Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		5.0

High Noon Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 29, 2016

Winner of multiple Oscar Awards, including Best Actor and Best Film Editing, Fred Zinnemann's "High Noon" (1952) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; new featurette with editor Mark Goldblatt; new featurette with historian Larry Ceplair and screenwriter Walter Bernstein; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring Nick James' essay "Uncitizened Kane". In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The sheriff

Fred Zinnemann's western High Noon has been discussed so much during the years that at this point there is nothing one can write about it that has not already been written by someone else. One can probably only add that its ‘classic’ status is certainly deserved.

Sheriff Will Kaine (Gary Cooper) has found the perfect woman (Grace Kelly) to settle down with and is now ready to retire. She has asked him to do so, and he has given her his word that as soon as they are pronounced husband and wife, he will take off his badge and call it quits.

But on his final day on the job, Kaine is told that his replacement will be late and that the notorious gunslinger Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald) is coming back to town. This is bad news for Kaine because a few years ago, when he cleaned up the town, he placed Miller behind bars, and he vowed to put a bullet in his head.

Miller is due to arrive on the noon train. He will be greeted by his three best men (one of them played by a very young looking Lee Van Cleef) and then together they will go looking for Kaine.

The local residents urge Kaine to rush and leave town so that he can avoid confrontation with Miller, but he decides to stay and deal with the gunslinger once and for all. Shortly after, his wife abandons him, and then the town’s residents agree that it will be in their best interest to distance themselves and do the same.

The film has a very simple message: It is worth fighting and even dying for what is right. But during the years there have been a number of very political interpretations of it that have been used to reframe it in different ways. One of these interpretations suggests that Miller portrayed the infamous Senator Joseph McCarthy and his gang was the HUAC (the House Un-American Activities Committee), while Kaine portrayed the film’s writer, Carl Foreman, who was a member of the Communist Party and was called before HUAC during the early 1950s. So the environment in which the clash between Kaine and Miller occurs apparently imitated the polarized and paranoid environment in which Foreman lived. There is another popular interpretation which suggests that the odd conflict between Kaine and the town’s residents actually reflected the division between people like Foreman and other communists who abandoned them and later on became informers and witnesses for McCarthy’s people. So in this interpretation the focus of attention is actually on the erosion of trust between the communists as well as their bitter disillusionment.

It is also worth mentioning that during the Cold War era, the film resonated very differently with folks living behind the Iron Curtain. Kaine was seen as a promoter of the strength of American individualism, and his stance was interpreted as a veiled denouncement of the mass fear and hypocrisy that kept the communists and their lackeys in power for decades. So in this case the film turned out to be quite effective as a pro-American piece with specific and surprisingly relevant political points.

Ultimately, however, the film’s strength isn’t in its ability to inspire political debates. Its technical qualities -- from the brilliant decision to shoot in real time to the careful framing choices to the great management of Dimitri Tiomkin’s score and the manner in which it enhances the tension and drama – are undeniably excellent.

The film is loosely based on John W. Cunningham's story "The Tin Star". According to various reports, however, producer Stanley Kramer bought the rights to the story after he discovered that Foreman’s script actually had plenty of similarities with the original story.

High Noon Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Fred Zinnemann's High Noon arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films.

The release is sourced from a recent 4K master, which is not the same master that Olive Films used for their initial release of High Noon. The new master is wonderful and now the film looks very beautiful in high-definition, though I have to mention that the key improvements here are not quite as drastic as the ones witnessed on the new release of Johnny Guitar, which is also sourced from a recent 4K master. However, this is due to the fact that the previous release of High Noon was actually sourced from a fairly strong organic master.

The biggest upgrades that I see are in terms of overall fluidity and density. Indeed, now grain is much better exposed and resolved and as a result the visuals are significantly sharper and better balanced. (This is a natural sharpness introduced by the high-quality scanning, not a byproduct of digital enhancement work). In many darker areas that convey some light crushing on the previous release shadow definition is also improved. Blacks, whites and especially the nuanced grays appear better balanced. Stability enhancements have been performed as well, though even on he previous release transitions were never truly problematic. Finally, there are no traces of age-related imperfections, such as warps, cuts, stains, debris, or fading/shrinking. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

High Noon Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Bl-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (Mono). Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

There are no technical anomalies to report. The dialog is crystal clear, sharp, and clean. Some specific balance/attenuating work must have been performed as well because in the mid/high registers balance is very good and there isn't even a whiff of background hiss. There are no audio dropouts, pops, cracks, or digital distortions to report.

High Noon Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for High Noon. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• A Ticking Clock - in this new featurette, editor Mark Goldblatt (The Terminator) discusses the unique narrative structure of High Noon and its editing (with some excellent comments about the presence important role of clocks throughout the film). In English, not subtitled. (6 min, 1080p).

• A Stanley Kramer Production - in this new featurette, filmmaker and film historian Michael Schlesinger discusses Stanley Kramer's work as a producer and the socio-political environment at the time when he was most successful. In English, not subtitled. (14 min, 1080p).

• Imitation of Life: The Blacklist History of High Noon - in this new featurette, historian Larry Ceplair and blacklisted screenwriter Walter Bernstein discuss the production history of High Noon, Carl Foreman's blacklisting, and the McCarthy era. In English, not subtitled. (10 min, 1080p).

• Oscars and Ulcers: The Production History of High Noon - this new visual essay, narrated by Anton Yelchin, focuses on the production history of High Noon. Included with the essay are plenty of very rare and archival promotional materials. In English, not subtitled. (12 min, 1080p).

• Uncitizened Kane - presented here is a text-format essay by Sight & Sound editor Nick James. (1080p).

• Booklet - an illustrated booklet featuring Nick James' essay "Uncitizened Kane".

High Noon Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There have been some drastically different interpretations of the political overtones in Fred Zinnemann's High Noon, but I personally find them largely irrelevant now. The film is rightfully placed amongst the all-time greatest classics of the western genre because of its technical qualities, which are quite simply brilliant. Olive Films' new Signature Edition of High Noon is sourced from an excellent recent 4K master and will likely remain the film's definitive presentation on the home video market. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.