Grace Kelly - Actress and Princess of Monaco Grace Kelly American Film Actress and Princess of Monaco American actress Grace Kelly (circa 1954). (Photo by FPG/Archive Photos/Getty Images) By Shelly Schwartz, Contributing History Writer Updated January 21, 2016. Who Was Grace Kelly? Grace Kelly was a beautiful, classy stage actress who became an Oscar-winning movie star. In five years she starred in 11 motion pictures and, while at the top of her popularity, she left stardom to marry Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956. Dates: November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982 Also Known As: Grace Patricia Kelly; Princess Grace of Monaco Growing Up On November 12, 1929, Grace Patricia Kelly was born the daughter of Margaret Katherine (née Majer) and John Brendan Kelly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Kelly’s father was a successful construction company owner and former triple Olympic gold medalist in rowing. Her mother had been the first coach of women's athletic teams at the University of Pennsylvania. Kelly’s siblings included an older sister, older brother, and a younger sister.

Although the family did not come from “old money,” they were successful in business, athletics, and politics. Grace Kelly grew up in a 17-room brick mansion with plenty of recreational features for active children; plus, she spent summers in her family’s vacation home in Ocean City, Maryland. continue reading below our video 4 Tips for Improving Test Performance Unlike the rest of her athletic family, Kelly was introverted and always seemed to be fighting a cold. She enjoyed making up stories and reading, feeling like a misfit in the sporty household. As a child, Kelly was taught by her mother to never publicly show emotions and her father taught her to strive for perfection. After Ravenhill Academy elementary school, Kelly attended the private Steven's School for young matrons, where, to the astonishment of her parents, she excelled in the school’s drama society. Grace Kelly wanted to continue studying drama in college; thus, she applied to Bennington College in Vermont due to their outstanding drama department. With low scores in math, however, Kelly was turned down. Her father was against her second choice, which was to audition for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.

Kelly’s mother intervened, telling her husband to let Grace go; she was confident their daughter would be home in a week. Grace Kelly Becomes an Actress In 1947, Grace Kelly was accepted into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts . She took off for New York , lived at the Barbizon Hotel for Women, and earned extra money by modeling for the John Robert Powers modeling agency. With her blonde hair, porcelain complexion, blue-green eyes, and 5’8” perfect poise, Grace Kelly became one of the highest-paid models in New York City at the time. After graduation from the Academy in 1949, Kelly appeared in two plays at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and then in her first Broadway play, The Father. Kelly received good reviews for her “essence of freshness.” She retained an agent, Edith Van Cleve, and began acting in television dramas in 1950, including the Philco Television Playhouse and the Kraft Theatre. Sol C. Siegel, a producer at Twentieth Century Fox, had seen Grace Kelly in The Father and was impressed with her performance.

Siegel sent director Henry Hathaway to test Kelly for a small part in the motion picture Fourteen Hours (1951). Kelly passed the reading test and joined the Hollywood cast. Her parents, concerned about her safety, sent Kelly’s younger sister to accompany her to the West Coast. The shooting for Kelly’s part, a cool wife seeking a divorce, only took two days; after which she returned back east. Continuing to act in off-Broadway plays in Ann Arbor and Denver in 1951, Kelly received a call from Hollywood producer Stanley Kramer to play the part of a young Quaker wife in the Western film High Noon. Kelly jumped at the chance to work with the experienced leading man, Gary Cooper . High Noon (1952) went on to win four Academy Awards ; however, Grace Kelly was not nominated. Kelly returned to acting on live television dramas and Broadway plays. She took more acting classes in New York with Sanford Meisner to work on her voice. In the autumn of 1952, Grace Kelly tested for the film Mogambo (1953), enticed by it being filmed in Africa and starring legendary film star Clark Gable .

After the test, Kelly was offered the part and a seven-year contract at MGM. The film was nominated for two Oscars: Best Actress for Ava Gardner and Best Supporting Actress for Grace Kelly. Neither actress won, but Kelly won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. Hitchcock Uncovers Kelly's Warmth By the 1950s, director Alfred Hitchcock had made a name for himself in Hollywood making suspenseful motion pictures that featured very cool blondes as his leading ladies . In June 1953, Kelly got a call to meet Hitchcock. After their meeting, Grace Kelly was cast as the female star in Hitchcock’s next motion picture, Dial M for Murder (1954). To rival television in the 50s, Warner Brothers decided the movie would be shot in 3-D, to Hitchcock’s dismay. The cumbersome camera made routine filming difficult and scenes had to be shot over and over, especially the murder scene in which Kelly’s character turns from victim to victor with a pair of scissors. Despite Hitchcock’s irritation over the 3-D frustration, Kelly enjoyed working with him. He had a way of exploiting her cool exterior while unearthing her warm passionate interior.

When filming for Dial M for Murder finished, Kelly returned to New York. Soon she was offered two screenplays and had to make up her mind which movie to star in. On the Waterfront (1954) was to be filmed in New York, where Kelly could continue dating her boyfriend, the famous clothing designer Oleg Cassini. The other was another Hitchcock picture, Rear Window (1954), to be filmed in Hollywood. Feeling that she better understood the fashion model character in Rear Window, Kelly opted to go back to Hollywood and work with Hitchcock. Kelly Wins Academy Award and Meets a Prince In 1954, Grace Kelly was handed the script for The Country Girl, a role that was completely different from anything she had played before, that of the wearied wife of an alcoholic. She wanted the part badly, but MGM wanted her to star in Green Fire, a film she felt was full of clichés. Kelly never found enchantment or contentment in Hollywood and wrestled with MGM with firm resolve, threatening to retire. The studio and Kelly compromised and she starred in both movies. Green Fire (1954) was a box-office failure.

