RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / High Noon
High Noon

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

High Noon (1952)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
95 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:40

Fresh:38

Rotten:2

Average Rating:8.7/10

Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins

Genre: Westerns

Synopsis: Gary Cooper is Hollywood's perfect hero, the very embodiment of integrity and grace in this greatest of Westerns. As a newly married town marshal, he must balance an innate sense of justice and... Gary Cooper is Hollywood's perfect hero, the very embodiment of integrity and grace in this greatest of Westerns. As a newly married town marshal, he must balance an innate sense of justice and duty with loyalty to his beautiful new--and pacifist--bride when he is left by an ungrateful town to face a gang of deadly outlaws alone. As we watch spellbound, film time is real time as the showdown grows ever closer. HIGH NOON is a masterpiece that is frequently interpreted as a parable about artists left to "stand alone" and face persecution during the HUAC Hollywood blacklisting. However, Howard Hawks allegedly devised RIO BRAVO as an answer to the film's "wimpiness," and John Wayne once declared HIGH NOON as un-American--he was apparently offended by the ending of the film, which shows Sheriff Kane removing his badge and tossing it in the dirt. [More]

Starring: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges

Starring: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges, Katy Jurado, Otto Kruger, Lon Chaney, Harry Morgan, Ian MacDonald, Eve McVeagh

Director: Fred Zinnemann

Director: Fred Zinnemann
Producer: Stanley Kramer
Screenwriter: Carl Foreman
Producer: Elmo Williams
Composer: Dimitri Tiomkin

[See More Credits]

Reviews for High Noon

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

A film about what it means to be a man that manages to avoid the musk of machismo, High Noon is truly a film that improves with each and every viewing.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/17/01
David Wood
David Wood
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

High Noon won a fistful of Oscars, but in these days of pasteboard screen machismo, it's worth seeing simply as the anatomy of what it took to make a man before the myth turned sour.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Not a frame is wasted in this taut, superbly directed, masterfully acted film.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
01/01/00
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of the best westerns ever made. Had me on the edge of my seat the entire time!

comment Comment
08/29/02
Alex Sandell
Alex Sandell
Juicy Cerebellum

No review available.

comment Comment
04/07/05
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

Meaningful in its implications, as well as loaded with interest and suspense, High Noon is a western to challenge Stagecoach for the all-time championship.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film works remarkably well as a simple but powerful parable.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
01/01/00
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

No review available.

comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
06/14/08
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Can be enjoyed simply because it's so well done.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
04/30/04
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Flaws don't negate the strong impact this film would have on the viewer, the impact that inspired many future filmmakers and made High Noon one of the most important pieces of American film legacy.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews

One of the most overestimated Westerns in film history, High Noon is schematic and more of a reflection of the times in which it was made than the classic it's considered to be, though Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly are excellent.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
07/29/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

The Western may be one of the few truly American art forms, and High Noon shows exactly how much potential it can embrace.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
03/21/01
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

No review available.

comment Comment
09/05/02
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

quintessential Western that transcends the genre

Full Review Source: Old School Reviews | comment Comment
09/27/03
John A. Nesbit
John A. Nesbit
Old School Reviews

...plays on the psychology of its characters and situations; an oater with insight and introspection...thought over action.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
12/04/03
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

THE great American Western.

comment Comment
11/28/03
Jonathan R. Perry
Jonathan R. Perry
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)

Some of the results ring false, but the memorable theme song and some equally memorable character acting (by Thomas Mitchell and Lon Chaney Jr. more than Lloyd Bridges and Katy Jurado) help things along.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
09/04/07
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader

No review available.

comment Comment
10/22/03
Jurgen Fauth
Jurgen Fauth
About.com

One of the essentials

comment Comment
04/20/07
Lori Hoffman
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
all

Latest News for High Noon

November 07, 2007: Hollywood Remake Clock Strikes High Noon
John Wayne's least favorite Western is making its way back to a theater near you. We're talking about High Noon, the thinly veiled swipe at McCarthyism that Wayne called "the... More...

September 05, 2007: Total Recall: 3:10 to Yuma And The Dark Side of the Frontier
3:10 to Yuma joins a long line of Westerns that explore the complexities of human nature against the unforgiving backdrop of the frontier. More...

June 22, 2007: AFI Announces Top 100 Movies of All Time ... Again
Ten years ago the AFI gave us a list of the Top 100 American Films Ever Made -- and when that was done they churned out 15 other lists every few years. And then last night they... More...

See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
25% 25% Four Christmases
68% 68% Funny People
95% 95% Star Trek
14% 14% The Ugly Truth

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
32% 32% Terminator Salvation
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…
86% 86% A Christmas Tale
60% 60% Paper Heart

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

5 facts straight from the cast.

Disney Animation

Disney Animation

We chart the studio's classics.

Avatar

Avatar

An exclusive look at the human hardware.

Eric Bana

Eric Bana

The Star Trek star talks cars with RT.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Spielberg Hops Away from Harvey Source: Variety
22
  • Tarantino Could Have Directed Green Lantern Source: MTV
24
  • Will Duvall be Gilliam's Don Quixote? Source: Collider.com
26
  • No Hobbit Until 2012? Source: The Wrap
22
  • Don't Hold Your Breath for Hancock 2 Source: HitFix
42
  • Peter Berg Talks Battleship Source: CHUD
2
  • Summit Ponders Twilight Finale Source: Variety
162
  • First Look at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Source: USA Today
56
  • Jeremy Renner Talks Hawkeye Possibilities Source: Superhero Hype
14
  • Todd Phillips Talks The Hangover 2 Source: Entertainment Weekly
18
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Total Recall: Natalie Portman's Best Movies
79
  • Five Favorite Films with Jason Reitman
55
  • Critics Consensus: Everybody's Fine Is Just OK
50
  • 10 Horrifically Profitable Films
46
  • Sundance 2010: RT's 10 Most Anticipated Movies
41
  • Five Favorite Films with Jesse Ventura
40
  • Weekly Ketchup: Tron Team to Remake The Black Hole
36
  • Awards Tour: National Board of Review Winners List!
27
  • Friday Harvest: Iron Man 2, Harry Potter, and more!
23
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Terminator Salvation and a Smithsonian Battle
22
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
23
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
22
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
30
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • High Noon at Rotten Tomatoes
  • High Noon at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.