High Noon is a 1952 American Western film produced by Stanley Kramer from a screenplay by Carl Foreman, directed by Fred Zinnemann, and starring Gary Cooper.

Though mired in controversy at the time of its release due to its political themes, the film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won four (Actor, Editing, Score and Song)[3] as well as four Golden Globe Awards (Actor, Supporting Actress, Score, and Black and White Cinematography).

In Hadleyville, a small town in New Mexico Territory, Marshal Will Kane, newly married to Amy Fowler, prepares to retire.

For Amy, a devout Quaker and pacifist, the solution is simple—leave town before Miller arrives—but Kane's sense of duty and honor make him stay.

While waiting at the hotel for the train, Amy confronts Helen Ramírez, who was once Miller's lover, then Kane's, then Pell's.

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 a short story by John W. Cunningham entitled "The Tin Star".

[7] 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.

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.

[9] 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.

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.

[10] John Wayne was originally offered the lead role in the film, but refused it because he believed that Foreman's story was an obvious allegory against blacklisting, which he actively supported.

[12] 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 ...

[18][19] 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.

[24] Upon its release, critics and audiences expecting chases, fights, spectacular scenery, and other common Western film elements were dismayed to find them largely replaced by emotional and moralistic dialogue until the climactic final scenes.

David Bishop argued that had Quaker Amy not helped her husband by shooting a man in the back, such inaction would have pulled pacifism "toward apollonian decadence".

[27] Alfred Hitchcock thought Kelly's performance was "rather mousy" and lacking in animation; only in later films, he said, did she show her true star quality.

"[31][32] Ronald Reagan cited High Noon as his favorite film, due to the protagonist's strong commitment to duty and the law.

[33] By contrast, John Wayne told an interviewer that he considered High Noon "the most un-American thing I've ever seen in my whole life,"[34] and later teamed with director Howard Hawks to make Rio Bravo in response.

The website's consensus reads: "A classic of the Western genre that broke with many of the traditions at the time, High Noon endures -- in no small part thanks to Gary Cooper's defiant, Oscar-winning performance.

"[38] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 89 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

[58] For most of the film, Amy is the "Eastern-virgin archetype" but her reaction to the first gunshot "transcends the limitations of her genre role" as she returns to town and kills Pierce.

[59] The gang's actions indicate the implicit but very real threat they pose to women, as is suggested by the Mexican woman crossing herself when the first three ride into town.

The poster, which was displayed all over Poland, shows Cooper armed with a folded ballot saying "Wybory" (i.e., elections) in his right hand while the Solidarity logo is pinned to his vest above the sheriff's badge.

The message at the bottom of the poster reads: "W samo południe: 4 czerwca 1989", which translates to "High Noon: 4 June 1989."

[62]The 1981 science fiction film Outland, starring Sean Connery as a federal agent on an interplanetary mining outpost, has been compared to High Noon due to similarities in themes and plot.

Tony Soprano cites Gary Cooper's character as the archetype of what a man should be, mentally tough and stoic.