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Shane 1953 |
Review by Jonathan Cornwell |
Directed by George Stevens
NR, 118 min. |
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Starring: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Jack Palance, Van Heflin, Brandon De Wilde, Elisha Cook Jr., Ben Johnson, Edgar Buchanan, Emile Myer, Douglas Spencer, John Dierkes
Producers: George Stevens
Screenplay: Jack Schaefer, A.B. Guthrie Jr., Jack Sher
Cinematography: Loyal Griggs
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Released: 4.24.53 |
Rating:
 (out of ) |
There are many levels to Shane. One could be the basic storyline of a gunslinger turned honest man who longs
for a normal life on a farm. Another could be Shane's inner struggle to keep his longing for action and
his dark side from taking him over again. Then another could be the family that won't bow to greedy land
owners who want to run them off of their property. This is what makes Shane fascinating, that we can
decide for ourselves what the movie was really about, just as we can decide what happened to Shane at the
end of the movie.
Shane (Alan Ladd) comes across a frontier family struggling to save their farm from a greedy landowner who
wants their property to expand his control over the territory. Joe Sterrett (Van Heflin) and Marian
Sterrett (Jean Arthur) have a young boy named Joey (Brandon De Wilde), who is immediately taken with Shane
and wants to learn as much from Shane as possible, including gunfighting. Shane is longing to settle down
from his old ways and sees this family as a good starting point. Hard work and an honest living sound
good to Shane at the moment. Of course, he won't be able to stay in the shadows for long because of the
impending battle between the landowner and the families in the region. The landowner has hired a gunfighter
named Jack Wilson (Jack Palance), who is there to settle the dispute permanently. Shane knows he must
defend the family once another neighboring farm is destroyed and its owner is shot by Wilson.
The struggle we see just beneath the surface of Shane is obvious as he must decide to take up his gun again
and use it, which means he would have to move on once his fight with Wilson was over. This is difficult
for him because he enjoys his new life here. Towards the end of his stay he realizes that he is a gunfighter
first and foremost, and there's nothing he can do to change that. He accepts it and confronts Wilson and
his posse for a final showdown.
The relationship between Shane and Joey summarizes what the movie is about - Shane sees a lot of himself
in Joey but wants the serene lifestyle, while Joey longs for Shane's gunfighting ways and adventures. The
contrast is shown very well, as both of them accept who they are in the end. Shane belongs in an elite
group of westerns, such as Unforgiven and High Noon, that do more than just show a few gun battles by developing characters and making
you care about them. And in the end, the gunfight itself is anti-climactic, as you are more interested in
what will happen to the relationship between Shane and Joey's family. That's the sign of good movie making.
© 2001 Jonathan Cornwell
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 | Masterpiece - Film perfection |
 | Excellent - A Must See |
| Good - Highly Recommended |
| Fair - Worth seeing |
| Average - Viewable, but not recommended |
| Below average - View at own risk |
| Poor - Avoid at all costs |
| Very poor - An embarassment to the film industry |
| Zero | Awful - One of the worst films ever made |
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