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
In about 1980, I saw SHANE on the big screen in a packed theater. It was beautiful and the audience was with it 100%. Recently, I revisited it on the small screen and the cliches seemed to dominate. I’m sure glad I saw the Grand Tetons, et al., in all their glory, they way they were meant to be seen.
At least Blu-Ray gave us back its color. I’d love to see it as you did sometime.
Now I realize that so many films I saw on the big screen in the late 1970s and early ’80s, were closer to their release date and, therefore, less challenged by time. Many were prints held by the studios, with little wear and tear. What a time to be in film school in Los Angeles!
Either this is the ultimate western or the ultimate cliché of a western. I cannot really decide and despite its monumental status I am on the fence with Shane.
I guess my problem is with Alan Ladd and his cowboy in white. I need him to be flawed and grimy and he is just too clean.
I’m sort of on the fence too. How about Shane’s fringed cowboy outfit? Doesn’t look at all authentic. I think this is one of those you have to imagine as a fairy tale or legend of some kind.
Yeah, exactly, that is what I mean. The myth of the lost West. That is how it works best for me as if this is the story told by the child.
Yes, if you think of Shane as Joey’s fantasy of the man that will arrive to rescue his family, it all falls together.
Totally agreed! It’s like Shane is not real. Like he was created by the boy’s desire to help his father and impress his mother. It’s very Edipic, as you can see in the scene where Shane and Joe fight: all hell breaks lose. It’s like nothing else holds true or safe: as it should be, because this symbolises the son “killing” the father, only the edipian issues are successfully delt with, as Shane doesn’t marry the boy’s mother, but rather disappears after having served his purpose. Now the boy can grow up and be his own man. That’s why Shane says yo Marian “Never is a long time, Marian.” Because of course she will see him again, in the person of her son when he grows up to be the man he wants to become.
Ooh, I like that about the Oedipus Complex. I never would have thought of it but it fits perfectly within Joey’s fantasy. I will keep a look out the next time I watch Shane. Thanks so much for commenting!