1952
The Idea of Genre
Before the film
Genre refers to “type” or “kind”. In the case of film studies it refers to a kind of film. Westerns, Horror, Science fiction, film noir are all kinds of genres. Genres may have sub-genres associated with them. For example some science fiction films are thought of as science science fiction while others are perhaps science fiction fiction. Horror films may have monster movies as a subdivision (maybe not – they may be their own genre) or perhaps “psychological horror films” would be a subdivision.
Some genres are VERY broad – Drama, comedy, melodrama seem more organized around the emotion they are geared to produce. The narrower genres are a bit more interesting in that the films have more in common with one another.
Generally speaking a genre has both form and content. There are things in the story line which allow us to classify a film into a specific genre and there are also some filmic conventions which do the same.
Film noir (often debated as to whether it constitutes a genre or not) is typified by stories in which a basically good man takes a wrong turn and meets up with a femme fatale who ultimately brings about his destruction. The films are often fatalistic.
Filmically, film noir is marked by high key lighting, frames within frames, mirrors showing duplicity, and bar like shadows which often fall across people’s faces. Noir often is filmed in a rather long flashback (Sunset Blvd., Double Indemnity which further adds to the feeling of fatality because the audience knows from the start where the film will end so there is no avoiding what is coming.
Westerns are perhaps a misnamed genre. Frontier films might be more appropriate. Westerns are generally set in a place where “civilization” is meeting the “wilderness” which needs to be tamed. Often a lone character appearing from nowhere and then vanishing again as the film ends is the major role. Shane is a classic version of this kind of film. Shane appears from nowhere, befriends a family settling the frontier. The are beset with problems from an “outlaw” group that Shane ultimately dispatches making the place safe for schools, churches and the other trappings of civilization., and then leaves.
All genres have some breadth – that is there is a good deal of variation in the kinds of films in the genre at any moment, and they also change dramatically over time.
Films may also fall across two or more genres: horror/comedy (Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein) western/musical (Red Garters)
In addition, they also all have “set pieces” or specific kinds of scenes that people come to see when they know what the genre is. Westerns often have a “show down” on the streets, horror films have something scary, sci fi films usually have technological bits to them. If the scenes with these set pieces in them fail, the film is generally a failure. If the monster fails to scare us, or the gun fight doesn’t look right then problems develop.
Set pieces are often high moments in the film. The gathering of the men (for good or evil) and the march down the empty streets of the gun fight are typical set pieces in Westerns. Photographically Westerns also have “wide open spaces” and/or scenes which indicate the isolation of the place where law and order have not yet come or are at best unreliable and unstable.
After the film
This film clearly fits the Western pattern although there are already some quirky changes happening. WHAT? The town has law and order but only marginally. While in the westerns where law and order is “coming”, it is generally considered a good thing to civilize the place, but in this film it is questionable whether or not the town deserves the law. They seem willing to back down and let the lawlessness return.
This leads to a conflict between WHAT? The individual and society as a whole. Westerns tended to be politically right wing in that they are individualistic and argue for the individual to take action rather than wait for society to come to the rescue. Left wing films generally see this approach as vigilantism. HOW does this film resolve the issue? It makes the hero a lawman and shows the town is unwilling to take action to help him. Hence his individual action is not vigilantism. HOW are the townspeople depicted? Badly, self interested no thought about the community (a kind of anti-right statement).
What is the role of deputy Marshall Harvey Pell (Lloyd Bridges)?
What does the film say about “pacifism”?
How are the two women Amy Fowler Kane (Grace Kelly) and Helen Ramirez (Kathy Jurado) like or unlike the two men (Marshall (Gary Cooper) and Harvey Pell (Lloyd Bridges)?
Filmically:
How does the film open? What do we see? Gathering of the bad guys to meet the train.
Main theme – right from the title “High Noon” is time Film begins with men looking at watches, clocks are everywhere. The film’s running time is the length of time the action in the film takes. There are no flash forwards or backwards. When they discuss what Frank miller said before he was taken away, the shot shows the empty chair where he sat.
Music: Western style music in the title song, the melody of which occurs throughout the film. Gives western flavor and turns the story into a ballad giving it some feeling of “Americana” (having become a folk tune).
Framing: Isolation on streets as gun fight approaches. Initial shots after wedding crowd surrounds wagon. What happens at the end?
Frequently person joining the group is seen between members of the group, hence the person is surrounded or framed by the members
As film appraches gun fight, camera shows things that were important up to this point - chair Frank Miller sat in etc. Evil coming by train. Many shots of straight train strack disappearing into the distance.
The film was seen as "un-American" by some. Why would that be?