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SHANE
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SHANE, 1953
Directed by George Stevens
Starring Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur
Van Helfin and Jack Palance
ACADEMY AWARD Winner Best Cinematography
SYNOPSIS:
A traveling gunslinger enlists as a ranch hand on the Wyoming frontier. He helps a family protect its land from a villainous cattle baron.
REVIEW:
Veteran director/producer George Stevens' film is often considered the second film of his "American trilogy," positioned between A Place in the Sun (1951) and Giant (1956). This was a unique film in its times as the director took a simple western story and turned it into a wide-screen, Technicolored panoramic masterpiece to create a symbolic myth: the age-old story of the duel between good and evil, the advent of civilization (with families, law and order, and homesteaders) and progress into the wilderness (a world of roaming cattlemen, lawless gunslingers, and loners on horseback).
At its heart, this is a coming of age story about a young boy. The entire story is seen through a 10 year olds eyes as he watches the adult conflicts ensue and how his parents deal with it. When the hero of the story Shane appears, young Joey is capitavated by him. Shane is different from his parents and their farming friends. He walks with courage and worry always aware of what's around him.
You can take a look at Sam Mendes' 2002 film Road to Perdition as that particular film pays a lot of homage to Shane. That film is also a coming of age story seen through a childs eyes but this film it's not the gunslingers who are the antagonists, but the Irish Mafia. Having a strong influence like Shane and Tom Hank's character Michael Sullivan forces a young boy to grow up instantly. They both are men who are forced heroes, doing what is necessary because those are the kind of guys they are.
Shane is a loner at heart, used to being with himself. When this kind, hard working family befriends him, Shane is quite taken because it's obvious in his eyes that no one has ever cared for him quite like this family has before. At the end Shane is forced to be a hero sacrificing the love he's been given for the first time in his life in order for the family's protection.
One of the great underlying sub-plots in the film is the relationship between Shane and the wife Marian. Nothing is ever spoken or really overly shown but we all know that these two characters are really taken with each other. There is an attraction that is so deep between them but in this time and because of both Shane and Marian's loyalty to Marian's husband Joe, nothing will ever happen between the two. It's something that has nothing to do with the plot at all, but is all about the overall thematic of the piece. These are people who always do what's right for the big cause and that's family.
The acting in this film is top notch. Alan Ladd, who plays Shane, carries this piece. His ability to evoke pain, courage and fear all in one shot is remarkable. He's your typical drifter in movies, a man of few words. So he must tell it all in the way he moves and reacts to people. This is something many actors are just not capable of doing. It helps that he's working with Jean Arthur and Van Helfin, two classic actors playing the parents. Seeing great actors working together in a strong thematic piece is a lot of fun to watch.
Watch out for Jack Palance, who plays the #1 gunslinger trying to take the farmers down. His performance is true villian and this is someone who will never want to meet.
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