HIGH NOON

A town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon train.

Both Saturday screenings will feature a talk by Cooper’s daughter, Maria Cooper Janis, along with a signing of her book Gary Cooper Off Camera: A Daughter Remembers.

Fred Zinnemann’s taut Western is allegorical storytelling at its finest. Cooper’s Oscar-winning performance, which doubled as an indictment of the Hollywood blacklist, stands alongside more contemporary action stars as a truly electrifying big-screen achievement.

Marshal Will Kane is on the verge of retirement when he learns that the murderous outlaw he put in prison will return to town on the noon train. Shrugging off his wife’s insistence that they get out of town, the marshal insists he must confront his foe, but struggles to wind up a posse willing to help out. The result is a riveting one-man-army showdown that doubles as a powerful statement on the need for collective action against adversarial forces. Set to Tex Ritter’s infectious country ballad (“You have forsaken me, oh my darling…), High Noon transforms Western tropes into a treatise on the nature of American identity itself. As a result, it helped usher in a new chapter for the genre that revitalized its appeal. Cooper maintained a close friendship with Zinneman throughout their lives, and this vital work is a clear reflection of that bond.

Other Films in The GARY COOPER FESTIVAL

THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES | Get Tickets

BALL OF FIRE | Get Tickets