Directed by Fred Zinnemann and produced by the great Stanley Kramer, High Noon is an unassailable classic of the Western genre. Set in real time, so that the time that passes on screen is very nearly equal to the running time of the film, its story of a man that refuses to betray his own sense of self even when facing impossible odds captures a central quality of the mythology of the American frontier.

 On the day he gets married and hangs up his badge to move away to become a storekeeper, lawman Will Kane (Gary Cooper) is told that a man he sent to prison years before, Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald), has been pardoned due to a technicality and is due back on the noon train. Three of Miller's old gang (Lee Van Cleef, Robert Wilke, Sheb Wooley) are waiting at the station to pick him up, then exact their revenge of Kane. Guests at the wedding, including the mayor (Thomas Mitchell), the judge (Otto Kruger), and the old former marshal (Lon Chaney, Jr.) all urge Kane to get out of town while he can. Having initially decided to leave with his new spouse Amy (Grace Kelly), somewhere on the open road Will decides that he has to return to Hadleyville to settle the score himself. His great sense of duty won't let him allow others to risk their lives over something that he feels is his responsibility. But what he finds on his return is not what he expects. The judge left town, his deputy Harvey Pell (Lloyd Bridges) refuses to help unless he is given the job Kane's vacated. The boys at the bar are Miller's friends, and cynically welcome a fight. The old marshal is crippled with arthritis and unable to wield a gun. Various cowards and other citizens dodge responsibility, and when Kane appeals for deputies at the local church his constituency dissolves into a chorus of blame passing and recriminations. The pastor uses his pulpit to deflect the outrage back against Kane, and discourage anyone from helping him. It seems Kane may have to face Miller alone, as well as the rest of Miller's gang, who are waiting for him at the station.

 High Noon won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Gary Cooper), Best Film Editing (Elmo Williams and Harry W. Gerstad), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Dimitri Tiomkin), and Best Music, Song (Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington for "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin'", sung by Tex Ritter). It was nominated for Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Writing, Screenplay. Its loss in the Best Picture category to The Greatest Show on Earth, by Cecil B. DeMille, which is usually seen as one of the biggest upsets (and one of the worst choices) in the history of the Academy Awards. Mexican actress Katy Jurado won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress, as did Gary Cooper for Best Actor, and Floyd D. Crosby for Best B/W Cinematography. High Noon is selected to The National Film Registry. The film is #33 on American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Movies, and #2 on its Top Ten Westerns.