Shane was expensive for a Western movie at the time with a cost of $3.1 million. It was the first film to be projected in a "flat"
widescreen 1.66:1 ratio, a format that Paramount invented to offer audiences a wider panorama than television could provide. Although never explicitly stated, the basic plot elements of
Shane were derived from the 1892
Johnson County War in
Wyoming, the archetypal cattlemen/homesteaders conflict, which also served as the background for
The Virginian and ''
Heaven's Gate''. The physical setting is the high plains near
Jackson, Wyoming, and many shots feature the
Grand Teton massif looming in the near distance. The fictional town and Starrett homestead were constructed for the film near
Kelly, in the
Jackson Hole valley, and demolished after filming was completed. One vintage structure that appeared briefly in the film, the Ernie Wright Cabin (now popularly referred to by locals as the "Shane Cabin") still stands, but is steadily deteriorating due to its classification as "ruins" by the
National Park Service. Alan Ladd disliked and was uncomfortable with guns; Shane's shooting demonstration for Joey required 116 takes. A careful review of Shane's gun-skill demonstration to Joey shows Alan Ladd firing with his eyes closed. Later, in the saloon battle, Ladd's pistol is pointed well away from the man he shoots, especially the final scene—where he kills Ryker's brother. Jack Palance was nervous around horses, and had great difficulty with mounting and dismounting. After very many attempts, he finally executed a flawless dismount, which Stevens then used for all of the Wilson character's dismounts and—run in reverse—his mounts as well. Palance looked so awkward on horseback that Stevens was forced to replace Wilson's introductory ride into town astride his galloping horse with Palance riding at walking pace. Stevens later noted that the change actually made Wilson's entrance more dramatic and menacing. The final scene, in which the wounded Shane explains to a distraught Joey why he has to leave ("There's no living with a killing"), was a moving moment for the entire cast and crew, except Brandon deWilde. "Every time Ladd spoke his lines of farewell, deWilde crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue, making Ladd laugh. Finally, Ladd called to the boy's father, 'Make the kid stop or I'll beat him over the head.' DeWilde behaved."
Casting Director George Stevens originally wanted
Montgomery Clift and
William Holden for the Shane and Starrett roles; when both proved unavailable, Stevens asked Paramount executive
Y. Frank Freeman for a list of available actors with current contracts; within three minutes, he chose Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, and Jean Arthur.
Shane was Arthur's first cinematic role in five years, and her last, at the age of 50, though she later appeared in theater, and a short-lived television series. She accepted the part at the request of Stevens, who had directed her in
The Talk of the Town (1942) with
Cary Grant and
Ronald Colman, and
The More the Merrier (1943) for which she received her only
Oscar nomination. When asked if he enjoyed the movie, the author of
Shane, Jack Schaefer, replied, "Yeah, I did, all except for that runt", referring to the Ladd. In 1989, Schaefer told the Oberlin alumni magazine that his
Shane character was supposed to be a "dark, deadly person" whom he had hoped would be played by
George Raft.
Technical details Although the film was shot using the standard 1.37:1
Academy ratio, Paramount picked
Shane to debut its wide-screen system because it was composed largely of long and medium shots that would not be compromised by cropping the image. Using a newly cut aperture plate in the
movie projector, and a wider-angle lens, the film was exhibited in first-run venues at an aspect ratio of 1.66:1. For its premiere, the studio replaced the 34-by-25-foot screen in
Radio City Music Hall with one measuring 50 feet wide by 30 feet high. Paramount produced all of its subsequent films at that ratio until 1954, when it switched to 1.85:1. Stevens wanted to demonstrate to audiences "the horrors of violence". To emphasize the terrible power of gunshots, he created a cannon-like sound effect by firing a large-caliber weapon into a garbage can. In addition, he had the two principal shooting victims—Palance and Elisha Cook Jr.—rigged with hidden wires that jerked them violently backward when shot. These innovations, according to film historian Jay Hyams, marked the beginning of graphic violence in Western movies. He quotes
Sam Peckinpah: "When Jack Palance shot Elisha Cook Jr. in
Shane, things started to change." ==Reception==