Extravagantly praised as the "Best Western of all time,this isn't a western at all.What it really is is a story of contemporary big city slum dwellers terrorized by a street gang,with a western setting and costumes.People out west had to depend on themselves for protection,the idea of slavishly expecting the Government to "mother " them is a modern concept.In the days of the old west people HAD to be self reliant,they had no choice.It has been pointed out that John Wayne criticised this picture for showing Westerners as cowardly and not willing to stand up in times of danger.Well Gary Cooper had the same opinion of this movie,which he could never take seriously!Near the end of his life he narrated a documentary called "The Real West" in which he emphasized the self reliance of the people of the West,of which he himself was one. THAT was his own final verdict on "High Noon"
