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Shane
1953
George Stevens' classic Western, adaptated from the Jack Schaefer novel, stars Alan Ladd in the title role. Riding the ranges of Wyoming's Grand Tetons, Shane stops at the farm of homesteader Joe Starrett (Van Heflin) just before Ryker (Emile Meyer), a powerful and predatory cattleman, arrives with his hired muscle to make the .. Read more
| Starring | Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon De Wilde |
|---|---|
| Director | George Stevens |
| Genres | Action/Adventure |
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Shane
George Stevens' classic Western, adaptated from the Jack Schaefer novel, stars Alan Ladd in the title role. Riding the ranges of Wyoming's Grand Tetons, Shane stops at the farm of homesteader Joe Starrett (Van Heflin) just before Ryker (Emile Meyer), a powerful and predatory cattleman, arrives with his hired muscle to make the farmer a threatening offer for land that he intends to get by any means necessary. When Shane lets the cattle baron know that his gun will back Starrett if there's any trouble, the grateful homesteader offers the stranger a job as a hired hand, which he accepts. Joe's young son Joey (Brandon de Wilde) is drawn to the quiet stranger, whose difference from the men he knows is confirmed by the accidental revelation of a gunfighter's lightning reflexes. Shane becomes a valuable asset to the farm, but is slowly drawn into the continuing hostilities between the two opposing groups. To complicate matters, Shane feels an unspoken, and unwanted, attraction to Starrett's wife Marian (Jean Arthur). This creates a sense of ambivalence in Joe, whose son already idolizes the gunslinger. Stevens' meticulous artistry imbues the simple Western with the mythic aura of an Arthurian legend, as Loyal Griggs' beautifully composed images provide the canvas for career performances by Ladd, Heflin, Arthur, and de Wilde, in what many regard as the finest western ever made.
| Starring | Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon De Wilde, Jack Palance, Ben Johnson, Edgar Buchanan |
|---|---|
| Director | George Stevens |
| Studio | PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 53 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Collections | 100 Wild Westerns |
| Genres | Action/Adventure |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 06 Oct 2003 Production year: 1953 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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If you've never seen it, Shane is a revelation, a marvellous distillation of all that is fine about Hollywood cinema. A great director (George Stevens) takes on a familiar genre (the western) and imbues it with a vision that is both personal and universal. Sweeping you up via Loyal Griggs's Technicolor photography and Bill Hornbeck and Tom McAdoo's magnificent editing, it tells the story of a man, a woman and, especially, a boy, whose lives are changed by the stranger dressed in buckskin who rides on to their farm. Alan Ladd gives the performance of a lifetime in the title role; not an obvious choice, he is superb, and the rest of the cast are also impeccable, notably Jean Arthur as the married woman whose relationship with Shane is subtly understated. Victor Young's score is exceptional, his majestic main theme lingering long after the movie is over. This is one of the finest American motion pictures, brilliantly constructed and beautifully filmed, and a constant source of pleasure.
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Archetypal family Western, but much slower and statelier than most, as though to emphasize its own quality, which is evident anyway.
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Most helpful member's review
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17 out of 18 people found this review helpful
If you only ever watch one western, it should be this one.
Slow, almost lyrically paced, this is the western as poetry. It?s a many layered film; on one it deals with the typical western theme of order and civilisation struggling to replace lawlessness and tyranny; on another it?s a human drama of individuals forced to make choices, to find the decency, integrity and courage to do the right thing. And, as a third strand, the story is largely seen through the eyes of a child, and is in many ways is the story of his loss of innocence.
Everything about the film is praiseworthy. The script allows for rounded characters, with the villains not simple evil ciphers, but individuals with their own world view and, to them at least, a reasonable agenda. The lighting and direction compose each scene as a canvas on which to paint the human drama, the magnificent outdoor settings giving that drama a real sense of time and place. This is not an action western as such, but the brawls are amongst the best ever filmed, and the final confrontation is a masterpiece of build-up, tension, and cathartic release.
Oh, and when the gunsmoke clears, if you think one brief clip has crept in from a 1930?s oater, just remember the shoot-out is being witnessed through the eyes of a child!
This is simply a magnificent film. Intelligent, complex, exciting and moving, its influence on, amongst others, Clint Eastwood is obvious. But almost anything ever done later in the genre was done here first, and in many respects, done here the best. It?s a film that repays watching and rewatching; both on its own merits, and as a lesson in film crafting. -
Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Watch the smoke
Alan Ladd has a long barreled Colt that he wears high on his hip which he draws smooth and fast, the powder flash happens only when the gun is level. There is no camera trickery and the rest of this fine story is just as honest. I've happily watched this film dozens of times.
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News and features
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Once Upon a Time in the West
- 21 Jul 2009
Nobody could make something out of nothing the way that Sergio Leone could. Just look at the first ten minutes of Once Upon a Time in the West: a fistful of tough hombres in ankle-length dusters are waiting for a train at a railway depot out in the middle of nowhere. Their faces are familiar yet strange: Woody Strode and Jack Elam are veteran Hollywood cowboys, with dozens of movies under their belts. But they have never been filmed like this before, gazed at so long or so longingly. Leone... Read more
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