments below, its social critique, etc. one could go on quite a long while on all the details so i just leave it here... so true about having to re-watch it. goosebumps every time...

Lloyd Bridges also stars in this film. You may have seen him in the satire "Airplane," "Tucker: A Man and his Dream," ( starred with his son Jeff Bridges). He had a TV series in the'60s, "Seahunt" . Bridges frequently acts alongside his sons Beau and Jeff Bridges.

Hope you get to some James Cagney films if you stay in the classics. One of the all time greats and criminally underreacted to. "The roaring 20's" "white heat" would be 2 great recs to check out.

One of my favorite things is that if you count up all the men who almost helped you get to about a dozen guys, there’s his deputy, the guy who volunteered, the three guys he sent the kid to find, 5 guys who immediately jumped up to help him at the church and then throw in couple from the bar and yeah he’d have like 11-12 guys backing him up.

In the cast are Lee Van Cleef, Harry Morgan, and Sheb Wooley (who had a hit with The Purple People Eater).

Other notable Westerns starring Gary Cooper "Friendly Persuasion " and "Vera Cruz".

I’m so glad you chose High Noon! I knew you would really connect with this movie, more so than other reactor channels. It is truly an American epic.

The film is pretty much a parable about the 1950s Communist witch hunt in the US and how it affected the film industry as well as the country itself. Cooper standing up for himself as a man alone pitted against the odds not in his favor is strongly palpable for those who were persecuted for their beliefs/thoughts and wrongful accusations which ultimately led to blacklisting among other notorious acts of ostrachizations. The film itself is a true Western classic and Cooper justifably earned that Oscar - he was always a stoic, silent type but very much still waters run deep persona onscreen (and very private off). Great job Mads - knew you'd dig it.

Floyd Crosby's cinematography was nominated for an academy award, an award he already won for another movie in 1931. There many super shots, angles, and tricks...but the one with the theme playing as the camera pans out and up showing Cooper alone on the vacant streets, abandoned by the town, is chilling. Floyd was the father of the recently late David Crosby of the 1960'/70's Crosby Stills Nash and Young singing group, and also the Byrds of the 1960's. Lloyd Bridges is the Deputy, father of actors Jeff and Beau Bridges. the husband who tells his wife to tell Kane he is not home is Harry Morgan [known as Henry Morgan back then], who latter became famous on TV shows, Pete and Gladys, Dragnet in the 1960's and Colonel Potter on MASH. who was in what seems hundreds of tv shows and movies, often cowboy movies. Katy Jurado is one of the finest actresses, and a beauty. I'd melt like butter on a skillet around her. She deserved a best supporting actress award for this, but no....Coopers acting was in EYES, showing desperation and abandonment. Frankly, that whole town could go to hell as far I would be concerned.

Thanks for this great upload, Madison, I really love that you react to classic movies :-) Another great one with Gary Cooper (and my personal favorite) is The Westerner, 1940. The humor and story hold up so well, even today 83 years later!

Gary Cooper made many great movies. Hanging Tree is one of my favorites. Great reaction!

Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling was sung by Tex Ritter but was later a hit for Frankie Laine.

You did another marvellous reaction, very thoughtful, very observant. It's probably been mentioned several times before, but it's enlightening to consider in what kind of times the movie was made, and what it was basically a comment on. I'm, of course, referring to the McCarthy era. As others have mentioned, it may be worthwhile to also take a look at the film "Outland" from 1981. It stars Sean Connery in a similar role as Cooper's (a marshal fed up with quitting), and it's one of Connery's strongest performances, to my mind. The themes are similar, but "Outland"'s setting in a future mining colony on the Jovian moon Io adds another layer of atmosphere to it. Cheers! P.S.: If you're going to take on "Rio Bravo", please, also consider giving "El Dorado" a go. It's a charming, melancholy, and funny riff on the theme.

Thank you again for another honest and heartfelt analysis. Quite frankly I would have enjoyed a much longer response. Your thoughts on this much forgotten and underappreciated film is greatly appreciated.

Excellent analysis, Madison. I agree with everything you say, and you remind me what a fantastic movie this is. You're right about that montage sequence, it's Gold. Shortly after that, there is a shot of Marshall Caine, alone on the street, and the camera backs away on a high crane. Epic. As heroic as Gary Cooper is in this movie, John Wayne thought he was a wimp for asking help from anyone. Rio Bravo is the response to that. Also, I'm quite sure that Clint Eastwood had watched High Noon before he made Unforgiven. Thanks for your output. I enjoyed that.

