In 1993, the film was selected for preservation in the United States' National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Shane, a laconic but skilled gunfighter with a mysterious past,[6] rides into an isolated valley in the sparsely settled Wyoming Territory in 1889. A drifter, he is hired as a farmhand by hardscrabble rancher Joe Starrett, who is homesteading with his wife, Marian, and their young son, Joey. Starrett tells Shane that a war of intimidation is being waged on the valley's settlers. Though they have claimed their land legally under the Homestead Acts, a ruthless cattle baron, Rufus Ryker, has hired various rogues and henchmen to harass them and force them out of the valley.
Shane goes to town alone to buy supplies at Grafton's, a general store with an adjacent saloon. Shane enters the saloon, where Ryker's men are drinking, and orders a soda pop for Joey. Chris Calloway, one of Ryker's men, ridicules and taunts Shane by throwing his drink on him, but Shane ignores him and leaves. On Shane's next trip to town with the Starretts and other homesteaders, he defeats Calloway, and then he and Starrett win a bar room brawl against most of Ryker's other men. Ryker promises the next fight will be with guns. Ryker hires Jack Wilson, an unscrupulous and notoriously skilled gunfighter. Joey admires Shane, much to his mother's chagrin, after Shane demonstrates his shooting skills.
Frank "Stonewall" Torrey, a hot-tempered ex-Confederate homesteader, is taunted and forced to draw his gun by Wilson, who then shoots Torrey dead outside the saloon. At Torrey's funeral, the settlers discuss abandoning their struggle and leaving the valley, but after witnessing one of their homesteads being destroyed in a fire set by Ryker's men, they find new resolve to continue the fight. Ryker concludes Starrett is primarily responsible for their resolve.
With the purpose of killing him, Ryker invites Starrett to a meeting at the saloon, ostensibly to negotiate a settlement. Calloway, no longer loyal to Ryker, warns Shane of the double cross. Resolved to protect Starrett from an ambush, Shane intervenes, even knocking Starrett unconscious to save him. Shane rides to town with Joey following on foot to watch the fight. Shane kills Wilson, Ryker, and Ryker's brother, but is injured. Outside, Shane sees Joey, who notices that Shane is bleeding. In an iconic closing scene, Shane bids farewell and rides out of the valley, ignoring Joey's desperate cries of "Shane! Come back!"
Shane was expensive for a Western movie at the time with a cost of $3.1million.[10] It was the first film to be projected in "flat" widescreen, a format that Paramount invented to offer audiences a wider panorama than television could provide.[11]
Although never explicitly stated, the basic plot elements of Shane were derived from the 1892 Johnson County War in Wyoming, the archetypal cattlemen/homesteaders conflict, which also served as the background for The Virginian and Heaven's Gate.[12] The physical setting is the high plains near Jackson, Wyoming, and many shots feature the Grand Tetonmassif looming in the near distance. The fictional town and Starrett homestead were constructed for the film near Kelly, in the Jackson Hole valley, and demolished after filming was completed. One vintage structure that appeared briefly in the film, the Ernie Wright Cabin (now popularly referred to by locals as the "Shane Cabin") still stands, but is steadily deteriorating due to its classification as "ruins" by the National Park Service.[13]
Ladd disliked and was uncomfortable with guns; Shane's shooting demonstration for Joey required 116 takes.[14] A careful review of Shane's gun-skill demonstration to Joey shows Alan Ladd firing with his eyes closed. Later, in the saloon battle, Ladd's pistol is pointed well away from the man he shoots, especially the final scene- where he kills Ryker's brother. Palance was nervous around horses, and had great difficulty with mounting and dismounting. After very many attempts, he finally executed a flawless dismount, which Stevens then used for all of the Wilson character's dismounts and—run in reverse—his mounts as well. Palance looked so awkward on horseback that Stevens was forced to replace Wilson's introductory ride into town astride his galloping horse with Palance riding at walking pace.[15] Stevens later noted that the change actually made Wilson's entrance more dramatic and menacing.[16]