The Country Girl (1954) was a box-office success and Grace Kelly won the Academy Award for Best Actress. While Grace Kelly turned down multiple motion picture offers, to the studio’s displeasure, audiences revered her everywhere. One film she did not turn down was Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief (1955), filmed on the French Riviera with Cary Grant . Kelly’s boyfriend, Oleg Cassini, followed her to France and when the film finished, she introduced him to her family. They did not hide their disdain for him. He was divorced twice and seemed to be interested in more women than just their daughter, which was true, and the romance ended several months later. In spring 1955, while at the Cannes Film Festiva l , Grace Kelly was asked to appear in a photo session at the Palace of Monaco with Prince Rainier III. She obliged and met the prince. They chatted lightly while photos were taken. The photos sold magazines worldwide. After being a bridesmaid in her younger sister’s wedding during the summer of 1955, Kelly wanted marriage and a family of her own all the more.

Prince Rainier, who was actively seeking a wife, began corresponding with her, finding out that they had a lot in common; they were both uncomfortable celebrities, devout Catholics, and desired a family. Grace Kelly Exits Stardom and Enters Royalty Prince Rainier arrived in the States to woo his future princess during the holidays of 1955 before asking Grace Kelly for her hand in marriage. Kelly’s family was very proud and the official proclamation of the couple’s engagement was made in January 1956, which became front-page international news. To finish her contract, Kelly starred in two final movies: The Swan (1956) and High Society (1956). She then left stardom behind to become a princess. (No one was more melancholy about her leaving Hollywood than Hitchcock for he had her in mind as his leading lady for several more of his movies -- if not all of them.) The royal wedding of 26-year-old Miss Grace Patricia Kelly to 32-year-old His Serene Highness Prince Rainier III of Monaco was held in Monaco on April 19, 1956.

Then began Kelly’s most challenging role of all, fitting into a foreign country while feeling like an unwelcome visitor. She had left the States, her family, friends, and her acting career behind to enter the unknown. She became homesick. Sensing his wife’s unease, the prince began to ask her opinions and include her in state projects, which seemed to improve Kelly’s outlook as well as Monaco’s tourism. Kelly surrendered her former acting desires, settled into life in Monaco, and revitalized the principality as a center for opera, ballet, concerts, plays, flower festivals, and cultural conferences. She also opened the palace for guided tours during the summer when she and the prince were away at their summer home, Roc-Agel in France. The Prince and Princess of Monaco had three children: Princess Caroline, born 1957; Prince Albert, born in 1958; and Princess Stéphanie, born in 1965. In addition to motherhood, Princess Grace, as she was known, supervised the renovation of a crumbling medical facility into a first-rate hospital and founded the Princess Grace Foundation in 1964 to help those with special needs.

Princess Grace of Monaco became loved and cherished by the people of her adopted homeland. Death of the Princess Princess Grace began suffering from severe headaches and abnormally high blood pressure in 1982. On September 13th of that year, Grace and 17-year-old Stéphanie were returning to Monaco from their country home, Roc-Agel, when Grace, who was driving, blacked out for a second. When she came to, she accidentally pressed her foot on the accelerator instead of the brake, driving the car over an embankment. As the women were pulled from the wreckage, it was discovered that Stéphanie had sustained minor injuries (a hairline cervical fracture), but Princess Grace was unresponsive. She was placed on mechanical life support at the hospital in Monaco. Doctors concluded that she had suffered a massive stroke, which had caused irreversible brain damage. The day following the accident, Princess Grace’s family made the decision to remove her from the artificial devices that were keeping her heart and lungs going. Grace Kelly died on September 14, 1982, at the age of 52.

What's the Big Deal?: High Noon (1952) - MTV mtv Eric Snider 10/12/2010 In High Noon, Gary Cooper's taciturn lawman must face a posse of murderers when the clock strikes twelve. The situation is rife with dramatic possibilities -- and, it turns out, with political allegories and commentaries. Has it stood the test of time? Why is this "ordinary" Western a big deal? Do not forsake me, oh my darling, and we'll investigate. The praise: The film was nominated for seven Oscars and won four: best actor (Gary Cooper), editing, musical score, and original song. (It was the first time the song award had gone to a film that wasn't a musical.) The other nods were for best picture, director, and screenplay; if it's any consolation, the movie that won best picture was The Greatest Show on Earth, generally regarded as one of the worst "best pictures" in Oscar history. The film also won four Golden Globes (including a best supporting actress trophy for Katy Jurado, the first Mexican performer to win a Globe).

It ranked #33 on the American Film Institute's 1998 list of the best American movies ever made, and #27 on the 2007 revised list. The context: Political activists tend to believe that what they're doing is more right and noble than what their opponents are doing. This is true even when two groups are acting in direct opposition to one another. In the early 1950s, there were Americans who believed that communism must be stopped at all costs, and that anyone who was sympathetic to the ideals of communism must be identified and closely watched. This "red scare" led to the House Un-American Activities Committee calling Hollywood actors, writers, and directors to testify about their knowledge of communist leanings among their peers. To name names was, in HUAC's view, the right thing to do. At the same time, there were people who believed that HUAC's tactics were unduly heavy-handed, and that the right thing to do was to stand up against such bullying and refuse to name names. The film On the Waterfront (1954) was partially intended as director Elia Kazan and writer Budd Schulberg's justification for cooperating with HUAC.

The film's hero, played by Marlon Brando, wrestles with the question of whether to tell the police the names of the criminals operating on the docks, eventually determining that it would be immoral not to do so. High Noon had been made, at least in part, with the opposite view in mind. The screenwriter, Carl Foreman, was in the process of writing High Noon in 1951, when he was called to testify before HUAC. Foreman had indeed been a member of the Communist Party, but had grown disillusioned and quit, and now he refused to answer any questions from the committee. He was blacklisted for this decision and eventually moved to England, unable to work in Hollywood anymore. In the meantime, the turmoil frustrated Foreman, and he worked those frustrations into his High Noon screenplay. (Though High Noon is officially an adaptation of a short story called "The Tin Star," Foreman said he'd come up with the plot himself, noticed that "The Tin Star" had some coincidental similarities, and bought the rights to the short story to avoid legal problems.) Foreman's controversial decision not to name names angered his producer and business partner, Stanley Kramer, who had named names.