The deputy was played by Lloyd Bridges, father to Jeff and Beau Bridges

That's Tex Ritter singing. His son John was an actor. This is the first western shot in real time. I love it! Great reaction.

The theme song was sung by Tex Ritter John Ritters father who was a country music singer back in the 40s and 50s. High Noon, a great western!!!

23:09 "You should be helping him Dude." Admirable foretelling!

The Clint Eastwood western, High Plains Drifter (1973), takes a similar scenario and gives it a misanthropic twist. It's not a thinker like High Noon, but it has an impact of it's own.

Another excellent movie starring Gary Cooper is Sgt York. It’s an absolute classic set in WWI and, like Pvt Doss in Hacksaw Ridge, it’s based on the true story of a young man who has to confront his religious beliefs during war and becomes a hero. It’s a must-see and it isn’t as graphic as Hacksaw Ridge.

High Noon, the inspiration for many films that followed including Die Hard (the writers acknowledged it when Bruce Willis corrects the bad guy that it was Gary Cooper, not John Wayne, that rode off with Grace Kelly).

"The Westerner" is another interesting Gary Cooper movie from 1940 It was remade in the 70s(?) As "The Life And Times Of Judge Roy Bean"

He was also very good in the Western "The Hanging Tree" with Maria Schell and Karl Malden

Great reaction and observations cowgirl ! And what I love was the build up to the showdown which was proceeding in near “real time” with all the clocks showing the count down to the climax. A great western !!!

Thank you for reacting to this. Gary Cooper's best film. Please do more Westerns. You and Irish Guy Reacts are the only ones who react to Westerns regularly.

Yes, I agree, one always misses little things, nuances etc, the first time viewing. For example, you missed an important scene when Kane happens across a bunch of kids playing a gunfight. You were talking to us and you missed a line from one of the kids, who said (I paraphrase): "Gotcha, Kane, you're dead!". Kane's reaction was one of further despondency.

The name of the town, “Hadleyville” is a play on the name of the town in the Mark Twain short story “ The man who corrupted Hadleyburg”- it has a similar theme regarding human nature.

In my personal opinion the is the best western movie. Covers all the points. Politics, honour, strong female characters, friendships and morals.

This is an excellent reaction Madison. You covered all the main situations in the movie very well and I really enjoyed your detailed comments at the end.

Hi Madison. This movie set off an interesting chain of events. Five other actors were offered the part before Gary Cooper. The first was John Wayne. He thought that the movie had too political a theme. Wayne was a staunch supporter of the blackisting at the time and he felt this was anti that view. As it turned out Cooper who was a close friend of Waynes, was in Europe at the time of the Oscars. He asked his friend Wayne to accept for him. Wayne put his personal feelings aside and made a thoughtful speech in which he spoke highly of Cooper. Ending his speech by joking that he was going to find his agent and find out why he didn't do the film himself lol. Oh and the song won an Oscar as well!

It was said Gary Cooper had bad stomach ulcers while filming the movie. It was also said John Wayne didn't like the end throwing the badge in the dirt.✌️❤️

This is a really good movie and the most shown at the White House. Tex Ritter sang the song. He’s the father of John Ritter from Three’s Company.

This is one of the best westerns of all time. Gary Cooper was a true American legend and he kills it in this role. WDE

"By that time my lungs were aching for air." Good old Lloyd. Anyone else remember watching "Sea Hunt" in its first run?

I liked their attention to detail, especially with the clocks. So many westerns will show a clock, and it’s missing a pendulum. All of the clocks in this movie were working.

An interesting bit of trivia: The cinematographer on this film was Floyd Crosby. Floyd's son was David Crosby who grew up to be a very successful musician in the bands The Byrds, and Crosby, Stills and Nash.

The film is (more or less) presented in real time. The clock shows 10.40 at the start. Time obviously is like a character in the story. The film caught some criticism at the time for portraying small town America in a less than glorious light. The Cold War was in full swing and small town America was seen as a reservoir of true American values.

You might want to have a look at Outland. Its a sort of sci fi retelling of High Noon in space, it has Sean Connery as the Gary Cooper character.

