High Noon

(Fred Zinneman, US 1952, 85 min., 35mm)

Always at the Dryden. One of the finest westerns ever produced, Zinneman’s taut film plays out in real time. Will Kane (Gary Cooper) has just been married and is on the verge of resigning his position as marshal when he is told that Frank Miller, whom he sent to prison five years earlier, has received a pardon and is arriving on the noon train. Kane considers fleeing, but realizes Miller will hunt him down, and he returns to face his responsibility. Kane appeals to the townspeople, but is turned away by everyone, leaving him alone to face the prisoner and his three outlaws.

Note start time.