Kramer tried to have Foreman removed from the movie altogether, but its star, Gary Cooper -- who was conservative and anti-communist but didn't agree with HUAC's tactics -- stood beside Foreman. The writer remained involved, though he lost his credit as co-producer. After the film was a success, Kramer tended to exaggerate how much he, Kramer, had been involved in its production -- much to the consternation of its actual director, Fred Zinnemann. It's easy to watch High Noon and see Foreman's point of view. A decent, upright sheriff played by Gary Cooper could flee when he learns a man he sent to prison is coming with a posse to get revenge on him. But instead he chooses to stay and fight, to stand up for truth and justice, even though the townspeople are too chicken to back him up. The parallels are simple: Cooper is Foreman, the bad guys are HUAC, the townspeople are Hollywood types like Kramer and Kazan. But that interpretation is only obvious if you know the film's background, and even then it's not inescapable. None of the contemporary reviews I can find describe the film as having any political component at all.

( Here is the New York Times review, which does allude to the question of whom to credit for the film's excellence; here is Variety's review.) In the book Showdown at High Noon: Witch-Hunts, Critics, and the End of the Western, Jeremy Byman writes: The film's abstractness permitted many interpretations. In the Midwest, for instance, Cooper was seen as a symbol of Eisenhower working against the communist threat, a view Eisenhower himself presumably adopted with his numerous White House screenings of the film. Foreman's enemies could as easily identify their hero, Senator Joseph McCarthy, with [Cooper's character] Will Kane: "Kane's unpopularity for choosing to fight rather than abide with Hadleyville's do-nothing policy is akin to McCarthy's self-image of a crusader risking 'smear and abuse' from those upset by his forthright approach." ... Still others saw it as an antipacifist tract, and later, as an inspiration for Clint Eastwood's supposedly anti-civil-libertarian Dirty Harry, which also ends with a badge being thrown away.

There was even a foreign policy interpretation: Cooper's marshal (like America itself) had wanted peace after clearing up the town five years before (that is, World War II), and reluctantly must buckle on his gunbelt again in the face of new aggression (the Korean War); eventually his pacifist wife (American isolationists) must see where her true duty lies and support him. (p. 94) Everyone had a reason to like or dislike High Noon's message. John Wayne later called it "the most un-American thing I've ever seen in my whole life," and said he was proud to have played a part in getting Carl Foreman blacklisted. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union's Pravda -- presumably John Wayne's political polar opposite -- attacked the film as "a glorification of the individual." As Bart Simpson said, you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. The movie: The year is, oh, 1870-something. Will Kane (Gary Cooper), the beloved marshal of this small frontier town, is getting married to the lovely Amy Fowler (Grace Kelly) and resigning from his post. The new sheriff will arrive tomorrow. But wait!

Bad old Frank Miller, a murderer sent up the river by Kane some years ago, has been released from prison and is headed here to seek revenge. Three of his buddies are already in town, waiting for the noon train. Everyone tells Kane to just get outta here already; Miller has no beef with anyone else; if he's gone when Miller arrives there probably won't be any trouble. (Probably.) Kane doesn't want to run. He wants to settle this, and he'd like for some of his friends to help him. What it influenced: Is this the first movie to have a heroic main character who's supposed to be quitting but has to do One Last Job on his final day of work? Probably not. Surely one of the earliest examples of that familiar device, though. And note that he doesn't actually have to do this job. He does it because he feels morally obligated. High Noon is often described as taking place in "real time," but that isn't strictly true. The movie is 85 minutes long, and the events contained in it occupy 100 minutes, from 10:35 a.m. to about 12:15 p.m. Still, it's true that the action is continuous.

There are no edits suggesting that time has passed since the previous scene. If you weren't watching the clocks shown on screen and comparing them to the counter on your DVD player, you'd assume the 85-minute movie covered exactly 85 minutes in the lives of the characters. What's important is that High Noon has the feel of real time. It introduces a deadline, then constantly reminds us of how much time remains before the deadline arrives. The "ticking clock" scenario is popular in fiction, especially when used by criminals: You have 24 hours to deliver the ransom money; a bomb will go off in 90 minutes; etc. Very few movies before High Noon had been told in real time -- Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948)was one -- and indeed, according to Webster's dictionary , the term "real time" wasn't even coined until 1953. The real-time TV show 24 bore a remarkable resemblance to High Noon. Where High Noon would keep showing us clocks to remind us of the looming deadline, 24 would simply put the current time on the screen.

24's signature ticking clock sound effect is reminiscent of a more creative device in High Noon, where a pendulum is shown swinging back and forth and the musical score exactly matches it. I was most fascinated to notice that at High Noon's climactic moment -- the arrival of the train -- the film cuts to all the different characters, spread throughout the town, each responding in a different way, as the music becomes more intense. That's exactly what happened near the end of each episode of 24, except that 24 would use split-screen to show them all at once. ( Here's the scene from High Noon.) High Noon was part of a new breed of Western, the kind that didn't have a lot of gunfighting, and where there weren't any marauding Indians. David A.

Cook writes in A History of Narrative Film: The heroic, idealized, epic Western of John Ford and his imitators remained popular in the 1950s but was gradually replaced by what was called the 'adult Western.' This genre, whose prototypes were The Gunfighter (1950) and High Noon (1952) concentrated on the psychological or moral conflicts of the individual protagonist in relation to his society, rather than creating the poetic archetypes of order [that were] characteristic of Ford. (p. 411.) What to look for: One thing you should try not to look at is the fact that Gary Cooper is 50 years old and Grace Kelly, playing his wife, is 22. Hard not to notice, though. Cooper was in poor health anyway, and director Fred Zinnemann filmed him without makeup so that the character's worries would be more visible. Will Kane is unquestionably a hero, and unquestionably right. His name is Will; his first dialogue is "I do": This is a man who does things, who will do things, who does not allow the right thing to go undone.

