Shane (1953) - film review

Joe Starrett, his wife Marian and their little boy Joey are one of a number of families who intend to settle in the Wyoming valley.  Life is made difficult for them by a cattle baron, Rufus Ryker, who believes he has a prior claim on the land and plans to drive the homesteaders away through intimidation tactics.  One day, a lone horse rider turns up at the Starretts’ farm and, having nowhere particular to go to, he decides to stay and work as a farmhand.  The boy Joey develops a fascination for the stranger, Shane, and begins to idolise him, mainly on account of his skill with a gun.  Tensions between the ranchers and the homesteaders intensify when the notorious gunslinger Jack Wilson shows up and allies himself with Ryker...

Film director Sam Peckinpah has described Shane as the greatest of all westerns.  Whilst not everyone may share this opinion, George Stevens’ adaptation of Jack Schaefer’s popular 1949 novel set in stone much of the iconography of the classic western and also laid the groundwork for the modern western.  The film’s timeless appeal comes from its raw lyrical quality and the fact that it deals with universal themes, such as society’s need for role models, the tyranny of those who pursue profit to the exclusion of all else, and man’s eternal struggle against his nomad instinct.  Unlike many westerns of its era, Shane has a modernity in both its look and its subject matter that continues to make it relevant, more than half a century after it was made

George Stevens used this film to reflect his own traumatic experiences of combat in WWII.  In contrast to virtually all previous westerns, Shane shows what a gun can do in real life, fell a man with a single bullet.  Audiences were shocked by the film’s realistic gunfire acoustics, since earlier films had tended to mute the sound of gun shots to a fraction of what would be heard in reality.  Similarly, the fight sequences have an unprecedented violence, with none of the slightly comical playfulness that is apparent in the early westerns.  Shane was one of the first films of its genre to show violence as something that was both ugly and painful, not something to be treated lightly or emulated in the playground.

Stevens’ first choice for the role of Shane was Montgomery Clift, whilst William Holden and Katharine Hepburn were slated for the parts of Joe and Marian Starrett.   When Clift and Holden pulled out, Stevens was persuaded by Paramount to make use of their contract players, Alan Ladd and Van Heflin, neither of whom was a  big star at the time.  The part of Marian went to Jean Arthur, even though she was 50 (much older than the two male leads) and hadn’t worked for five years; this would be her last film role.  

Alan Ladd was not the obvious choice for the part of Shane.  Barely five foot six, overly conscious about his limited acting skill and prone to bouts of chronic depression, Ladd had had difficulty finding the roles that would have made him a star.  George Stevens knew instinctively he was perfect for the part of the taciturn lone gunman and was proved right.  Ladd’s quiet brooding presence haunts the film and lends it a subtle tragic quality that perhaps came from the actor’s own tormented existence.  This is the performance that made Alan Ladd a Hollywood A-lister and earned him enduring stardom, although this success would not expel his inner demons nor give him the fulfilment and self-esteem he so desperately sought.

Although Shane is unquestionably Alan Ladd’s film (in spite of the fact that he has next to no dialogue in it), there are equally commendable performances from Ladd’s co-stars and the well-chosen supporting artists.  As the amiable Starrett, Van Heflin makes an effective contrast with Ladd’s laconic anti-hero, personifying the qualities that Shane inwardly yearns for but knows he can never have.  Jack Palance has a sinister presence as Wilson, the sharpshooting angel of death, which makes the later scenes in the film particularly bleak and tense.  The film’s darker tones are alternately softened and amplified by Jean Arthur’s humane portrayal of an ordinary woman who finds it hard to cope with the male inclination for self-destruction.  As the little boy through whose eyes much of the drama is seen, Brandon De Wilde has a captivating screen allure, convincingly conveying a child’s need for hero worship.

Shane is one of the few westerns in which the location - the high plains near Jackson Hole, Wyoming - is apparent in virtually every exterior shot.  Through Loyal Griggs’ stunning photography, the Teton Range provides an impressive backdrop to the story, emphasising the smallness and vulnerability of the settlers as they continue to fight for their little patch of Wyoming paradise.  The interiors are also shot with great style, the Rembrandt-like chiaroscuro helping to sustain the solemn mood as the tension between the ranchers and the homesteaders intensifies.

It is hard to believe that a film which has acquired an almost mythic status was once thought to be an expensive flop by the studio that bankrolled it.  Paramount were so concerned that Shane would not recoup its cost that they tried to sell it, unsuccessfully, to Howard Hughes.  As it turned out, the film was a box office hit, bolstering the reputation not only of its star, Alan Ladd, but also that of its producer-director, George Stevens, who was emboldened to make an even bigger western, Giant (1956).   The film was pretty well overlooked at the Oscars, however.  Although it was nominated in six categories, the only award it received was for Griggs’ cinematography.  Alan Ladd was not even honoured with a nomination, since Paramount refused to lobby on his behalf when he chose to end his contract with them and work for Warner Brothers.  

Shane remains one of the all-time classics, not just of the western genre, but of Hollywood filmmaking at its best.  It is a film that is not only a beautifully constructed piece of cinema art but also a stirring morality tale that offers many allegorical readings.  It can be interpreted as an assault on the excesses of capitalism, a warning of the dangers of exposing youngsters to violence, or simply an exhortation to help our fellow man where we can.  Perhaps the main charm of this film is its moral and narrative ambiguity.  Shane is a film that allows us to make up our own mind and read into it what we will.  This could explain why it has stood the test of time so well and remains such a potent piece of cinema.  Maybe Peckinpah was right after all.

© James Travers 2010

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