High Noon (1952) *****

A Hollywood rebuttal to the Communist witch hunts of the era, High Noon is a real time tale about recently wed, retiring Marshall Will Kane (Gary Cooper) who feels that he has to stay when he learns that a man he put away to hang has been released and is returning to town. The problem is that, unlike other westerns of the era, the townspeople and even his deputies refuse to help him fight off the threat. He's going to have to do it alone.

High Noon was really a revolutionary film for its time, particularly in the way that it depicted the town as being either A) scared or B) indifferent. The judges runs away. The deputy (a great performance by Lloyd Bridges) bargains his help for support in being the new Marshall. The mayor is worried about how a gun fight will affect the towns economy. All in all, this is probably the most realistic western of its era.

The greatest of High Noon lies with Gary Cooper. Will Kane is not John Wayne moseying into a gunfight, ready to raise hell at a moments notice. As the clock ticks away, Cooper puts more and more worry on his face making Kane a more sympathetic character. This is a film that isn't afraid to show the humanity of its hero. You're basically watching a man take the long walk to the executioner, with no one watching his back. Along with Cooper, we also get a great performance from Grace Kelly as Kane's new bride. She's a woman that can't understand why Will Kane feels the need to fight this battle when he doesn't have to.

And that's basically the theme of the film. A man that fights when he doesn't have to do it. When you really look at it, High Noon represents the seeds of the western that Sergio Leone would craft with Clint Eastwood being a hero even when he was a rogue and didn't have to do it. In a way, Clint Eastwood is the heir to Gary Cooper. A chiseled individual that represents what is right, not what the law happens to be.

High Noon is one of those great American westerns that;s head and shoulders over the typical fare of the era, letting a little social commentary slip thru along the way. A true classic film.

Cape Fear (1991) ****

I've never been a fan of remakes. I've always felt that if you wanted to see a movie, the original is very easy to come by and remaking an old movie is just lazy film making or total blasphemy (I'm looking at you Psycho '98). Cape Fear is one of those rare remakes that is able to get beyond the stigma of being a remake, mainly because of the people that made it. Martin Scorsese directing Robert DeNiro is a good start. Throw in Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, and the legendary Joe Don Baker and you get a film that equals its source material.

Cape Fear is about a southern lawyer (Nick Nolte) who is being harassed by recently released Max Cady (Robert DeNiro) who has been using his quiet time wisely by studying the law and his own case in particular. It seems that the good southern lawyer didn't use a piece of evidence that could have allowed Cady to go free because he knew he was guilty. Shame, shame. The film is basically a cat and mouse game as Max stays within the law to a point while Nolte's character is pushed over the line to rid himself and his family of this menace.

The first thing I have to mention is the irony that Nick Nolte stars as a clean cut guy in a film with a character sporting long hair and looking creepy in general (mugshot). Cape Fear is a nice thriller that complements the Scorsese/DeNiro repertoire that I miss so damn much. Sure, there are things that are plot stretching bu the overall film is a creepy flick that tips it hat to the later noir films of the late 1950's and early '60's, particularly the Saul Bass opening and updating Bernard Herrmann's original score.

Cape Fear isn't the greatest film known to man, but it is a very suspenseful thriller that delivers that edge of your seat feeling that doesn't deal with running to the restroom for a tinkle. It holds your attention throughout and doesn't bore. It's Scorsese's answer to the onslaught of stalker films that came out in the wake of Fatal Attraction and succeeds in being a better picture than the norm.