A Comparison Of High Noon And Shane

Westerns have been around for many years. Some would consider westerns to be American classics because they describe early life in a mostly undiscovered America. In class two western films were watched and discussed. These two westerns were High Noon and Shane. On the surface, these movies are categorized as the same genre and look very similar but after further inspection it can be determined that the movies have a lot of differences. Of course, both movies share the same central theme of law versus social order, but the way each movie portrays this central theme is very different. This universal theme between the two movies can be investigated through, setting, violence, view of family, how women perceive guns/violence, and the choice of

leaving or staying. Overall, these differences stated above add to the western genre and create two totally different movies with a similar central theme.
Perhaps the most noticable difference between the two movies is the fact that Shane is in technicolor, but High Noon is not.

High Noon was released only about a year before Shane and could have been produced in color as well. This choice to keep High Noon in black and white as opposed to color leads back to the two fundamental purposes of film: documentation versus dazzle. High Noon was left in black and white to portray a sense of reality, as if the movie were a true documentation of something that had occured. Shane, being entirely in color, is meant to dazzle the audience. The opening scene of Shane says it all with the beautiful blue sky and the gorgeous mountainous background all displayed in technicolor for the audience’s enjoyment. Besides the fact of color, the settings of boths movies are quite

different.
Although High Noon and Shane both have a similar rugged terrain as their setting, there are still a few differences between them. High Noon primarily takes place in a small town. In fact, in High Noon, there are hardly any scenes that take place out of the city. High Noon takes place in a once prosperous town with a hotel, saloon, train station, and marshals office. For the majority of High Noon the town is very peaceful and people can roam the streets without fear. However, characters in the movie allude to a time when it wasn’t safe for women and children to roam the town as they pleased.On the other hand, Shane takes place on a large plot of ranching land with not a town in many miles. The only “town” present in Shane consists of a saloon connected to a supply store. Most of the characters in Shane live in fear of Rufus Ryker and his men. The people in Shane tend to stay home and don’t venture out to the saloon/supply store because they do not want to be harassed by Ryker and his men .
Another glaring difference between the two movies is the way the theme of violence is portrayed. Of course, both High Noon and Shane lead up to one main act of violence, but the way these movies work up to this final act of violence is different. In High Noon there is only one major fight scene in the entire movie. It should be noted that there is a small fight scene when Will Kane punches a man in the saloon but this violence ends almost as quick as it started. The main act of violence takes place in one of the last few scenes of the movie. The scene begins with Frank Miller and his men riding into town. This scene unfolds as Will Kane fights to the death with the help of his wife. Although Shane also ends with a huge battle, the movie is sprinkled with violence throughout. Some of the violence includes: Frank ‘Stonewall’ Torrey being shot by Jack Willson, Fred Lewis’s house being burnt down by Ryker’s men, and a saloon fight of Shane and Joe Starrett versus Rufus Ryker’s men . All of these violent actions lead up to one final scene where Shane rides into town to kill Jack Willson and Ryker’s other men. This last act of violence is of course the climax of the movie. The movie ends shortly after this scene with Shane riding away from little Joey Starrett.
There is also a major difference in who performs all of these violent actions. In High Noon the central characters partake in the violent shootout at the end. In this final scene Will Kane and his wife, Amy Kane, kill Frank Miller and the other three men he rides to town with. In the movie Shane most of the violence is not done by a central character. In the movie Shane the violence is performed by Shane and Jack Willson. Shane fights on behalf of Joe Starrett and his family whereas Jack Willson fights on behalf of Rufus Ryker.
Another major difference between the two movies is the role of family. In High Noon Will and Amy Kane are freshly married. Will defies his wife and fights against Frank Miller and his men. Kane fights for selfish reasons. Although Amy is opposed to armed conflict, she does end up saving Will at the end of the movie. In Shane, Joe Starrett is married and has one child. Even though Joe doesn’t actually do any gun fighting in the movie, he would have fought to protect his family. The family unit plays a more important role in the movie Shane as opposed to the movie High Noon. This can also be observed just by looking at the movie posters for both films. On the movie poster for High Noon it shows Will Kaine by himself on the side of the road. On the movie poster for Shane it shows most of the central characters and has the Starrett family standing together. This togetherness of the Starrett family shows unity and togetherness, something that appears to be missing from the High Noon movie poster.
Both movies have female characters present in them.

These two main female characters, Amy Kane and Marian Starrett both have the same view on guns. In both movies the women dislike the idea of guns and gunfighting. Both Marian and Amy beg and plead their husbands not to get involved with gun fighting. Although they both have a similar view on guns, they have different reasons for not liking them. Amy Kane is a quaker and typically quakers are pacifists that do not particularly like fighting/violence. Amy Kane also had a bad experience with guns. She lets the audience know that she lost both her brother and father to guns. Marian shares a similar view and believes there should be no guns in the valley. Marian dislikes guns because she believe they put her family in

jeopardy.
Finally, the question of whether to stay or to go arises. This question is pressing in most westerns. The two westerns discussed in class are no exception. Both central characters, Will and Joe felt the weight of this question pressing on them throughout the whole movie. In High Noon everyone tells Will to get out of town. The townspeople believe that if Will was to get out of town he would be much safer than if he stayed. Wills wife also begs him to leave town with her. Kane eventually gives in to others demands and actually leaves town. He returns almost immediately after leaving. In the movie Shane, Joe feels the same question pressing upon him. Most of the townspeople in the movie Shane get fed up with the trouble Ryker and his men are causing. The townspeople try to persuade Joe to leave with them. The townspeople of Shane feel as if they leave, all of their problems will be gone. In both movies the men decide to not run from their problems. Both Will and Joe decide to stay and fight.
When looking at all of the similarities and differences between these two movies it becomes apparent that although both movies are the same genre and have a same central them they are very different movies. The central theme of law versus social order is apparent in both movies discussed in class. Exploring the topics of setting, violence, view of family, how women perceive guns/violence, and the choice of leaving or staying can lead the audience to clearly see that these movies are very dissimilar. The term ‘western’ is a blanket statement that groups many different movie together. Genre films filled with cliche and stereotypes must be delve into more intensely to really understand the similarities and differences.