The Western genre of cinema once dominated the film industry, as it allowed for cheap productions that captured the beauty of America’s landscape. Between the 1930s and 1960s, the genre helped build the careers of Hollywood giants like Clint Eastwood, John Ford, John Wayne, and even Ronald Reagan. Throughout its history, Hollywood created many powerful Westerns, but one of its most iconic bitterly divided audiences — and prompted John Wayne to make his version.
To say that John Wayne was the de facto king of cinema during his heyday would be underselling just how safe and strong a box office draw the actor was. Known mostly for war movies and westerns, Wayne was also an outspoken individualist, American patriot, and conservative person, and that extended into his Hollywood activism. At the time the actor had peaked, Hollywood was thrown into the midst of McCarthyism and the Red Scare, as people were accused of having communist sympathies, often with little to no evidence.
This political witch hunt wound up targeting one of the most significant Western movies in history: High Noon. Known for its political subtext and rallying cry against apathy, the film drew criticism upon release. In a bid to hit back against the film’s themes, Wayne would later make Rio Bravo, which many see as the conservative answer to High Noon. Both films command a great deal of respect within their genre, but it begs the question of just what Wayne disliked so much about the iconic 1952 movie.
Updated on July 17, 2024, by Robert Vaux: Both High Noon and Rio Bravo remain classics of the Western genre, as much for what they say about the times they were made as for their strong narratives and filmmaking acumen. The article has been updated to provide additional context on where Westerns stood in the 1950s, and the formatting has been adjusted to match CBR’s current guidelines.
High Noon Changed The Direction Of The Western Genre
The genre-defining High Noon tells the story of the outgoing Marshal of the small town of Hadleyville, Will Kane, who receives news on his wedding day that a murderous criminal, Frank Miller, has been pardoned. After realizing that Miller is due to arrive back in Hadleyville at noon, Kane attempts to rally a posse of honest folk to run the crook out of town. However, his insistence on staying and facing Miller leaves his Quaker wife, Amy, to leave him, with plans to take a train out of town and leave Kane to his fate. The film alternates between Kane’s attempt to rally the townspeople, Amy’s moral conundrum about whether she should stand by her husband or by her beliefs, and the impending arrival of Miller. As the hour draws near, the story, almost set in real-time, leaves viewers on the edge of their seats as to who will make the right choices and whether Kane will prevail.
The grand finale of the film sees the arrival of Miller who reunited with his old gang, marches through the town, brazenly opening himself up to challengers. When Kane shows up, a shootout between the Marshal and Miller’s gang ensues, one that sees the hero make a daring stand, aided by the arrival of his wife. When Will and Amy are finally successful in killing Miller, the people of Hadleyville, who had been absent from the streets, suddenly rush out to congratulate Kane — after spending the film refusing to aid him. The scene is a good criticism of the many people who refuse to aid their community or country when the chips are down, but who are eager to claim credit when things go well. Kane’s final moment sees him throw down his star and ride away with his wife, leaving the town without their famed Marshal. The scene was even echoed in Eastwood’s cop classic Dirty Harry, a movie that borrowed elements of High Noon in its similar portrayal of law enforcement as a thankless job.
The opinion one might form of High Noon can depend on their perspective. Viewing the film as a commentary on the inaction of the American people in the face of adversity, especially in the decade after World War II, would surely leave a viewer with negative feelings. In the context many critics view it in, the film was the writing of Carl Foreman, and his plea to get Americans to wake up to the injustice of McCarthyism and the silence of people too afraid to speak up. However, seeing the movie instead as a philosophical comment on what can be achieved through unity and courage turns the film into one of the greatest hero stories of all time. It should be noted that the film is based on a short story, “The Tin Star,” written by John W. Cunningham. The story, despite being relevant to its time, has maintained an impressive, timeless message of overcoming apathy and the power of collective action.
