Watched: High Noon

Just a classic Western. This one had most of my favorite elements of the genre: the struggle between lawlessness and civilization, an honorable protagonist questioning his moral code, the ever-present, continuously building tension of an inevitable confrontation, and the unspoken, perhaps unrealized sexiness laying right beneath the surface. That being said, I found myself thinking frequently throughout this that it was more of a psychological drama than a rough and ready Western. The movie is mostly dialogue, Will Kane searching the town for someone to help him, and finally resigning himself to face outlaw Frank Miller alone. In fact, in a lot of ways it reminded me more of Twelve Angry Men than any other Western, except for maybe The Ox-Bow Incident. High Noon doesn't have to say that Marshal Will Kane and Helen Ramirez were once involved for us to know it; the body language and facial expressions speak volumes. And Amy's dawning realization of who her husband is and perhaps who she will have to be if she wants to measure up to Helen is made all the more poignant by her getting there without anything ever being discussed out loud. All in all, a rich story that manages to work on multiple levels and was beautiful filmed. One of my favs.