I love both High Noon and Rio Bravo, so I'm very happy to hear we're getting to see both reactions. I'd like to suggest Outland (1981) as a link to High Noon but in a completely different setting/genre.

Thank You Madison Thames!

AT A PARTY JOHN WAYNE TOLD GARY COOPER, HE DIDNT LIKE THAT COOPER PLAYED SUCH A WEAK SPINLESS UNAMERICAN CHARACTER. GARY COOPER TOLD JOHN WAYNE, I AM NOT THAT CHARACTER AND YOU'RE NOT JOHN WAYNE.

It's interesting that John Wayne turned this film down because he considered it "un-American" and a whole town would not have turned their backs.

Clint Eastwood did a alternative what if version of High Noon called High Plains Drifter I too recommend Gary Cooper in Friendly Persuasion and Sergeant York Also watch Westward the Women

I had a philosophy teacher in adult school who brought this up for discussion. For me this is one of the penultimo westerns to define the genre; good vs evil (outside the whole natives mess ofc) !!

Howard Hawks made Rio Bravo as a response to this movie, so now you should watch that one--it's one of Hawks' best.

Complex characters. Just a point... You're right, Harvey (Deputy Marshall) was immature and insecure. In this way, though, he wanted Kane to leave town so he could take care of the Miller gang himself and so show his capability of being marshall.

John Wayne was offered the part of the Marshall but declined. Later he expressed his strong dislike for the movie, calling it "un-American". This was all happening under the shadow of McCarthyism and a lot of people saw political messages in the plot. In defense of "High Noon", the judge actually takes down the American flag from the wall at the beginning of the film, like saying: "Well, let's be un-American from now on, to hell with the law and let us betray the Marshall".

Great Western. Great reaction. I'd also recommend Dick Powell in 'Murder my sweet'. An adaption of Raymond Chandlers novel 'Farewell my lovely.'. 😊

Hi Madison, good to see another reaction to a great classic movie. This is why those of us who have already explored them, are trying to pass on the advice to younger people, to do the same. I have found many great films from the `30`s onwards that I have enjoyed, even though I grew up in the `60`s. The fact that a film or Tv Series was made before you were born, should not preclude anyone from trying them out. As you mentioned the story & characterization in these films is usually good. This is because the standards at the time for a film to be successful, were IMO, mainly higher than those of recent decades. Don`t get me wrong they had some stinkers but they tended to fail at the box office too. Mistakes made were usually taken into a/c, as the independent film companies could not afford too many of them.

I love this movie because it's all about 3 simple, yet supremely vital, factors that EVERY MAN (and, arguably in the modern world, every person) MUST internally face and unquestioningly embrace for himself/themselves: DUTY, CHARACTER, and COURAGE. Just FYI, the reason why John Wayne (who was indeed VERY close friends with his buddy Gary Cooper) nonetheless felt the need to "rebut" High Noon on the silver screen was because of John Wayne's overriding patriotic love for America. High Noon was the product of "blacklisted" communist "Red scare" writers/directors/producers in the emerging leftist Hollywood of the 1950s and the ever-growing Cold War with the Soviet Union (and now Communist China too). [BTW, although today's leftist Hollywood and leftist mainstream media love to constantly mock traditional American conservative values and beat the drum about how "invented the Red Scare was," how "unjustified" and "unfair," it was, how "crazy" it was for Senator Joe McCarthy to conduct "UnAmerican Activities" investigations and go after communists infiltrating and undermining the U.S., etc., the FACT of the matter that everybody ignores is that there WERE (ARE) INDEED communists and other anti-American sympathizers throughout Hollywood, the American media, and American academia ... so people who recognize that reality are NOT "crazy."] Anyway, John Wayne loved the romance of the old American West and the inherent good character of Americans who built this country. He couldn't abide the new "twist" High Noon was portraying: i.e., that Americans were selfish cowards who would turn their backs on good "law and order" public servants and abandon them to fend for themselves. John Wayne went so far as to say the movie was "unAmerican," was promulgated by communist/Soviet Union sympathizers who wanted to undermine traditional American "good guy" values, and that it turned his stomach. That's why he felt the need to "rebut" High Noon. I don't necessarily disagree with John Wayne ... BUT I also appreciate the masterpiece that is High Noon because it underscores the need for sacrifice that every individual of good character must face too. And there is NO WAY Gary Cooper would have ever KNOWINGLY/BELIEVINGLY been a part of a movie that HE personally BELIEVED was critical of America or intended to undermine the U.S. The two Hollywood greats just viewed the movie differently, and an objective person CAN see how each competing view of the movie has merit.