The final scene, in which the wounded Shane explains to a distraught Joey why he has to leave ("There's no living with a killing"), was a moving moment for the entire cast and crew, except Brandon deWilde. "Every time Ladd spoke his lines of farewell, deWilde crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue, making Ladd laugh. Finally, Ladd called to the boy's father, 'Make the kid stop or I'll beat him over the head.' DeWilde behaved."[15]
Casting
Alan Ladd as Shane
Director George Stevens originally wanted Montgomery Clift and William Holden for the Shane and Starrett roles; when both proved unavailable, Stevens asked Paramount executive Y. Frank Freeman for a list of available actors with current contracts; within three minutes, he chose Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, and Jean Arthur. Shane was Arthur's first cinematic role in five years, and her last, at the age of 50, though she later appeared in theater, and a short-lived television series. She accepted the part at the request of Stevens, who had directed her in The Talk of the Town (1942) with Cary Grant and Ronald Colman, and The More the Merrier (1943) for which she received her only Oscar nomination.[17]
When asked if he enjoyed the movie, the author of Shane, Jack Schaefer, replied, “Yeah, I did, all except for that runt", referring to the five-foot-six-inch (168cm) Ladd.[18] In 1989, Schaefer told the Oberlin alumni magazine that his Shane character was supposed to be a “dark, deadly person" whom he had hoped would be played by George Raft.[19]
Technical details
Although the film was shot using the standard 1.37:1 Academy ratio, Paramount picked Shane to debut their new wide-screen system because it was composed largely of long and medium shots that would not be compromised by cropping the image. Using a newly cut aperture plate in the movie projector, and a wider-angle lens, the film was exhibited in first-run venues at an aspect ratio of 1.66:1. For its premier, the studio replaced the 34-by-25-foot screen in Radio City Music Hall with one measuring 50 feet wide by 30 feet high.[20][21] Paramount produced all of its subsequent films at that ratio until 1954, when they switched to 1.85:1.[11]Shane was originally released in April 1953 with a conventional optical soundtrack, but as its popularity grew, a new three-track, stereophonic soundtrack was recorded and played on an interlocking 35mm magnetic reel in the projection booth.[22]
Stevens wanted to demonstrate to audiences "the horrors of violence". To emphasize the terrible power of gunshots, he created a cannon-like sound effect by firing a large-caliber weapon into a garbage can. In addition, he had the two principal shooting victims—Palance and Elisha Cook Jr.—rigged with hidden wires that jerked them violently backward when shot. These innovations, according to film historian Jay Hyams, marked the beginning of graphic violence in Western movies. He quotes Sam Peckinpah: "When Jack Palance shot Elisha Cook Jr. in Shane, things started to change."[12]
Reception
"That's just what I need – to get advice from a guy who never saw Shane."
Shane premiered in New York City at Radio City Music Hall on April 23, 1953,[21] and grossed $114,000 in its four weeks there.[23] In all, the film earned about $9 million in theater rentals from the United States and Canada.[3] By one estimate, that translates into about $20 million in actual box-office receipts.[24]
Bosley Crowther called the film a "rich and dramatic mobile painting of the American frontier". He continued:
Shane contains something more than the beauty and the grandeur of the mountains and plains, drenched by the brilliant Western sunshine and the violent, torrential, black-browed rains. It contains a tremendous comprehension of the bitterness and passion of the feuds that existed between the new homesteaders and the cattlemen on the open range. It contains a disturbing revelation of the savagery that prevailed in the hearts of the old gunfighters, who were simply legal killers under the frontier code. And it also contains a very wonderful understanding of the spirit of a little boy amid all the tensions and excitements and adventures of a frontier home.