High Noon Marked a Sea Change in Westerns
Like every other genre, Westerns have undergone a great deal of growth and change over their history. Old cliches are constantly being upended or discarded in favor of new ideas. Westerns were riding high in the 1950s, but they
already had a long history stretching back to the dawn of the medium that needed a shake-up. Movies were also facing a new rival in television, which embraced the Western as its own and could deliver the same kind of stories much more cheaply and efficiently. Before the decade was out, the TV schedule was packed with weekly “oaters” that would dominate it for another decade, in direct competition with the cinematic versions.
In response, movie Westerns looked for new ways to lure audiences into theaters. Some of that came with spectacle, using widescreen, Technicolor, and the natural grandeur of the North American West to attain a scope that television simply couldn’t. Other films took a quieter approach by deconstructing a lot of the genre’s cliches and presumptions. That started even before High Noon with films such as 1950’s Broken Arrow, which humanized its Native American characters after decades of being demonized in Westerns. The trend ultimately led to the full deconstruction of the genre in the 1960s, with the likes of Sergio Leone’s iconic Dollars Trilogy and John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence puncturing the genre’s mythology for good.
High Noon similarly delivered a morally nuanced storyline, in which frightened townsfolk refuse to help their elected sheriff rather than standing together in the face of a common threat. Older and more traditional Westerns would have rejected such a notion out of hand in favor of traditional themes of community and shared responsibility. Wayne had been the genre’s biggest star for well over a decade, so it’s no surprise that he would respond similarly to the plot of High Noon. Ironically, he became a star with John Ford’s 1939 classic Stagecoach, which itself broke hard from the then-stale “white hats vs. black hats” moral simplicity of Silent-era Westerns.
Why John Wayne Hated High Noon
When High Noon was released, the United States was experiencing the height of McCarthyism and the “Red Scare,” a period known for government and private investigations into communist activities. This was spurred on by a combination of factors, such as the US Cold War against the USSR, the discovery of Soviet spy activity in the country, and the paranoia of Senator Joe McCarthy. The American film industry was no different, and there were bitter disputes between anti-communist activists, such as John Wayne and Ronald Reagan, and creators who were suspected of having communist sympathies. One such man was Carl Foreman, who happened to be the screenwriter for High Noon, and whose past membership of the Communist Party USA cast aspersions on his work. Despite Foreman stating he had become disillusioned with communism and abandoned the party, his refusal to name names for the government led to him being blacklisted by Hollywood. The loss of opportunity caused the writer to immigrate to Britain. Wayne later stated he never regretted running Foreman out of the country.
In John Wayne’s mind, the narrative of High Noon was designed to critique individualism, the Old West, and the American people themselves. After all, at every turn when he seeks help, Will Kane is left disappointed by his fellow townspeople, from former lawmen to honest, churchgoing family men. For a man who had made so many films romanticizing the Old West and glorifying America, Wayne naturally took issue with the suggestion that the American people wouldn’t step up when asked. His anger was undoubtedly inflamed by the recent victory in the Second World War, as well as the ongoing fighting in the Korean War at the time. In a time when people were hyper-sensitive to political messaging and worried about subversion, Wayne and others saw the film as a covert attempt to attack American law enforcement and promote collectivism. That said, the purpose of High Noon seems like less of an insult and more of a rallying cry to participate in society, rather than expecting others to do it for you.
For John Wayne, a man who built his name on the image of rugged individualism, it’s understandable why he would take the view of High Noon that he did. While the film doesn’t explicitly ridicule nor critique individualism, its underlying premise is one built on collectivism, and its plot depends on the idea that ordinary townspeople are afraid to act. The film has been likened many times to John F. Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you” speech, widely regarded as one of the most patriotic speeches in US history. Had the people of Hadleyville immediately rallied around Kane, Frank Miller’s gang wouldn’t have stood a chance. Instead, everyone waited idly by in the hopes of seeing Kane prevail. Some characters even comment on the idea that most people are too apathetic to do the right thing, something that certainly could have cut against Wayne’s view of the American people.