High Noon...A simple little western.

Inside High Noon Director's Cut

NARRATED BY MATTHEW RYHS
About

INSIDE HIGH NOON DIRECTOR’S CUT – A Documentary

Now Airing on Public Television. Check local listing for time and dates.

Narrated by Matthew Rhys • Written & Directed by John Mulholland •  Produced & Edited by: Richard Zampella 

On Camera Participants: President Bill Clinton, King Albert of Monaco, Brian Garfield,
Jonathan Foreman, Tim Zinnemann, Maria Cooper, Lee Clark Mitchell, Stephen Prince and M.Z. Ribalow.

INSIDE HIGH NOON, a documentary explores both the remarkable 1952 film and the gripping story behind its troubled production.
The real-life events behind the making of HIGH NOON make for rich drama, indeed.

When released, HIGH NOON was seen as an attack on HUAC. However, this means little to an audience today.
INSIDE HIGH NOON examines with fresh insight what makes HIGH NOON timeless, and why it works so powerfully still, over 70 years after its release.

Inside High Noon Official Trailer for American Public Television.
Narrated by Matthew Rhys

Official Public Television Trailer for Inside High Noon, produced  for the 70th Anniversary of the 1952 Motion Picture, High Noon. Airing this fall. Check local listing for time and dates. Distributed by American Public Television.

INSIDE HIGH NOON explores both the landmark 1952 film starring Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Lloyd Bridges and Katy Jurado, and the gripping story behind its troubled production. The documentary reveals how many of the studios passed on the project and major Hollywood actors turned it down before Gary Cooper accepted the lead role. When it was ultimately released, High Noon was seen by some as an attack on the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). INSIDE HIGH NOON also explores the film itself: why it has aroused controversy among critics, how its treatment of women and of masculinity was ahead of its time, and why HIGH NOON has come to be seen as a masterpiece of American cinema.

For many people, HIGH NOON is the western. For others, it is simply one of the greatest films of all time. A genuine masterpiece. It is has been viewed in the White House more times than any other film. It was President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s favorite film, as it is former President Bill Clinton’s. Former Japanese Prime Minister Koizuma cites it as his favorite film. The list goes on.

But this low-budget — $750,000 — independent film has had a rocky road to its classic status. Virtually every studio turned it down. Seemingly half of Hollywood’s leading men turned it down. And its initial preview was an utter disaster.

The House un-American Activities Committee was in overdrive in 1951. And High Noon was in its cross-hairs. At least half-a-dozen people involved in High Noon were blacklisted; among them, screenwriter Carl Foreman and cinematographer Floyd Crosby.

Gary Cooper, who had testified before HUAC in 1947 as a “friendly” witness (even though he named no names, named no scripts, and was only there, as he put it: “To show the committee that Hollywood was not a nest of Communists”), put his career on the line for Carl Foreman during and after production, hailing Foreman as “The finest kind of American.”

The real-life story behind the making of HIGH NOON is dramatic, suspenseful, gripping. Like the film itself, it is a story of fear, of heroism, and the very real danger of political abuse. What happens up on the screen is in many ways a metaphor for the extraordinary events behind the camera.

But Inside High Noon also explores the film itself:
Why it has aroused controversy among critics. Why its treatment of women was far ahead of its time. Why its treatment of masculinity was far ahead of its time. Why it has remained popular decades and decades after its release. Indeed, why High Noon is the masterpiece it is.

"‘Inside High Noon’, an excellent 49-minute examination of the film’s
production history, cultural legacy and political subtext"

– THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS
About
High Noon 1952

HIGH NOON – UNITED ARTISTS

RELEASE DATE: JULY 24, 1952 – PRODUCED BY: STANLEY KRAMER – DIRECTED BY: FRED ZINNEMANN

STARRING: GARY COOPER • GRACE KELLY • KATY JURADO • LLOYD BRIDGES • HARRY MORGAN • LON CHANEY, JR.

ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR

Gary Cooper wins his second Best Actor Academy Award for his performance as Marshal Will Kane in High Noon, arguably his finest role.

ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST FILM EDITING

The Best Film Editing Oscar was awarded to High Noon in 1952, for the film editing team of Elmo Williams and Harry Gerstad.

ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST FILM SCORE

Composer Dimitri Tiomkin earned the Oscar for Best Film Score which was presented to him by Walt Disney.

ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST SONG

Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington won the Academy Award for the title song, “Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darlin”, performed by Tex Ritter.

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High Noon 1952
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INSIDE HIGH NOON

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