dual personalities

Well, for anyone who was wondering, the OM and I watched Shane (1953) the other night for our anniversary and we were reminded, once again, what a really great movie it is.

Readers of this blog know how much I love John Ford westerns, how I think some of them are truly works of art, and that John Wayne is my favorite actor of all time. However, Shane, directed by George Stevens and starring the unlikely Alan Ladd, is my favorite western and, probably in the last analysis, my favorite movie.

Based on a novel by Jack Schaefer, the screenplay is by the great A.B. Guthrie. Everything is not black-and-white in this story. The good guys (the homesteaders) are sometimes weak and whining. The bad guys (the ranchers) make some strong arguments and are understandably frustrated. Into this mess rides Shane, the reluctant gunslinger, who is hired by Joe Starrett to help on his homestead. Shane likes Starrett and wants to help him, but his presence shifts the balance, and the ranchers bring in their own equalizer, the gunfighter Wilson.

One hot-headed homesteader is killed and the other homesteaders want to run.

Shane rallies the homesteaders; the inarticulate but stalwart Starrett says he’ll take care of things. (My son thinks Starrett is the real hero of the film–the hardworking father and husband who is willing to die so his family can have a better life.) But Shane, even though he has fallen in love with Starrett’s wife, can’t let his friend get himself killed, so he goes into town himself to take care of Wilson.

It is a simple story beautifully told with minimal dialogue. The characters are so authentic in their ill-fitting, wrinkled clothes and muddy boots. The children, especially Brandon de Wilde, are real in ways seldom caught on film.

The pacing and balance of this film are near perfect with homey moments of family life on the frontier interspersed with moments of jangling violence. Indeed, the editing of this film is some of the best ever in film history. It is sharp and crisp and drives the action.Think of the barroom brawl where Starrett and Shane fight together against the cowboys with the timid homesteaders watching, and then later when they fight each other in the yard with the horses and cattle going nuts and Marian screaming and Joey wide-eyed. And yet nothing is overdone.

Prior to Shane, George Stevens was a good director, but here he rises to a whole other level. He never patronizes the homesteaders (or his audience) with any aw-shucks scenes. Their feelings are real and raw. The funeral scene is a good example: the quietly sobbing wife, the distracted children, the heartbroken dog, the harmonica-playing friend, and Starrett standing in for a minister, because they have no one else. And Stevens pulled a truly great performance out of B-team player Alan Ladd, who surprised everyone with his portrayal of the lonely gunfighter who tries to seize one last chance at a “normal” life, but sacrifices himself for the greater good. Ladd was not particularly good at expressing feelings (as I have mentioned before) and in Shane he is all about repressed feelings. It works.  All the actors in this movie are excellent and believable in their parts.

Shane won the Oscar for Best Color Cinematography (Loyal Griggs) and the award was well-deserved. How beautiful is this movie!

Well, I guess I got a  little carried away, but I will stop here and just recommend that you watch this movie. I saw Woody Allen interviewed once where he was talking about Shane and how it is one of his favorite movies. He has probably seen it 100 times, he said, and no matter where he is, if the movie comes on tv, he will stop and watch the whole thing through.  I can relate. No matter how many times you see Shane, you see something new.

Anyway, the rest of my weekend was pretty quiet. The wee babes came over for dinner on Sunday night. They rearranged the furniture as usual.

I can’t wait until they are old enough to watch Shane!