Graham, Don. “High Noon.” Western Movies. Eds. William T. Pilkington and Don Graham. Albuquerque: U. of New Mexico Press, 1979. 51-62.

In his essay, Graham begins first with a reaction to the relative lack of critical respect given to High Noon, and continues on to critique a number of interpretations of the film. While accepting the validity of the HUAC  interpretation, Graham believes the film remains effective, even after audiences can no longer relate to any early-50s political messages, because of the depth of emotion and the heroism shown by Gary Cooper’s Will Kane. Even though Graham casually mentions the HUAC and thereafter ignores it, he still manages to touch on the general issues raised by Carl Foreman in his provocative script. Graham focuses on two issues that are enduring enough to appeal to an audience unfamiliar with 1950s politics: the “hypocritical community” and “the issue of transfer of authority from one generation to another” (57).  

            The former issue is much more directly related to the HUAC, although Graham chooses not to emphasize that aspect. Still, the way in which “High Noon mocks and derides the mask of complacent morality” worn by the townspeople is a clear attack on society (56). It takes little imagination to apply the idea of hypocrisy and false morality to the situation of the fervent anti-Communists and those who stood idly by. The idea of a generation gap, manifested in films of the era such as 1955’s Rebel Without a Cause, is only part of a tumultuous social climate that also included the HUAC hearings. Even though the generation gap might be a secondary conflict to the HUAC interpretation, which pervades the film, it still adds to the level of crisis and stress facing both Kane, standing in Foreman’s place, and the townspeople who represent the apathetic American public. Graham’s essay chooses to minimize the HUAC interpretation, but his emphasis on how High Noon revealed social conflicts in America directly relates to the flawed society in which such persecution could occur.

Loy, R. Philip. “Friendly Neighbors All Around.” Westerns and American Culture, 1930-1955. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2001. 121-151.

            In his essay, Loy focuses primarily on the B westerns which typically define the genre, and as stated in his title, these westerns generally present a positive view of the community, with High Noon as “a dramatic departure from the typical B western” (126). As many sources emphasize, the townspeople in westerns were generally marginalized, with the plot focusing mainly on the hero and villain. While accepting this viewpoint, Loy brings up multiple instances of when towns band together, especially in the form of “community associations” (127), which were essentially posses. Although Loy emphasizes how B westerns focused on community, he still acknowledges that “bigger-budget westerns [High Noon included]… were films most likely to focus on the individualist aspect of American beliefs” (148).

Notably, although the townspeople now refuse to stand behind Kane, when Frank Miller was first arrested five years before, it was by Kane along with a large posse, implying a shift in the town’s attitude. It is hardly a stretch of the imagination to think back little over five years before High Noon was released to WWII, which represents for many the pinnacle of American unity. Foreman could therefore be drawing a contrast to a previous stand against fascism and oppression five years before, but a current unwillingness by the townspeople, and implicitly the American people, to stand against a new injustice. By showing how typical westerns featured a supportive town, Loy’s essay brings the townspeople’s cowardly behavior into even starker relief. At the same time, the individualist attitudes of bigger-budget westerns allow for the independence and non-conformist attitude displayed by Kane. Therefore, it is only Kane’s “big-budget” individualism that allows him to overcome the constraints of the unsupportive community.

Sartre, Jean-Paul. “Existentialism.” Existentialism and Human Emotions. Trans. Bernard Frechtman. New York: Philosophical Library, 1957. 9-51.

            Although not one of Sartre’s best-known works, Existentialism and Human Emotions presents a clear summary of his beliefs, written in the form of a response to critics. What Sartre emphasizes, and what is of great relevance to High Noon, is the notion of Existentialism as leading to a need for individual responsibility. Like High Noon, the doctrine of Existentialism is a product of a post-WWII world, and both deal with the question of how the individual should act in the face of apparent solitude, be it the absence of god for Existentialism or the absence of community for High Noon. For Sartre, the key aspect of Existentialism is the idea that “existence precedes essence” (13). This essentially means that, since there is no god or preconceived morality, it is up to the individual to define oneself through one’s actions. Sartre extends this self-determination not just to the individual, but also to all of humanity – or, “I am responsible for myself and for everyone else” (18). This responsibility brings a great deal of “anguish,” as Sartre calls it, in the sense that one has to consciously realize that every action influences everyone else.

            This postwar idea of individual responsibility for the collective whole is a constant theme in High Noon. Anguish especially stands out in this film, and the scene of Kane collapsing in exhaustion and dismay upon his desk is rarely paralleled in more conventional westerns of the time. Many in the town refuse to help Kane, and some townspeople in the church retort that Miller is Kane’s own problem. Kane’s actions, of course, are not just about him, since his choices also determine the town’s future. High Noon is a call to action, saying essentially that even those not under investigation by the HUAC still need to stand against it. What makes Kane a hero are not his moments of anguish, which are unprecedented in more straightforward westerns, but his actions. Sartre argues that heroes are not born heroes, but “the hero makes himself heroic” through his choices, which Kane clearly does in the face of the town’s opposition (35).

Camus, Albert. “Part One.” The Plague. Trans. Stuart Gilbert. New York: Vintage International, 1991. 1-63.

