AFI Top 100: #45
The western genre doesn't get any more classic than this and I am honestly surprised that director George Stevens and a cast full of performers I did not entirely recognize could be the ones to bring this experience to me. Shane is an excellent western film that truly embodies what the genre brings to the table compared to other films of this era and I think it does a fantastic job of just that. While I was never completely sold on the story in regards to my emotions or care for the characters, there is so much to love about this film and it never ceases to be a solid watch, regardless if one enjoys films of this variety or not. The technicals throughout this film are what really hold it together too, as the cinematography and production design carries this movie better than so many others I have ever seen. It is quite obvious why this film made it on the AFI's Top 100 list and I can plainly see why it has become one of the most influential westerns of all time.
Retired gunslinger Shane (Alan Ladd) arrives at a small homestead headed by Joe Starrett (Van Heflin) and is hired to be a helping hand as he hopes to settle down. As he begins to become part of the family along with Joe's wife Marian (Jean Arthur) and son Joey (Brandon De Wilde), a local group of beef ranchers led by Rufus Ryker (Emile Meyer) start to cause trouble and Shane is brought into their conflict of who rightfully owns the land. A.B. Guthrie Jr.'s script, adapted from the novel by Jack Schaefer, was absolutely solid and this film honestly contains some of the most western elements I have ever seen. From the main, gunslinging hero to the black-and-white conflict of good vs. evil, Shane really contains everything that fans of this genre come to expect. The titular character of Shane is such an interesting one for Stevens and Guthrie Jr. to revolve this film around and he became my almost immediate point of interest. Choosing him as the "main" character was a bit strange as this film mostly focuses on the Starrett family but I loved how these filmmakers framed Shane as the catalyst for change. It is important that Shane showed to help the town for the better but without the previously established backstory or lore, it was just a bit hard to believe the credibility of how plot-progressive Shane could actually be. While often predictable, Stevens' direction and the path that he follows to tell this story are also very generic. There was nothing wrong with the way that he tells this film but it could have honestly been directed by anyone and I would not have known the difference. Compared to one of his previous films Swing Time, so many comparisons can be made about the hero's journey, and even in just examining these two films, the similar style can be seen. Stevens might not have a distinguishable aesthetic to his films but he proves his competency in handling a story better than most. All these storytelling elements diverge to make a great western and while the story itself never fully engrossed me due to its lack of lore, it was a simple enough watch to keep me quite entertained.
While the writing and direction itself felt a bit mundane throughout the course of this whole film, the technical pieces are really what opened my eyes to this story's beauty. The cinematography by Loyal Griggs, in particular, as his use of the camera is absolutely phenomenal. He builds this film in a visual storytelling sense better than any of the other crew members possibly could and I was constantly enthralled by seeing how this film played out; not just in its writing but with how he could originally and creatively shoot this tale. The sweeping shots of this stretch of land where the story took place were stunning and I genuinely felt like I was there within every shot. That might seem a bit cliché, given that the camera is typically the most important creative part of a film, but Shane embodies this like no other color film of this time. Every crisp mountain point and every grimy foot of dirt was expressed beautifully to create such a picture-perfect western environment. Along with the camerawork, the editing by William Hornbeck and Tom McAdoo was fantastic and worked with the camera to really show off this world. Their choices of cuts were fantastic and definitely built some of the best tension in this genre I have ever seen: especially in that of the action sequences. Just like many westerns that became popular in America at this time, the set design and costuming were incredibly important and those departments did not let down either. They were incredible and this really felt like a true western in every sense of the word. The small-scale sets of Starrett's house and the accompanying town actually felt huge and the way that Griggs moves his camera around these settings was unlike anything I have seen before. They helped to give this film such an individual and personal look that not only gives it some character but makes its audience care for its characters even more. Although the writing and direction left a little bit originality to be desired, there is so much beauty and inspiration to be found in the amazing technical work throughout this film.
I very much enjoyed Shane more than I probably should have and all of its pieces come together in a simple but very effective way. Stevens' direction and the restrained performance from Ladd are only a few of the things I loved so much about this movie but they all really come together to make an exceptional little story. If it weren't for the gorgeous cinematography and breathtaking production design, I honestly don't think that this film would have been as good as it was but thankfully, they did nothing but enhance the world around this story. I would definitely recommend this movie and I am glad that this film was a genuinely enjoyable experience.
My Rating: ★★★½
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