Given the film's many possible interpretations, it's enlightening to try to keep all of them in mind when you watch it. Foreman's liberal anti-HUAC view is easy to spot, but it's far from overwhelming. In fact, you could make a case for the film being quite conservative, as Manfred Wiedhorn does, if only for rhetorical purposes, in this essay : It shows a community cast into fear and trembling by a criminal justice system that lacks the will to put dangerous men away for good, either by capital punishment or by life sentences without parole. In numerous camera shots, an anguished Gary Cooper is seen walking the streets of the town, worried, even fearful, over the upcoming rendezvous and frustrated by the cowardice of the townspeople. Here you have -- the movie implies repeatedly -- the results of liberal social experimentation. Even the local judge is hightailing it, lest Frank Miller wreak vengeance on him for passing sentence. If what Will Kane is doing is definitely "right," then notice the varying degrees of "wrongness" exhibited by the other characters. Some flat-out refuse to help him.

One man says he'll help -- "I was hoping people would feel that way," Will says; "What other way is there?" the man nobly replies -- only to change his mind when he discovers he was the sole volunteer. He only wants to do the "right thing" when success is guaranteed, when there is safety in numbers. Moreover, it turns out there are people in town who aren't on Will Kane's side at all, friends of Frank Miller who think the marshal brought his problems on himself and "needs some comeuppance." Then there's Will's wife, a Quaker and a pacifist, both for religious and practical reasons. Her brother and father fought in the Civil War. "They were on the right side, but that didn't matter when the shooting started." She fears her husband, right though he may be, will end up just as dead as if he were wrong. Her point of view is understandable, though eventually she makes concessions that go along with the conservative interpretation.

(The same concessions were required of anti-killing types in the recent Rambo and The A - Team.) What's the big deal: Wiedhorn's essay comparing the film's liberal and conservative interpretations includes this statement: "It is oft said that what separates a work of art from mere bestseller schlock is that the former is relevant in each age while the latter dies with the fads and fashions of the day." By that definition, High Noon, while a "bestseller," is also art. A modern viewer can watch it and draw messages from it -- unintended yet wholly supportable by the film's content -- that are different from what viewers in 1952 saw, and even those contemporary viewers may have taken it to mean many different things. It's useful to ask the author what he had in mind when he wrote it, and that's the answer you'd have to go with if you were forced to nail down one "true" meaning. But what makes High Noon great is that its message, whatever one considers it to be, doesn't get in the way of its being a taut, suspenseful, and entertaining drama. Further reading: In addition to the articles already linked, check out Tim Dirks' thorough analysis .

* * * * High Noon Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb Hide Spoilers: Page 8 of 35: 6 out of 11 people found the following review useful: the best American made western 14 July 2008 *** This review may contain spoilers *** just seen it again after 10 or more years. I forgot how good it is. Not your typical American western. a great story of a mans inner struggle with himself. he gotta fight him, he doesn't have a choice. People of Hadleyville don't get that, his wife don't get it, but we get it. a great performance from all of the actors, music great, camera great, editing great. simply a great film. when you wanna see a great western this one is the one to rent. it doesn't have Indians but it has a real story that makes you wanna grab your gun and go help Marshall Kane. I guess that the true moral of the story is that you can count only on yourself when the going gets tough. Loved the ending, not a word spoken, a great exit, of a great actor on the last scene of a great film. a 10 for me.

Was the above review useful to you? 10 out of 19 people found the following review useful: One brave man holds his ground. 23 April 2005 *** This review may contain spoilers *** This is an incredible film. it transcends the Western genre and even 50 years later is still relevant. We all face situations where we choose to take the easy way out. Confrontation is not easy. In this movie Gary Cooper's character is torn between duty to his wife and the sense of duty he feels, not so much to the town, but to himself. He knows whatever choice he makes his life will be forever altered. Cooper's decision to stand and fight rather than live on the run ,is played out intensely over the real time setting of the movie. By the end of the film both Gary Cooper's and Grace Kelly's character have changed in their fundamental beliefs. She, a devout Quaker, has committed murder to save the man she loves. He, who believed the people of the town he protected for so long, finds out he was really alone the whole time. You can view this film in the political climate of the day, but you would miss so much about the character of the human race.

In this age where character development and plot have given way to special effects and sex and violence, High Noon makes us take a critical look at what we believe in and what we feel is worth "losing it all" for. A great film, not to be missed. Was the above review useful to you? 10 out of 19 people found the following review useful: A great,suspense filled western.

from United States 3 December 2002 What we have here,in High Noon is the classic western,with a masterfully placed element of suspense.There are many ingredients you can use to create suspense,and one of the best of them is time.Filmed in almost real time,High Noon has to be the most uniquely made western ever.Gary Cooper gives us a more realistic hero.He very successfully proves that even the best of heroes can be afraid,because,after all,he is as human as the rest of us.What I also loved is the continuous playing of the movie's theme song,very faintly in the background as hero walked alone in the street.There are many debates as to the greatest western ever,and even I have trouble settling the matter in my own mind,but rest assured that High Noon should rank near the top on anyone's list.Classic! Was the above review useful to you? 11 out of 21 people found the following review useful: Low Tide 19 July 2011 *** This review may contain spoilers *** In the opening scenes of this turgid dud, Sheriff Will (Cooper) is burdened by marriage to the most mind-numbingly dumb wife. Grace Kelly portrays the Quaker airhead.

