Shane

This story is outstanding in so many ways. It is a classic battle of good and evil. It has its share of fist fights and shoot outs, but this film is more about principles than action. It exemplifies principles and values that unfortunately have become outdated in today's society such as, character, integrity, loyalty, pride in accomplishment, persistence and the willingness to fight for what is right. It is also an excellent human interest story and succeeds in getting the viewer to love the homesteaders and hate the ranchers.

George Stevens directed this film late in a notable career and does a splendid job. The locations were breathtaking, shot with majestic mountains in the background of almost every scene. The cinematography was stunning, and the color rich despite the fact that it was filmed almost 50 years ago.

The acting was superlative. Van Heflin wins us over almost immediately with his high minded principles and unshakeable character. He actually has far more lines than Ladd, who was more of an icon of strength than a vocal character. Jack Palance is the archetypal western villain and went on in his career to become the most prominent and enduring villain in movie history. His sneering arrogance and haughty gait made him the villain we loved to hate for decades.

Elisha Cook, as Stonewall Torrey, had a prolific career as a supporting actor, with over 150 appearances in film an TV that spanned almost 60 years. This is one of his best an most memorable roles as a fearless, proud and petulant former confederate that gets goaded into a gunfight with Jack Palance.

Brandon DeWilde as young Joey, gave a compelling performance. One of the best scenes in the movie was when he asked Shane to shoot at a small rock and Shane shot it 5 or 6 times and hit it every time. The wide eyed look of surprise was terrific. Though he went on to do about a dozen mostly minor films, he was never able to capitalize on his success in this role.

Finally, there is Alan Ladd. I've often heard criticisms of his performance of being too low key. I could not disagree more. His understated performance made him loom large as an imposing figure in the film. It created an almost godlike presence. This strong silent portrayal is very attractive adding humility to his many positive qualities. This unassuming style is also what made Gary Cooper so popular.

This film is on my top fifty list of all time. It is a magnum opus that the film industry can be proud of. It combines great filmmaking, direction and acting with a memorable and morally instructive story. This should be required viewing for any serious film buff. A perfect 10.


A Western Painting   July 10, 2005
Bobby Underwood (Bakersfield, California United States)
42 out of 44 found this review helpful

Alan Ladd starred in one of the most spare and beautiful westerns ever captured on film in George Stevens' portrait of a lonely gunfighter and the bond he forms with a family of homesteaders under seige out west. Jack Schaefer's very good western novella was lofted to greatness by Ladd's quiet performance as the gunfighter Shane, who gets a glimpse of the life he would have preferred rather than the hand he was dealt.

A story and film which sounds simple, and is often described as such, is really anything but, its complexity hidden by its scope and the subtle manner in which it is told. Shane is the mythic figure, riding in on the horizon and staying to help a family fend off a rancher trying to drive the farmers off their land. It is a story of changing times and complex relationships.

Shane forms a bond with farmer Van Heflin and becomes his friend because of his decency and acceptance of Shane, even though Shane's gun and his readiness to draw at the slightest sound reveals a past and a way of life Shane would like to live down. Shane knows he is on the way out as the west changes and it is ironic that he chooses to help the family trying to build a town and a community, the very things that will be his demise.

Brandon De Wilde is excellent as the young boy who needs a larger than life hero to look up to and finds him in Shane. As he and Shane form a bond, an inevitable confrontation between a deadly gunfighter hired to get rid of the homesteaders will force him to put on his gun and live up to everything the young boy feels in his heart for Shane.

Jean Arthur gives a wonderful and often overlooked performance as the wife who loves her husband and son dearly, but can not deny the feelings she has for Shane. There is a point in the film where she tells her husband to just hold her and not ask any questions; everyone who has been watching knows why she does this. It is a platonic love for Shane she would never act on but it is still there.

Heflin is also excellent as a solid man trying to hold the other farmers together even as a deadly gunfighter in black, symbolic of the good verses evil of the story, kills one of their own. He is no fool and senses the feelings between his wife and Shane, but knows that neither would ever betray him; Arthur because she loves him and Shane because it is not the kind of man he is.

Shane's feelings for Arthur are not the threatening kind, but more a loneliness when he looks at her, as she represents everything he wanted but knows he will never have because he is a gunfighter. He tells Arthur that a gun is just a tool like an axe or a shovel, no better or worse than the man who carries it. We know Shane is the good man, and Jack Palance the bad man, quick on the draw and evil, but no match for the soft spoken but deadly Shane.

The way the inevitable gunfight comes about and the way this film ends continues the larger than life myth of the American gunfighter. There is a nice score from Victor Young and good support from Edgar Buchanan as a farmer and Ben Johnson as a rancher who changes his spots, won over by the kind of man Shane shows himself to be.

Shane is not only one of the great westerns, but one of the best films of any genre. It is an artistic portrait of a gunfighter and the changing landscape of the American west, as general stores and churches began to replace the lawlessness that had been settled by a fast and accurate draw for so many years.

