There are multiple scenes I want to talk about in High Noon. I’m starting from 37:04 going to about 45 minutes. And all these scenes I will talk about revolve around the people of the town not wanting to join Marshal Will Kane in stopping Frank Miller and his gang from taking hold of the town.The first scene is when Will Kane walks into the saloon and asks the men inside to join him and become deputies, but no one is willing to do so. One man explains that Will had 6 of the toughest men as deputies, but now he only has two and that no one else is as tough as them. Then Kane goes to see an old colleague of his (I’m assuming they used to work together) and he hides from Kane. Then Kane goes to the local church and asks for help from the people there. There is a bit of a dispute why they should or shouldn’t help but they decide to not help. Across all these three instances, every single person acknowledges Frank Miller’s presence and is fearful about it, but they do not do anything about it. They fear the retaliation of Frank Miller and his violent tendencies and turn a blind eye, similar to how Soviet Spies were treated during the Cold War. Those working as spies in the government turned a blind eye whenever someone disappeared, and it is this fear that kept people working for the Soviet Union. The fear instilled in both the townsfolk and spies kept them reluctant from helping. And this ties to how the film expresses sympathy for those oppressed by the totalitarianism in Communism with Frank Miller, the oppressor, and the townsfolk, the oppressed.
This is very different from Rio Bravo and its view on communism as a threat. I want to compare how the townsfolk respond to Joe Burdette’s capture and what some do to profit off of it. At about the 40 minute mark, Dude and Sheriff Chance chase down a man who shot someone who was on patrol to a saloon. They enter the saloon and are immediately suspicious of the men inside. Just then, Dude spots the shooter and kills him on the spot. It is revealed that he was paid to kill the sheriff and those working with him to free Joe. But Chance goes on and finds out that it is not only him, but everyone else in that saloon is a gun for hire. Very different from how the townsfolk in High Noon respond to the situation. In Rio Bravo, they are willing to turn against the law and righteousness, similar to how communism and communist spies were viewed during the Cold War. This film responds to communism and its totalitarianism by villainizing it as an ideology and villainizing those who join. During the Cold War and especially during the Hiss Case, calling someone a communist was a huge accusation and one with a negative connotation. So I see this film as adding to this negative connotation.
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