The flimsy conflict immediately becomes about whether Gary Cooper or his wife's viewpoint will win out. If you think Kelly's underwritten storyline holds even a prayer of potential, well... only the Teleltubbies has less conflict than this movie. Gary Cooper, always a thuddingly dull actor, gives easily his most boring performance. The story is a thinly veiled allegory of the McCarthy hearings which would be fine if it did something artful with it. Instead it showcases heroics with Will as Foreman's proxy. Most people would not be comfortable shouting "I'M SO VERY Modest and Heroic" like this. No matter how many times I've watched, I never care where its dull, obvious story takes me. Invariably, viewers who don't like having to search for a pesky hidden message declare this a masterpiece. Director Zinneman made his name with stuff this dry. A classic to give classics a bad name. Was the above review useful to you? Drama masked in western 13 October 2016 *** This review may contain spoilers *** Drama masked in western. There's no chasing and just a little bit of gunfire, nothing like western movies we are used to. Movie is almost in real time.

85 minutes of movie covers about 2 hours in little town that awaits return of notorious killer that dodged hanging and now is coming to take revenge on the man who arrested him and send him to gallows. There is almost no action at all during whole movie, plot is based on what is happening inside the people involved, psychologically and emotionally. Really good drama. 19 June 2013 *** This review may contain spoilers *** It may be sacrilegious for a fan of classic movies and Westerns such as myself to speak any ill of High Noon, but I have to admit that I think the script is a little clunky and Gary Cooper is not the most charismatic or believable actor. That said, the story and directing are undoubtedly top- notch. Without preaching or engaging in bravado, Marshal Will Kane embodies the notion that a person should do what is right even when it is difficult and unpopular. Katy Jurado plays Kane's former lover and one of the most intriguing female characters in any classic Western. She easily upstages the better-known Grace Kelly, and is an unpredictable and edgy counterpoint to the straight-laced Kane. Was the above review useful to you?

Watching High Noon at High Noon 4 April 2013 *** This review may contain spoilers *** High Noon is the movie that John Wayne didn't like. 'This is the most Un-American movie ever made!' He quoted about the film. He later teamed up with director Howard Hawks to make the great Rio Bravo (1959) as a counter-response. Neither Hawks nor John Wayne liked that Western, which was embraced by film critics. Both director and star felt that the film's defeatist spirit severely deviated from their idea of what the Real West was all about. The biggest complains that Wayne had, was the Marshall putting the United States marshal's badge under his foot and stepping on it. Walking away from his job, as the Marshall did, was inconceivable to Wayne's commitment to responsibility and public office. In my opinion, it's a great western direct by Fred Zinnemann, starring Gary Cooper as Marshall Will Cane. John Wayne was a fool. I never liked his over-acting, and he played up the big "military man" persona even though he dodged the draft. Props to him for popularizing the Western genre, but he was wrong with this.

Still, I agree with some things he says about the film. I believe that the good, honest American people should had stand by and shouldn't left Will Cane go out alone to face the gunmen that were not only threatening him but the peacefulness of the town itself. Wayne thought an American town would stand up with Cooper against the bad guys. I agree. The pacifism that the film was mistaken as Communists message as the communist were promoting pacifism in the U.S at the time. I really doubt that. The movie contains highest praise of free society, free speech, hence of all iron and noble American values in the first place! It's a story of heroism. Released at an unfortunate time, got falsely misinterpreted as anti-McCarthy propaganda, which it never was meant to. Honestly, I don't see how the movie is anti-blacklisting and communist baiting. The movie has nothing to do with it, or anything similar to those courts. While I hate McCarthy trials, I just can't see this movie being an allegory for the McCarthy hearings. John Wayne, on the other hand, was a supporter of the Hollywood blacklisting and the hunt for communists. There's nothing left-wing or anti-American about it.

The film is in nearly real time, the film tells the story of a town marshal forced to face a gang of killers by himself based on John W. Cunningham's pulp short story, "The Tin Star". This movie was cool because it was an hour and a half long movie and the time in the movie was also about an hour and a half. Movie starts when it's a little before 11am and ends a little after noon. The background tempo and the music beat takes the place of the clock ticking with each 4 counts of the beat, sounds like a countdown was amazing. Will has just married pacifist Quaker Amy Fowler (Grace Kelly) and turned in his badge. He intends to become a storekeeper elsewhere. Suddenly, the town learns that Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald), a criminal Kane brought to justice is due to arrive on the noon train and leaves Marshall to deal with him. The acting in the film is great. It's hard to think that Gary Cooper had a bleeding ulcer at the time of filming because you can't tell. Very powerful. Each character even the baddies are given their moment. The Lon Cheney JR character seems the most tragic.

Also this marks the debut of Lee Van Cleef in film and in Western. Lee Van Cleef's face looks so tough he could dull a Gillette razor just by staring at it. Grace Kelly also gives the film, her own spin. The age different between Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly was alarming and bit disturbing if you think about it. It's still a love story as well. What Amy Fowler does in the end moved me more deeply than any other moment in film. She had to go against her beliefs. She stands by him because he is her husband, and she is his wife. The movie in a way, is a celebration of the institution of marriage. The theme song of High Noon, 'Do not forsake me, My Darling" written by Dimitri Tiomkin, lyrics by Ned Washington and sung by Tex Ritter, is awesome. This movie is how I first became aware of Tex Ritter. It's an unforgettable song. I seem to hear an honesty in Tex Ritter's voice that is unequaled. The movie also has an excellent and highly suggestive play with imagery. In one scene, the camera focus on a certain chair.