Another great review. Another great thought provoking western classic is The Oxbow Incident.

I think you did a great job of analyzing this movie. The people wanted him to leave thinking it would defuse the problem, but that is a fool's hope. Not standing up to criminals just ensures that they will do even worse. Good luck with your book, I hope you do as well as my favorite Western author, Don Coldsmith. He wrote a series of books from the point of view of the plains Indian tribes.

I actually first heard about this movie in eighth grade in the mid-80s reading the novelizations of one of the earliest Japanese imported cartoons that might be classified as "Anime'". The protagonist ace pilot was dueling an alien enemy ace in their robotic fighting machines and when they faced off on a city street the hero was supposedly humming to himself that haunting song that plays in the background of this movie. That prompted me to go up to my local Blockbuster and rent High Noon and I was just blown away by Gary Cooper's performance. He was a name I had heard of from classic Hollywood but I don't know that I had yet seen any of his work. I totally understood after this movie why he was so acclaimed as was the film. High Noon is the definition of how to build tension up to a climax and it reminds me very much of more modern Westerns like Open Range in that regard.

Col Potter from Mash/Officer Bill Gannon from Dragnet is in this. So is Uncle Billy from It's a Wonderful Life and Beau and Jeff Bridges' dad is there too. Heck even Lon Chaney and his son have a role.

One of the best westerns of all time.

I’ve read that Free Zinnemann, after a few days of filming said: we’ve got a problem….Cooper can’t act. Then after seeing some rushes said: Never mind! Some felt the film Anti-American, thus Rio Bravo. Cooper was over 50 and Kelly like 19! Love, love this realistic low budget film.

And I’m recommending two “alternative” westerns for you that would be real interesting to see your take on. “El Top” subtitled (1970) “Dead Man” (1995) So these films definitely both take place in that time period and are definitely of the genre of western. Not trying to bait and switch you or anything. It’s just that both these films take a very unorthodox approach to the genre. Both films, unlike any other western out there. “El Topo” was actually the first midnight movie and started the phenomenon. “Dead Man” stars Johnny Depp. These two films are not anything alike. The only reason I’m grouping these two westerns together now is because of their unorthodox, unusual, and totally unique approach to the genre.

A classic film. Brings to life the saying "The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil is that Good Men Do Nothing". Will is the only good man in town.

Great review, Madison!

See _High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic_ by Glenn Frankel. And the more expensive of the two "Olive Films" releases of the film has a supplement about the blacklist -- many of the extras were given parts as their last paycheck.

"The worst Deputy ever" was played by the legendary Lloyd Bridges, father to Jeff and Beu.

Cooper won two Academy Awards..1941’s Sgt.York..and this one High Noon..with the future Princess Grace of Monaco..Grace Kelly from Philadelphia..and she played opposite every top actor Hollywood had..til she married a prince..in 1954..?

John Wayne's chief objection to High Noon was, whole town full of folk, which would include a percentage of civil war veterans, but nobody stands by the sheriff. He pointed out the large volume of shooting that broke out in Coffeville when the citizens discovered the Dalton's were robbing their bank. Of course there are three 'Hey you in the jail films' as, strangely, three fairly identical films were made. Rio Bravo, El Dorado and Rio Lobo. My favorite is El Dorado. Also BTW gosh Grace Kelly errrrrr 28 year age difference between the husband and the bride........ oh well.

This film perfectly typifies the Hollowood blacklist, the only unalloyed hero of which was screenwriter Carl Foreman. The townspeople in this acted exactly as did the Hollowood "community". And one of the main leaders of the blacklisters was right-wing gung ho war hawk and draft dodger John Wayne. He ranted against this film as "un-American," while the Hollowood "community" -- and Wayne -- were proving it true.

High Noon.... So many reactors go after this movie, and that's fine. It's a classic, but if you want something unique and still a real western with punch, please check out... Red River (1948) John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru, Walter Brennan, Harry Carey Jr. It's about the first cattle drive up the Chisholm Trail with Wayne playing rancher, trail boss driving a heard of cattle many hundreds strong while keeping everyone in check ! This film was voted one of the greatest western films of all-time 🎥 🤠 Much more than just a film.. it's a real Western adventure ✌️🙂