Crowther called "the concept and the presence" of Joey, the little boy played by Brandon deWilde, "key to permit[ting] a refreshing viewpoint on material that's not exactly new. For it's this youngster's frank enthusiasms and naive reactions that are made the solvent of all the crashing drama in A. B. Guthrie Jr.'s script."[25]
In 1981, British singer Kim Wilde released the song "Shane" as the B-side to her single "Chequered Love". The lyrics, written by Wilde's brother Ricky and her father Marty, deal with the impressions of the movie[29]
The 1984 song by Roger Waters, "The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking", includes the lyric "Do you remember Shane?" and the recording features interspersed audio from the film.
The 1985 song by Haustor, "Šejn" from their album "Bolero" is named after the film.[30]
The 1987 postapocalyptic movie, Steel Dawn, closely follows the plot of Shane, according to Walter Goodman of The New York Times.[31]
In his 1997 album Arizona Bay, Bill Hicks parodies Jack Palance's role in Shane with track 8, "Bullies of the World", likening an unspecified "we", the arms-producing countries, to Jack Wilson taunting the farmer to "pick up the gun".
In the 1998 action thriller film The Negotiator, the two leading characters have a discussion about Western genre films, Shane in particular. Arguing about the ending, Chris Sabian says Shane died, and Danny Roman says "he's slumped 'cause he's shot. Slumped don't mean dead."[32]
In the 2013 Hallmark series Signed, Sealed, Delivered, "Shane, come back", was referenced.
The 2017 superhero film Logan drew substantial thematic inspiration from Shane, and formally acknowledged the influence with a series of specific dialog references and scene clips. Shane's farewell words to Joey are recited, verbatim, in the closing scene.[33]
In 2006, Shane was the subject of litigation in Japan involving its copyright status in that country. Two Japanese companies began selling budget-priced copies of Shane in 2003, based on a Japanese copyright law that at the time protected cinematographic works for 50 years from the year of their release. After the Japanese legislature amended the law in 2004 to extend the duration of motion picture copyrights from 50 to 70 years, Paramount and its Japanese distributor filed suit against the two companies. A Japanese court ruled that the amendment was not retroactive, so any film released during or prior to 1953 remained in the public domain in Japan.[35]
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. The plot, which occurs in real time, centers on a town marshal whose sense of duty is tested when he must decide to either face a gang of killers alone, or leave town with his new wife.
Unforgiven is a 1992 American Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood. It stars Eastwood himself, as William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job, years after he had turned to farming. The film co-stars Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, and Richard Harris and was written by David Webb Peoples.
George Cooper Stevens was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer. He received two Academy Awards and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1953.
Alan Walbridge Ladd was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake in films noir, such as This Gun for Hire (1942), The Glass Key (1942), and The Blue Dahlia (1946). Whispering Smith (1948) was his first Western and color film, and Shane (1953) was noted for its contributions to the genre. Ladd also appeared in ten films with William Bendix.
Andre Brandon deWilde was an American theater, film, and television actor. Born into a theatrical family in Brooklyn, he debuted on Broadway at the age of seven and became a national phenomenon by the time he completed his 492 performances for The Member of the Wedding. He won a Donaldson Award for his performance, becoming the youngest actor to win one, and starred in the subsequent film adaptation for which he won a Golden Globe Award.
Walter Jack Palance was an American screen and stage actor, known to film audiences for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, all for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, for his roles in Sudden Fear (1952) and Shane (1953), and winning almost 40 years later for City Slickers (1991).
Calamity Jane is a 1953 American Technicolor Western musical film starring Doris Day and Howard Keel, and directed by David Butler. The musical numbers were staged and directed by Jack Donohue, who a year later would direct the Day musical Lucky Me (1954). The film is loosely based on the life of Wild West heroine Calamity Jane and explores an alleged romance between her and Wild Bill Hickok.
The revisionist Western is a sub-genre of the Western film. Called a post-classical variation of the traditional Western, the revisionist subverts the myth and romance of the traditional by means of character development and realism to present a less simplistic view of life in the "Old West". While the traditional Western always embodies a clear boundary between good and evil, the revisionist Western does not.
