According to
Darkness at High Noon: The Carl Foreman Documents— a 2002 documentary based in part on a lengthy 1952 letter from screenwriter
Carl Foreman to film critic
Bosley Crowther— Foreman's role in the creation and production of
High Noon has been unfairly downplayed over the years in favor of producer Stanley Kramer's. Foreman told Crowther that the film originated from a four-page plot outline he wrote that turned out to be very similar to "The Tin Star", a 1947 short story by
John W. Cunningham about an aging sheriff taking on a dangerous murderer. Foreman purchased the film rights to Cunningham's story and wrote the screenplay. By the time the documentary aired, most of the principals were dead, including Kramer, Foreman, Zinnemann, and Cooper.
Victor Navasky, author of
Naming Names, an authoritative account of the Hollywood blacklist, told a reporter that, based on his interviews with Kramer's widow and others, the documentary seemed "one-sided, and the problem is it makes a villain out of Stanley Kramer, when it was more complicated than that". Years later, director
Richard Fleischer claimed that he helped Foreman develop the story of
High Noon over the course of eight weeks while driving to and from the set of the 1949 film
The Clay Pigeon, which they were making together. Fleischer said that his RKO contract prevented him from directing
High Noon. There is a description of an incident very similar to the central plotline of
High Noon in Chapter XXXV of
The Virginian, by
Owen Wister, in which Trampas (a
villain) calls out The Virginian, who has a new bride waiting whom he might lose if he engages in a gunfight.
High Noon has even been described as a "straight
remake" of the
1929 film version of The Virginian, which also featured Gary Cooper in a starring role.
House Un-American Activities Committee controversy The production and release of
High Noon intersected with the
Second Red Scare in the United States and the
Korean War. In 1951, during production of the film, screenwriter
Carl Foreman was summoned before the
House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) during its investigation of "Communist propaganda and influence" in the
motion picture industry. Foreman had once been a member of the
Communist Party, but he declined to identify fellow members or anyone he suspected of current membership. As a result, he was labeled an "uncooperative witness" by the committee, making him vulnerable to
blacklisting by the movie industry. After his refusal to name names was made public, Foreman's production partner
Stanley Kramer demanded an immediate dissolution of their partnership. As a signatory to the production loan, Foreman remained with the
High Noon project, but before the film's release, he sold his partnership share to Kramer and moved to Britain, knowing that he would not find further work in the United States. Gary Cooper was Wayne's longtime friend and shared his conservative political views; Cooper had been a "friendly witness" before
HUAC but did not implicate anyone as a suspected Communist, and he later became a vigorous opponent of blacklisting. Cooper won an
Academy Award for his performance, and since he was working in Europe at the time, he asked Wayne to accept the Oscar on his behalf. Although Wayne's contempt for the film and refusal of its lead role were well known, he said, "I'm glad to see they're giving this to a man who is not only most deserving, but has conducted himself throughout the years in our business in a manner that we can all be proud of ... Now that I'm through being such a good sport ... I'm going back to find my business manager and agent ... and find out why I didn't get
High Noon instead of Cooper ..." After Wayne refused the Will Kane role, Kramer offered it to
Gregory Peck, who declined because he felt it was too similar to his role in
The Gunfighter, the year before. Peck later said he considered it the biggest mistake of his career.
Marlon Brando,
Montgomery Clift, and
Charlton Heston also declined the role. Biographer Gina McKinnon speculated that "there might well have been a roll or two in the hay bales", but cited no evidence, other than a remark by Kelly's sister Lizanne that Kelly was "infatuated" with Cooper.
Lee Van Cleef made his film debut in
High Noon. Kramer first offered Van Cleef the Harvey Pell role, after seeing him in a touring production of
Mister Roberts, on the condition that Van Cleef have his nose surgically altered to appear less menacing. Van Cleef refused and was cast instead as Colby, the only role of his career without a single line of dialogue.
Filming High Noon was filmed in the late summer/early fall of 1951 in several locations in California. The opening scenes, under the
credits, were shot at
Iverson Movie Ranch near Los Angeles. A few town scenes were shot in
Columbia State Historic Park, a preserved
Gold Rush mining town near
Sonora, but most of the street scenes were filmed on the
Columbia Movie Ranch in
Burbank. St. Joseph's Church in
Tuolumne City was used for exterior shots of the Hadleyville church. The railroad was the old
Sierra Railroad in
Jamestown, a few miles south of Columbia, now known as
Railtown 1897 State Historic Park, and often nicknamed "the movie railroad" due to its frequent use in films and television shows. The railroad station was built for the film alongside a water tower at Warnerville, about 15 miles to the southwest. Cooper was reluctant to film the fight scene with Bridges due to ongoing problems with his back, but eventually did so without the use of a stunt double. He wore no makeup to emphasize his character's anguish and fear, which was probably intensified by pain from recent surgery to remove a bleeding
ulcer. The running time of the story almost precisely
parallels the running time of the film—an effect heightened by frequent shots of clocks to remind the characters (and the audience) that the villain will be arriving on the noon train.
Music The movie's theme song, "
High Noon" (as it is credited in the film), also known by its opening lyric, "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling", became a major hit on the
country-and-western charts for
Tex Ritter, and later, a pop hit for
Frankie Laine as well. Composer
Dimitri Tiomkin's score and song, with lyrics by
Ned Washington, became popular for years afterwards and Tiomkin became in demand for future westerns in the 1950s like
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and
Last Train from Gun Hill. The song, along with its various instrumental arrangements, is heard 36 times throughout the film, functioning as a recurring musical motif. ==Reception==