Shane (1953)

Shane
Directed by George Stevens
Written by A.B. Guthrie and Jack Sher based on the novel by Jack Schaefer
1953/USA
Paramount Pictures
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#276 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Shane: You were watchin’ me down it for quite a spell, weren’t you?
Joey: Yes I was.
Shane: You know, I… I like a man who watches things go on around. It means he’ll make his mark someday.

This is filled with cliches but is nonetheless an unforgettable classic.

A number of homesteaders has settled on what once was rangeland.  The ranchers who once ran their cattle over the land are dead set on chasing them off.  Joe Starrett (Van Helflin) has become the unelected leader of the farmers by general agreement.  He is holding on against all threats with his gentle wife Marian (Jean Arthur) and son Joey (Brandon De Wilde).

One day, a stranger appears.  He is Shane (Alan Ladd).  It is love at first sight for young Joey, who is at the stage where he is obsessed with guns and can sense the strength and menace of his idol.  Shane, headed who knows where, decides to stay on with the Starretts as a farm hand.  Shane also exerts a kind of magnetic attraction on the loyal Marian.

Shane observes first hand the brutality of the cattlemen against the settlers, which escalates from threats to more deadly attacks.  Unsatisfied, the ranchers bring in hired gun Jack Wilson (Jack Palance) to take more drastic action.  It is now up to Shane to try to save the day.  With Elisha Cook Jr., Ellen Corby, and Edgar Buchanan as settlers.

I have always found this story to be on the corny side and it is a credit to the director that he manages to lift it to almost mythic levels.  This is despite his use of such devices as mourning dogs and a young boy who can keep up on foot with a man on horseback.  He had the scenery and the actors going for him.

Jean Arthur came out of retirement to do this picture for her friend George Stevens.  It is impossible to believe she was already fifty years old.  She makes a perfectly credible object of desire for the two leading men.  In my opinion, the Academy got its acting nominations wrong.  They should definitely have gone to Arthur and Heflin, who are the soul of the film.

I had a chance to see the Blu-Ray and the color llooks stunning, unlike the faded stills and trailer shown here.

Shane won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color.  It was nominated in the categories of:  Best Picture; Best Director; Best Supporting Actor (De Wilde); Best Supporting Actor (Palance); Best Writing, Screenplay.

Trailer