It's the chair in which the villain Frank Miller sat in when he was sentenced to jail and now he's coming back. The movie center theme has endured for years because its essential truth endures: we can never really know for sure who's got our back. Sooner or later most of us find ourselves in a position, to one degree or another, where we realize that everybody else has troubles too, and we're just going to have to figure things out for ourselves alone. Was the above review useful to you? Hilterbrant 3 January 2013 *** This review may contain spoilers *** High Noon was a pretty good movie, in my opinion. It was full of action and kept you wondering what was going to happen next. The cast list was very good, for this movie. Marshal Kane, played by Gary Cooper, and his wife Amy Kane, played by Grace Kelly, had a good chemistry on set that was noticeable. Also, leading up to the climax was suspenseful. Even though I could tell what was about to happen, in some parts of the movie, it was still exciting. Gary Cooper showed how much he loved his town.

You could also tell that Grace Kelly cared too; she just couldn't bear to see anything bad happen. Katy Jurado did a good job at being fierce and showing no sadness in her decision to leave. The music in this movie won an academy award! For each plot twist the music changed and it set the mood for what was about to happen. It helped me understand more of what was happening. The way the cameras were mostly focused on an individual person, or just that persons face. I think they should have shown more of what was around the characters. I think theme of this movie was to tell the viewers that violence is not an option. The movie showed that you shouldn't seek revenge over something that happened a while ago. Also that you should stand up for what you believe in or to stand up for something you love. The best part of the movie was when Amy and Marshal Kane got married. Her dress was really pretty and everyone was celebrating for them. Another good part of the movie was when Amy Kane decided to get off of the train with Katy to help Marshal and be with him. Eventually she was put in the same situation as Marshal, and was put at gunpoint.

She did the best she could to get the criminal off of her, and was saved by her husband. Was the above review useful to you? That Western !!! *** This review may contain spoilers *** High noon Movie Review: Who would ever think that on their own wedding day an old foe would come to kill you? That's what happened in this old classic western. Will Kane the marshal in town was ready to move on with his life when he decided to marry Amy. But of course, his heroic ways came back when a telegram came in that Frank Miller his old foe he put away in prison for murder had been freed and is coming right for the town. With Amy's self centered attitude she did not agree with her newly husband going to risk his life for a town he no longer-ed served. Amy decides shes going to the train station and leaving at noon. Who would believe that the person you love would just walk away and leave you in the dust? Alone Will Kane tries to find more help, but who wants to die right? The town people we're frightened and some are on Miller's side. And it didn't help Harvey being envious that Kane came back to town to be Marshal again.

It doesn't help when Kane visits the hotel and finds Amy sitting there. Thinking she came back to stick it out by his side and Amy thinking Kane is going to hop out town they both ended up in disappointment. Kane goes to tell his previous love Helen to get out of town. Knowing that she was close friends with his old foe Miller. With Kane searching for help still, one of the town people Jimmy asks nothing but to join. But Kane won't let him. Not realizing he needs it as its getting closer to noon. Going to the town's church pleading for them to not let some crooks come take over again. Seems like Kane is on his own now. Meanwhile his wife realized that Kane still cared for Helen and both of them decide to go out. What a shock both of his loves are leaving him together. Kane only gets the farewell good bye look you always see surprisingly from Helen. If this movie doesn't describe how selfish people are to help someone who risked his life everyday for them. I don't know what does. But its time, noon was here the town was locked away in hiding. Frank Miller and his guys come in to town destroying windows making his call to Kane that he is here.

With guns drawn it begins, you can't stop Marshal Kane as he kills one of Miller's guys. Shots echoed and Amy finally realized that she can't be widow and runs off the train back to her husband. Another down as Kane gets stuck in the barn with a fire starting. But everyone knows you can't stop the hero. Even when Kane gets shot. Well you can say his wife Amy meant she was not going to be a widow and kills a guy. Miller should of known not to mess with the one he loves as he takes Amy hostage. Marshal Kane saved the town as he took Miller down. And Will and Amy Kane leave town for good. This movie was of course one of the best classics I have watched! Was the above review useful to you? Western Films from United States 15 December 2012 The 'High Noon" movie is a western story of a man who had too much pride to run. Marshal Will Kane finds out on his wedding day that one of the men he put in prison is returning to town with his gang to seek their revenge. In spite of this new information, Marshal stands strong and independent, like a true western man ready to retaliate, if necessary.

The Marshal obviously had his life on the line; however it was extremely odd that no townsmen would help him or even stick up for him. Nevertheless, the townspeople tried to get him to leave instead. Through all of this, Marshal stays to face Miller and protect the townspeople, who are so dreadfully afraid of Miller. Although the plot line was extremely cliché for a western, the fact that the movie claimed all popular genres was definitely a plus, such as comedy (somewhat), suspense, and even romance. Grace Kelly, who played Amy Fowler Kane, Marshal Kane's wife, certainly add that softness (romance) to the movie. She was that girl in every movie, all the guys drool over. Throughout the entire movie, the most interesting character was Ms. Ramirez. She claimed her role as an actor and made it her own. She captured my eye with her strong personality bursting through the screen, almost as if no effort was placed or even had to be developed to capture this characters true emotions. One scene that fascinated me the most was when Ms. Ramirez told Miss Kane that she should be helping her husband and fighting with him, instead of running off without him. This scene stood out because it presented Ms.

Ramirez true character. I would recommend this movie to anyone, who likes westerns and who loves romance and action movies with a passion, if not, don't watch it. Was the above review useful to you? Page 8 of 35: High Noon | Dove Family Friendly Movie Reviews Print Synopsis This Western classic stars Gary Cooper as Hadleyville marshal Will Kane, about to retire from office and go on his honeymoon with his new Quaker bride, Amy (Grace Kelly). But his happiness is short-lived when he is informed that the Miller gang, whose leader (Ian McDonald) Will had arrested, is due on the 12:00 train. Pacifist Amy urges Will to leave town and forget about the Millers, but this isn’t his style; protecting Hadleyburg has always been his duty, and it remains so now. But when he asks for deputies to fend off the Millers, virtually nobody will stand by him. Chief Deputy Harvey Pell (Lloyd Bridges) covets Will’s job and ex-mistress (Katy Jurado); his mentor, former lawman Martin Howe (Lon Chaney Jr.) is now arthritic and unable to wield a gun.

