Shane Review

Shane

Release Date: 2nd October 1953 - Australia

Production Companies

Paramount Pictures

Distribution
Paramount Pictures Australia

Genre: Western

Rating: G

Runtime: 118 minutes

Budget: $3,100,000

Box Office Gross: $20,000,000 (USA)

Plot Summary

A mysterious gunslinger
named Shane enters a small

Wyoming town where he
hopes to settle down as a
farmhand by taking a job on
homesteader Joe Starrett's
farm. All the while, Shane is
drawn into a conflict between
the townsfolk and ruthless
cattle baron Rufus Ryker.
His growing interest in
Starrett's wife, Marian, and
his affection for her son,
Joey, who idolises Shane,
makes Shane realise that he
must thwart Ryker's plan.

Cast

Alan Ladd - Shane

Jean Arthur - Marian Starrett

Van Heflin - Joe Starrett

Brandon deWilde - Joey
Starrett

Emile Meyer - Rufus Ryker

Jack Palance - Jack Wilson

Ben Johnson - Chris
Calloway

Edgar Buchanan - Fred
Lewis

Elisha Cook Jr. - Stonewall
Torrey

Douglas Spencer - Axel
'Swede' Shipstead

John Dierkes - Morgan Ryker

Ellen Corby - Mrs. Liz Torrey

Paul McVey - Sam Grafton

John Miller - Will Atkey -
Bartender

Edith Evanson - Mrs. Shipstead

Leonard Strong - Ernie Wright

Ray Spiker - Axel Johnson -
Homesteader

Janice Carroll - Susan Lewis

Martin Mason - Ed Howells

Helen Brown - Martha Lewis

Nancy Kulp - Mrs. Howells

Alana Ladd - Little Girl (Uncredited)

David Ladd - Little Boy (Uncredited)

Crew

Producer/Director - George Stevens

Based on the Novel - Jack Schaefer 

Screenplay - A.B. Guthrie Jr.

Additional Dialogue - Jack Sher

Associate Producer - Ivan Moffat

Art Directors - Hal Pereria and Walter H. Tyler

Set Decorator - Emile Kuri

Costumes - Edith Head

Makeup Supervisor - Wally Westmore

Director of Photography - Loyal Griggs

Production Assistant - George Stevens Jr. (Uncredited)

Special Photographic Effects - Gordon Jennings

Editors - William Hornbeck and Tom McAdoo

Sound Recordists - Gene Garvin

and Harry Lindgren

Music Score - Victor Young

Awards

1953 Academy Awards

Best Cinematography, Color - Loyal Griggs (Won)

-----------------------

Best Picture - George Stevens (Nominated)

Best Supporting Actor - Brandon deWilde (Nominated)

Best Supporting Actor - Jack Palance (Nominated)

Best Director - George Stevens (Nominated)

Best Screenplay - A.B. Guthrie Jr. (Nominated)

Review

One of the great Western classics of the 20th century, SHANE, was the byproduct of old-fashioned Hollywood. It was a commendable effort from the cast and crew, including its director, the late George Stevens. He has worked around the clock to produce a film that showcased the American frontier. Most importantly, it influenced movies in later years, such as the non-Western flick Logan, and is referenced numerous times in pop culture. SHANE's ending is a moment of ambiguity, and it could rival every scene from other classic westerns, the likes of which don't come off in the same mood of closing as SHANE did.

Alan Ladd gave a well-deserved performance as the strong titular protagonist. Jean Arthur was lovely in her last role as the gorgeous Marian. Jack Palance displays menace and arrogance in his star-making role as the notorious hitman Jack Wilson. Brandon DeWilde was a child star when he gave his outstanding performance of the hero-worshipping young son who wishes to be a heroic gunslinger like Shane when he grows up. Although DeWilde had a dozen mostly minor film roles after SHANE, his career was cut short by his untimely death in a fatal car crash at age 30.

I have nothing more to say about the other qualities that made SHANE great. I consider this film a great classic and one enjoyed by all ages. Even modern viewers unfamiliar with this feature will appreciate it, as their parents and grandparents have once seen the film and fondly remember it in their younger years.

Star rating: (8/10) Very Good Movie

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