El Dorado is a 1966 American Western film directed and produced by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. Written by Leigh Brackett and loosely based on the novel The Stars in Their Courses by Harry Brown, the film is about a gunfighter who comes to the aid of an old friend who is a drunken sheriff struggling to defend a rancher and his family against another rancher trying to steal their water. The supporting cast features James Caan, Charlene Holt, Paul Fix, Arthur Hunnicutt, Michele Carey, R. G. Armstrong, Ed Asner, Christopher George, Adam Roarke and Jim Davis.
Bradford Dillman was an American actor and author.
Jack Warner Schaefer was an American writer known for his Westerns. His best-known works are the 1949 novel Shane, considered the greatest western novel by the Western Writers of America, and the 1964 children's book Stubby Pringle's Christmas.
The Shootist is a 1976 American Western film directed by Don Siegel and based on Glendon Swarthout's 1975 novel of the same name, and written by Miles Hood Swarthout and Scott Hale. The film stars John Wayne in his last film appearance before his death in 1979, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, James Stewart, Richard Boone, John Carradine, Scatman Crothers, Richard Lenz, Harry Morgan, Sheree North and Hugh O'Brian.
The Gunfighter is a 1950 American Western film directed by Henry King and starring Gregory Peck, Helen Westcott, Millard Mitchell and Karl Malden. It was written by screenwriters William Bowers and William Sellers, with an uncredited rewrite by writer and producer Nunnally Johnson, from a story by Bowers, Roger Corman, and screenwriter and director Andre de Toth. The film was the second of King's six collaborations with Peck.
Shane is an American Western television series which aired on ABC in 1966. It was based on the 1949 book of the same name by Jack Schaefer and the 1953 classic film starring Alan Ladd. David Carradine portrayed the titular character in the television series, a former gunfighter and sometimes outlaw who takes a job as a hired hand at the ranch of a widowed woman, her son, and her father-in-law.
Shane is a western novel by Jack Schaefer published in 1949. It was initially published in 1946 in three parts in Argosy magazine, and originally titled Rider from Nowhere. The novel has been printed in seventy or more editions, and translated into over 30 languages, and was adapted into the 1953 film starring Alan Ladd.
Warwick Films was a film company founded by film producers Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli in London in 1951. The name was taken from the Warwick Hotel in New York where Broccoli and his wife were staying at the time of the final negotiations for the company's creation. Their films were released by Columbia Pictures.
The Big Land is a 1957 American Western film in Warnercolor directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Alan Ladd, Virginia Mayo and Edmond O'Brien.
Yellow Dust is a 1936 American Western film directed by Wallace Fox from a screenplay by Cyril Hume, John Twist, and John Francis Larkin. The film stars Richard Dix and Leila Hyams, with a supporting cast including Moroni Olsen, Jessie Ralph, Andy Clyde, and Onslow Stevens. RKO Radio Pictures premiered the film in New York City on February 22, 1936, with a nationwide release on March 13.
People Will Talk is a 1935 American comedy film directed by Alfred Santell and written by Herbert Fields. The film stars Charlie Ruggles, Mary Boland, Leila Hyams, Dean Jagger, Ruthelma Stevens, and Cecil Cunningham. The film was released on May 24, 1935, by Paramount Pictures.
The Lonely Man is a 1957 American Western film directed by Henry Levin and written by Harry Essex and Robert Smith. The film stars Jack Palance, Anthony Perkins, Elaine Aiken, Neville Brand, Robert Middleton, Elisha Cook, Jr., Claude Akins and Lee Van Cleef. The film was released on June 21, 1957, by Paramount Pictures.
van Heerden, Bill (1998). Film and Television In-Jokes: Nearly 2,000 Intentional References, Parodies, Allusions, Personal Touches, Cameos, Spoofs and Homages (Paperbacked.). McFarland & Company. p.162. ISBN978-1476612065. Cliff Robertson appears as the villain Shame (a takeoff on Alan Ladd's western hero, Shane, 1953)
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