If you do not own Shane, your film library is incomplete. Every serious film buff has a spot for this masterpiece on their shelf somewhere. Make one on yours.


Great movie, poor documentary   April 25, 2001
29 out of 45 found this review helpful

Let me start by saying the movie alone is 5 stars in my book. Sure, a little corny, but aren't all Westerns?

Anyway, there are enough detailed reviews already here to give a good synopsis of the film itself. I am rating this as a DVD only, and sadly must give it only 3 stars.

The picture quality itself is excellent, and the settings and backdrops in this movie take full advantage of the DVD format. Sound is fine, but not spectacular. Where the DVD falls flat is in the "special features" portion. Unfortunately, George Stevens Jr. (The director's son) and Ivan Moffatt (I'm still not clear on exactly what his role was other than being a friend of George Stevens Sr.) present a rambling, ad-libbed summary that is often irritating in that their descriptions are frequently out of sync with the scene at hand. Ivan Moffatt, in particular, borders on the terrible. His heavy British accent is so thick it's disturbing, considering we're watching an American Western. And his comments are almost inane at times:

Shane: "A gun is a tool Marian, no better or worse than the man using it".

Moffatt comment: "Oh, the NRA would like that".

Marian: "We'd be better off if there were no guns left in this valley".

Moffatt comment: "They wouldn't like that".

Thanks Ivan, for interjecting your own personal (and totally irrelevant) liberal political beliefs in a film review.

More than that, Moffatt and Stevens Jr. are continually harping (almost nostalgically) about how when Stevens returned from the war he had a different view of violence and wanted to portray the dangerous image of the six-gun in the movie (apparently he was peeved at all the youngsters he found running around with cap-guns). So how does Stevens de-glamorize guns? By making them seem louder and more powerful than they really are! (In another ridiculous statement, Moffatt describes the scene where Torrey is pulled backwards by wires when he is shot by Wilson to show the "powerful effect a .45 has" on it's victim. While the technique used is interesting trivia, the common assertion that people are "pushed backwards" by bullets is false, as any ballistics expert will tell you. Alas, this technique has now been copied in dozens of other movies.

My point here is that if George Stevens intended Shane to be an "anti-gun" (or even "anti-violence") film, then I think he failed miserably. After all, even if little Joey is "too young to go loaded", all Joe Starret's problems are ultimately solved by fisticuffs or bullets. Lastly, by rambling on about Steven's pacifistic leanings, Stevens Jr. and Moffatt never really delve into the nuances of the love triangle, which is a major part of the movie.

This is a great film, and you really don't have to listen to the documentary piece anyway, but the "extras" on this DVD don't justify paying full price. If you must have the DVD, wait for a sale.


Superlative film   July 2, 2000
Candace Scott (Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA)
26 out of 27 found this review helpful

Many people believe "The Searchers" is the greatest western ever made, but for my money, "Shane" beats it, hands down. The cinematography here is breathtaking, with the Tetons looming majestically in the distance. Alan Ladd never looked or sounded better, and he plays the title role with an understated elegance that belies the inherent roughness of Shane's character.

Van Heflin gives his best performance as the long-suffering Joe Starrett and Jean Arthur has her best role since her Frank Capra films of the 1930's. She conveys just the right amount of sexual interest in Shane, combined with restraint and a genuine regard for her husband.

There is an abundance of memorable, brilliant scenes: "Tory is dead!" as they deliver "Stonewall's" body back to the settlement. All of Alan Ladd's scenes with little Joey are poignant and beautifully drawn. Of course, the final scene, with Joey shouting, "Shane (echo....) Mama wants you (echo...) I know she does" never fails to brings tears to the eyes, even after multiple viewings.

A genuine classic.


The Greatest Western Ever Made   August 12, 2001
Russell Fanelli (Longmeadow, MA USA)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful

Shane is, in my opinion, the greatest Western ever made. Alan Ladd was never better than as Shane, a gunfighter trying to escape from his past as a farm hand working for a beleaguered Van Hefflin, a homesteader who is trying to hold out against the cattlemen who want his land.

Ryker, the leading cattleman, hires Wilson, the gunfighter, who goads the homesteaders into a fight and then guns them down mercilessly. Jack Palance never was more effective or more menacing than as Wilson. Even the dogs knew to avoid him when he passed by. Two great scenes involve first, Elisha Cook, Jr., as a homesteader who is goaded into a showdown with Wilson, and then the final great showndown where Wilson must face Shane. We have been expecting this to happen and we are not disappointed by the confrontation between good and evil where Shane must reluctantly put on his six-shooter and return to being who and what he really is. From this action there is no turning back. It is a defining moment for Shane and a perfect climax for the film.

Everything about this movie is excellent. Each character is perfectly cast, the direction is lean and economical, the actors right on their mark, the story perfectly told, the scenery grand, and the message clear and undeniable. Fight for what you believe in and goodness will win out in the end. This is an America worth preserving. These values are worth saving. This story is worth being told again and again to each new generation of viewers who want to learn what it means to have strength of character and the determination to never, never give up.