Even Amy, who doesn’t want to be around for her husband’s apparently certain demise, deserts him. Meanwhile, the clocks tick off the minutes to High Noon — the film is shot in “real time,” so that its 85-minute length corresponds to the story’s actual time frame. Utterly alone, Kane walks into the center of town, steeling himself for his showdown with the murderous Millers. Considered a landmark of the “adult western,” High Noon won four Academy Awards (including Best Actor for Cooper) and Best Song for the hit, “Do Not Forsake Me, O My Darling” sung by Tex Ritter. The screenplay was written by Carl Foreman, whose blacklisting was temporarily prevented by star Cooper, one of Hollywood’s most virulent anti-Communists. John Wayne, another notable showbiz right-winger and Western hero, was so appalled at the notion that a Western marshal would beg for help in a showdown that he and director Howard Hawks “answered” High Noon with Rio Bravo (1959). Dove Review This is a classic film for a reason.

The tension mounts in this one as a convicted killer and former prisoner who was pardoned is headed back to town by train for a showdown with the marshal who sent him there, Will Kane (Gary Cooper). Cooper deservedly won an Academy Award for his performance as the morally-guided marshal who does what’s right and isn’t afraid to admit being scared. The villain is arriving by high noon, hence the title of the film. He also happens to be arriving on Will’s wedding day, as he just married a beautiful young woman named Amy (played by a beautiful young Grace Kelly). There are some shootings in the film and four men are killed but it’s not graphic, especially by today’s standards. The featured song of the film “Don’t forsake me, oh my darling” is performed by Tex Ritter, and won an Academy Award too. This is a classic western rife with tension, and due to the theme of a killer coming to town, we recommend it for ages twelve and above, and gladly award it our “Dove Family-Approved” Seal. When the clock strikes noon in this one, you know the inevitable confrontation is minutes away.

Content Description High Noon (1952) Pages: ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) Background High Noon (1952) is possibly the all-time best Western film ever made - a successful box-office production by Stanley Kramer and director Fred Zinnemann (who also directed From Here to Eternity (1953) and A Man For All Seasons (1966)). The Western genre was employed to tell an uncharacteristic social problem tale about civic responsibility, without much of the typical frontier violence, panoramic landscapes, or tribes of marauding Indians. The film's screenplay by Carl Foreman [this was his last Hollywood film before blacklist exile to London, soon after his work on Home of the Brave (1949), Champion (1949), and The Men (1950)], written during a politically-oppressive atmosphere in the early 1950s when McCarthyism and political persecution were rampant, was loosely adapted from a Collier's Magazine story The Tin Star (by John W. Cunningham) published in December 1947.

In fact, the film's story has often been interpreted as a morality play or parable, or as a metaphor for the threatened Hollywood blacklisted artists (one of whom was screenwriter Foreman) who faced political persecution from the HUAC during the McCarthy era due to actual or imagined connections to the Communist Party, and made life-altering decisions to stand their ground and defend moral principles according to their consciences. It also has been interpreted as an allegory of the Cold War and US foreign policy during the Korean War. This taut, tightly-scripted, minimalist film tells the tale of a solitary, stoic, honor-bound marshal/hero, past his prime and already retired, who was left desolate and abandoned by the Hadleyville townspeople he had faithfully protected for many years (symbolically - during the World War II years). Due to the townspeople's cowardice (representing cooperative witnesses before the HUAC), physical inability, self-interest, expediency, and indecisiveness, he is refused help at every turn against a revenge-seeking killer and his gang.

Fearful but duty-bound, he eventually vanquishes the enemy, thereby sparing the civilized (democratic) town the encroachment of barbaristic frontier justice brought by the deadly four-man group of outlaws (symbolic of the aggressive threat in the Korean War, or the HUAC itself). Embittered by film's end, he tosses his tin star into the dirt of the dishonorable frontier town. One of the film posters described the theme of the deserted, lone marshal who stubbornly insisted on delaying his newly-married life with a pacifist Quaker wife (symbolic of US isolationists) in order to stay and confront his former nemesis and paroled murderer - Frank Miller: The story of a man who was too proud to run. Another slogan claimed: "...when the hands point up - the excitement starts!" [Director Howard Hawks and actor John Wayne both responded to the liberal preachiness of this 'un-American' film (and its cowardly townspeople) by creating a no-nonsense, right-wing rebuttal in Rio Bravo (1959). In the film, self-reliant Sheriff John T.

Chance (John Wayne) refused the well-meaning assistance of Pat Wheeler's (Ward Bond) men -- "some well-meaning amateurs, most of 'em worried about their wives and kids," although all he had to help him keep a murderer from making a jailbreak was "a lame-legged old man and a drunk."] The dramatic, tightly-compressed, austere black and white film with high-contrast images was shot in a spare 31 days, and the physically-pained, ravaged look etched on 51 year old Gary Cooper's gaunt face was due to actual illness (a recurring hip problem, bleeding stomach ulcers, and lower back pain), and emotional stress due to his recent breakup with actress Patricia Neal after a three-year, well-publicized affair while separated from his wife. The time span of the film (about 105 minutes) approximates the actual screen length of the film - 85 minutes - accentuated by frequent images of the clock as time rapidly dissipates before the final showdown. Cameraman Floyd Crosby's years of filming New Deal documentaries is evident in the film's sparseness, static compositions, and authentic feel.

