High Noon

What got me to watch was the casting of Tom Skerrit as the Marshall. He's a great choice and one of our best actors. Susanna Thompson was equally fine as his new wife. What was lacking for me was not only the absence of Tiomkin and Ritter's contribution, but the essence that made it all work so well was that it was under Fred Zinnemann's direction. There are many fine points to the remake but the original should be used by film schools as a study in technique. The original may look a little dated by now but the impact is still enduring. It only looks dated because the pioneering format it created has been adapted to so many story lines since. I think Hardy did a fine job.

I was originally going to pass on watching this one, until I saw in the commercial that the climactic gunfights were filmed in Saving Private Ryan-O-Vision. (I know of no other way to describe this distinctive look--which I realize has been used well before Saving Private Ryan was ever released--and if anyone know how this style is achieved, please contact me via e-mail.) I'm kind of a sucker for that particular technique, so I figured I'd give it a try. Having seen the original only a couple days beforehand, I was fully prepared to be able to pick it apart like crazy.

I was immediately stricken by the opening shot. The silhouettes of Frank Miller's gang against the desert sky was a beautiful image that impressed me right out of the gate. Unfortunately, it became all too apparent that it was made for television, using the many simple, money-saving camera techniques seen in many made-for-TV movies. Aside from that, something just seemed missing from this film, and I just can't put my finger on it. It didn't have the spirit of the original film, nor did it involve me emotionally as the 1952 version did. The aforementioned gunfights were very well-filmed, and a tad bit more exciting than the original, but due to the emotional content, they were much less engaging. Still, though, it was an enjoyable movie.

Is it possible to improve perfection? Why try? I saw the original HIGH NOON(1952) when I was six years old, and have seen it hundreds of times since. It is more than just a movie to me, it became the moral code for which I've lived my life. Making tough decisions, I would often (in my mind) hitch up my belt and walk out to face Miller and the old gang. So this new entry didn't have much of a chance with me, I guess. Legend says that the original was first produced without the quick shots to the clocks and the actors faces, and the great Tiomkin score and Ritter ballad. It was brought back in, re-edited and re-scored and a great movie was born. This one needed more than that. Too often in this newer version, the plot was tediously pre-chewed for us, and needless scenes inserted to let us know for sure what was going on. This new version cried out for someone to sing the ballad at the conclusion, but it was not there. However I did find some good points in the newer version. the casting was pretty good, and Madsen as Frank Miller was genius. Guess I'm stuck in the 50s, huh?

Sometimes, a remake can be as good, or better than an original. The 1997 version of Titanic was award winning and the 1998 remake of Les Miserables was outstanding. But, I'm sorry to say that's not so with the TBS, made for television, version of High Noon.

Alright, so I grew up on the original -- but, it's still a classic!

I will admit that in the remake, some of the characters played their roles admirably: Tom Skerritt portrayed a viable Will Kane and Maria Conchita Alonso was superior as Mrs. Ramirez. Even Dennis Weaver was credible as Martin Howe, but I never felt for him and his circumstances the way I felt for Lon Chaney Jr. in the 1952 version. In fact, throughout the entire program, I never got to where I really cared for the characters as I did in the original.

Advance P.R. in the television guides said that the producers wanted a more "vicious" villain, and so cast Michael Madsen as Frank Miller. But, Madsen looks and acts more like Broderick Crawford in "The Highway Patrol" TV series than a villain in the old west. His twin nickel (or chrome) plated Remington revolvers did nothing to enhance the role for him.

In the 1952 version, Fred Zinnemann used a crane to back off and show the loneliness of Kane as he goes about the task before him. The director of the 2000 remake tries to do the same thing, but the effect is no where as dramatic. Something is missing.

In the final scene in the 1952 original, you can see Kane's contempt for the town on the face of Gary Cooper -- contempt for having been left alone, and abandoned. That emotion was totally lacking in the remake and so the ending is almost anti-climactic.

To "remake" any picture is tough. However, to remake a such a classic Western feature for television is a brave assignment. The filmmakers should be commended for staying with the story line, not trying to "hip it up" and pulling off what so many other filmmakers have missed... a wonderfully updated version of an original that's worthy (of the original picture) as well as entertaining. In some ways this "remake" was better than the original. The photography was beautiful, the cast convincing and the direction never let us wander. Congratulations on the recreation of a wonderful classic.