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Shane (1953)

Rate: 10
Viewed: 7/05, 6/17

Shane
7/05: *whistles* Gosh Almighty, that is good!

I guess it's the appropriate reaction after seeing Shane. It's a beautiful film, winning only one Oscar, out of six nominations, for Best Cinematography. From Here to Eternity was the other winner but for the black-and-white category.

Alan Ladd is iconic as the eponymous hero: the man with a past. Brandon deWilde is special. Van Heflin, Jean Arthur, and Jack Palance all turn in terrific performances. The ending is an unforgettable classic and will never get old.

All in all, Shane is one of the greatest movies of all time.

6/17: Shane is an all-time Western classic.

Anytime I hear somebody's name is Shane, I think of the movie. There are a lot of themes at play, and the most important is community. Largely responsible for two classic scenes, Brandon deWilde's reaction of Shane's shooting skill and calling out after him at the end makes Joey the most important character. Without him, the movie won't be special. By the sight of Alan Ladd, it's immediately obvious that he plays an iconic character.

Hence, there's the second most important theme: hero. Shane and Joey's father are two different types of heroes. The former is what people are conditioned to see which focuses on the glamorous aspects while the latter is a real-life everyday person who has to live with the highs and lows of life.

After hearing and witnessing problems in the village, Shane could've said, "Ah, screw this. I'm leaving," but he chose to stay. It makes him a quiet hero, but Shane turns into a bigger one when he decides to fight the homesteaders' battles. It's when he took on the image of a mythical hero: the kind that Joey loves.

Joe is on the other side of the coin; he could've given up everything that he worked for and taken his family elsewhere. But he chose to stay even it was going to cost him his life. Joe is a hero: the one that Joey should be paying attention to. Eventually, he'll realize it, but at this particular time, he's too young to understand.

I want to clarify something else. Van Heflin, not Alan Ladd, is actually the leading actor. The movie is about his character and his family. Alan Ladd and Brandon deWilde are the supporting players, ready to lend Van Heflin a hand when needed. Another thing is that Shane can be thought of as a romantic picture. There are some critics who said Marian has unspoken feelings for Shane. Uhhhh...no, that's 100% wrong. It's the boy who has intense feelings for him. What Marian had with Shane is strictly platonic.

As for the Oscars, Van Heflin should've been nominated, but what a shock that Jack Palance was nominated for Best Supporting Actor instead of Alan Ladd. How the Academy snubbed him is a big mystery because it's impossible to overlook his instant contribution to the film. Jean Arthur got snubbed, too, having come out of retirement after five years to appear in the film as a favor to George Stevens. Then, she never came back to Hollywood for the rest of her life. As great as Jean Arthur looked, she was fifty years old and wore heavy makeup with a wig.

Jack Palance has like five minutes of screen time. Everybody is only gaga over him because they love how cool he moved and all that crap. Please. He's merely a plot device. By the way, the cast is interesting because of the presence of four film noir veterans: Van Heflin, Alan Ladd, Jack Palance, and Elisha Cook, Jr. How the last two got killed is a sight to behold in terms of how they were pulled back after being shot, along with the sound, which had a lasting influence on violence in future films.

According to IMDb: "Meticulous care was taken at all levels of production. All the physical props were true to the period, the buildings were built to the specifications of the time, and the clothing was completely authentic. Director George Stevens even had somewhat scrawny-looking cattle imported from other areas, as the local herds looked too well-fed and healthy."

All in all, thanks to Loyal Griggs' award-winning cinematography of Wyoming, Shane is a special picture.