Higher Noon

Cinema Criticism Writing
Possibly, I've been too hasty in revising my opinion of High Noon downward. It really seemed to connect with most of the students in this class, even though it's in b&w and is, in some ways, old-fashioned. They liked the formality of its style and the clarity of the action scenes (in contrast to the incoherent  action scenes in some films today). Plus, the film's me-against-the-world theme may have spoken to the twenty-something psyche. Anyway, I like High Noon better after hearing the discussion and reading the students' papers. Once again, I somehow seem to have learned something.

High Noon: Not So High Anymore

Cinema Criticism Writing

High Noon hasn't held up as well as I thought it would. I used to call it my favorite western, but now it seems a bit dated and mannered. Yes, there are a lot of good things in it, but I'd put it behind Stagecoach, Rio Bravo, the recent remake of True Grit and a bunch of other oaters. I was never a huge Gary Cooper fan, but I used to like his performance in this one more than I do now. The b&w cinematography is still striking, though, and I can't fault the famous editing, with all those shots of clocks as the high-noon showdown approaches.