            Unlike the other sources, The Plague, as a work of fiction, never explicitly states Camus’s viewpoints. However, the actions of the narrator, Dr. Rieux, show a sensibility along the lines of Camus’s fellow Existentialist Sartre. The Plague documents an outbreak of the plague in the Algerian town of Oran, and the subsequent actions of the townspeople. Camus portrays a number of different reactions, from individualism to altruism, as a way of characterizing the human response to death. Of the various approaches, that of Rieux is portrayed most favorably, since those on the extremes of individualism or altruism died, but Rieux’s middle path saw him through the crisis while still helping others. In this way, Rieux echoes Sartre’s belief of “in choosing myself, I choose man” (Sartre, 18).

            Rieux is the embodiment of the existentialist ideal, the man who defines himself through action, and therefore mirrors Kane in many ways. Kane is not an idealized hero; he struggles with his decision to stay, but ultimately feels that it is his duty. Even so, he tries not to be reckless, and confronts Miller and his gang alone as a last resort. Rieux, like Kane, faced opposition, both in the form of an abstract threat such as a villain or plague, but also from the people who can help, such as Rieux’s fellow doctors and Oran’s prefect. Similarly, Foreman found himself gradually abandoned by those near him as the blacklist took effect, since even his closest partners dared not to risk the HUAC’s wrath, and that of the studios. Oran’s doctors and prefect refrain from declaring a state of emergency for some time, despite Rieux’s protestations, which mirrors in many ways the townspeople who choose to downplay Miller’s return. Rieux, Kane, and Foreman are duty-and-honor-bound to act, and in the mode of the Existentialist hero, prove their mettle through action during a difficult situation instead of passivity.

Drummond, Phillip. “Meanings.” High Noon. London: British Film Institute, 1997. 63-81.

             Drummond’s chapter on the meanings of High Noon has 5 sections, but only two are particularly relevant to the argument: “Social Allegories” and “Sexual Politics.” Rather than taking his own stances, Drummond compiles the thoughts of other critics of High Noon in his essay. “Social Allegories” therefore features a number of critics’ viewpoints, most of whom analyze the film “less as a contribution to the western genre than in its meaning as a film about the post-war years, as a drama about American society in its national and international relationships” (69). Although the HUAC is never mentioned, Drummond includes views regarding High Noon as a metaphor for domestic left-right conflicts, US-Communist relations (especially regarding Korea), and politician’s foreign policies. “Sexual Politics” also includes other critics’ views, which emphasize the idea of masculinity and Kane’s individualism.

            Despite the omission of the HUAC connection, “Social Allegories” still has relevance as part of High Noon’s commentary on postwar America as a whole, since the HUAC was only an example of the general anti-communist paranoia gripping America at the time. Critics saw that “High Noon denounces notions of consensus,” which emphasizes how the film attacked the community as a monolithic, passive bloc. “Sexual Politics” focuses on how High Noon portrays the men of the town as alternatively craven, fearful, and generally not fitting in with the brave, masculine male of the stereotypical western. By portraying the townspeople as cowardly, Foreman shows his clear contempt for those in Hollywood who sided with the HUAC or refused to oppose it out of fear of damage to their careers. Kane, too, is hardly the classic masculine hero, but his mental trials serve to increase the sense of pathos in the film, and helps provide an on-screen representation of the anguish that Foreman surely felt before testifying before the HUAC.

Nussbaum, Martin. “Sociological Symbolism of the ‘Adult Western.’” Social Forces. (May 1961). JSOTR. University of Pennsylvania Library, Philadelphia. 6 April 2008. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/view/2573570> 25-29.

            Nussbaum’s 1960 article deals with the “adult western,” which Nussbaum defines as an “art form that expresses the emotions, fears, inadequacies and psychoses of modern man” (25). Nussbaum first looks at a number of reasons why, of all possible film genres, it is the western which best addresses the issues facing society. Nussbaum lists six main reasons, but in general the western manages to give the city-dwelling “modern man” a release from the cramped city and his structured life. Most important for Nussbaum is the idea of the “adult western” as part of “a revolt again rationalism and reason” (28). The western, especially the moralistic sort, such as High Noon, serves both as an escape from a postwar conformist lifestyle and a reminder of traditional values, which are emphasized through the valor of the hero.

            High Noon clearly is a form of the “adult western,” which in many ways is similar to Bazin’s moralistic “superwestern.” Although this essay does not touch on the specific moral points which Foreman expresses through his script, it does help explain why Foreman chose the western, of all genres, to use as the backdrop for his allegorical treatment of the HUAC. The “adult western” is a rejection of the bourgeois city values in which the HUAC developed, causing High Noon to stand out less amongst a long line of individualist, anti-conformist westerns. Kane is a western hero whose appeal lies squarely in the “emotions, fears, inadequacies and psychoses of modern man,” since he too faces these issues. His defiance of the Miller Gang (and Foreman defying the HUAC) is not rooted in calculating, self-serving interest but in an emotional decision based on what is right and wrong, which fits with Nussbaum’s anti-rational theory of the Western.