This simple, stark, low-budget Western classic, with a total budget of $750,000, was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture (won by Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)), Best Director, and Best Screenplay - it was awarded four awards: Best Song for "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin')" (sung by Tex Ritter throughout the film, lyrics by Ned Washington, music by Dimitri Tiomkin), Best Scoring of a Dramatic Picture (Dimitri Tiomkin), Best Film Editing (Elmo Williams and Harry Gerstad), and Best Actor for Gary Cooper's performance - his second Oscar after a win for Sergeant York (1941). [Cooper's win was an unusual honor, since Western films (and acting roles) are rare nominees and winners in Academy history! The film's theme song was made a popular hit by Western singer Frankie Laine.] Presumably, the Academy felt obligated to honor one of filmdom's greatest directors (DeMille) with the Best Picture Oscar, as his career was coming to an end.

A made-for-TV movie was titled High Noon, Part II: The Return of Will Kane (1980) with Lee Majors in the lead role. It was remade as a science-fiction film, writer/director Peter Hyams' Outland (1981) with Sean Connery, with the adapted plot transferred to interstellar space (and ridiculed as "High Moon"). It was also remade as a TV movie by Ted Turner's TBS station with Tom Skerritt as the lead character and Michael Madsen as the heavy named Frank Miller. Other High Noon imitations or variations: the teen comedy Three O'Clock High (1987) took the conflict to a school setting, while The Baltimore Bullet (1980) moved it to a pool hall show-down. The Story The film's credits, accompanied by the "High Noon" title song, play atop a scene of desperadoes gathering on the outskirts of a town. On a blazing summer morning [probably between 1870 and 1880], the three gang members have converged on the small, quiet, arid western town of Hadleyville (population about four hundred).

The gunslingers ride by the town's church (one of the town's many seemingly respectable, stable, and supportive institutions), where Sunday morning church bells are pealing as a signal to worship. They are ominously recognized by an old Spanish woman who crosses herself, a fireman, and other townsfolk outside the Ramirez Saloon. One of the three, Ben Miller (Sheb Woolley), rides his unbridled horse uncontrollably toward a sign reading "MARSHAL" - a foreshadowing of the film's conflict. The riders pass the Justice of the Peace's window (the town's courtroom), where the societal ritual of marriage is in preparation. Judge Percy Mettrick (Otto Kruger) is to marry the town's 'ex' marshal, middle-aged Will Kane (Gary Cooper) ["Will" - a richly symbolic name] and a beautiful young Quaker girl, Amy Fowler (23 year-old Grace Kelly in her first major role). [The first view of a clock is in this scene: it is 10:35 am.

Another clock reads 10:33 am in the town's barber shop.] Word spreads quickly about the gang members who are identified by the barber (William Phillips) as Ben Miller, James Pierce (Bob Wilke) and Jack Colby (Lee Van Cleef, a frequent Western villain, e.g., For a Few Dollars More (1965), and the "Bad" character in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966)). In a cross-cut, parallel scene at 10:35, the trio arrives at the town's deserted train station platform just as the train station master (Ted Stanhope) reads a disturbing telegram. An impatient, surly Pierce, one of the riders asks the station master: Gang member: Noon train on time? Station master: Yes, sir. They are planning to reunite with their pardoned leader, Ben's brother Frank, arriving at noon on the mid-day train, to seek revenge on the town's marshal.

[They metaphorically represent the destructive forces of the 'four horsemen of the apocalypse.'] During the marriage ceremony, Kane's (and Amy's) first words in the film are "I do." Their wedding guests include the town's senior selectman and ring bearer Jonas Henderson (Thomas Mitchell), ex-Marshal Martin Howe (Lon Chaney, Jr.) and good friend/neighbor Sam Fuller (Harry Morgan, credited as Henry Morgan) and his wife Mildred (Eve McVeagh).

[Kane will have individual confrontations with each of the three male guests Henderson, Fuller, and Howe ("the entire board of selectmen in this community") later in the film.] After they are pronounced "man and wife" and the celebration begins, Kane finds privacy in an adjoining room with his new wife and promises: "I'm gonna try, Amy, I'll do my best." The new and younger marshal to replace Kane is expected to arrive the following day, and Henderson assures everyone: "This town will be safe 'til tomorrow." His new bride has firm, pacifist Quaker convictions that deplore violence, and he will be putting away his marshal's star in his last act in office - he removes his badge, a popular Western icon, and pins it on his gun holster, amidst applause. At that moment, the train station master bursts in, bringing a telegram ("it's terrible, it's shocking"). The message announces that outlaw Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald), put away in a penitentiary by Kane five years earlier for terrorizing the town, was pardoned a week earlier and paroled. And three others are waiting for Miller who is to arrive on the noon train at Hadleyville, to seek revenge on the Marshal.

Kane glances at the clock - it's 10:40 am. Henderson encourages the newlywed couple to leave town immediately: "Get out of this town this very minute...Don't stop 'til you get to Clarksburg." The former marshal's first reaction reveals his sense of responsibility: I think I ought to stay. The newly-wed couple leave town immediately, gathered into a horse and buggy buckboard to quickly ride away. From his Flores Hotel second-floor window, young deputy Harvey Pell (Lloyd Bridges) witnesses their rapid departure and gloats to his dark-haired girlfriend - a worldly-wise, half-Mexican saloon owner and businesswoman Helen Ramirez (Katy Jurado), that Kane appears to be cowardly: "That's funny...Kane and his new wife just took off in a big hurry...Hey, you don't suppose Kane's scared of those three gunnies...I never saw him whip a horse that way." Helen crosses the hall to alert Sam (Tom London): Ben Miller is in town. He has two of the old bunch with him.

During their retreat a few miles from town to the freedom of open country, Kane has second thoughts, as the oft-repeated, haunting theme of the film plays in the background. His inner conflict about leaving and the central dilemma of the film is reflected on his face as he stops the buggy and tells Amy that he's got to go back - due to his fidelity to his Western code of honor. Because of his fateful decision, their honeymoon will be postponed until after his 12 o'clock showdown: Kane: It's no good. I've got to go back, Amy. Amy: Why?

Question: What religion was Grace Kelly in the epic western High Noon
Answer: Quaker