High Noon Trivia Quiz

Answer: Gary Cooper

Cooper won his second Best Actor Oscar for playing Will Kane. His first was for "Sergeant York" (1942). Cooper began acting in the silent era, but became a major star in the 1930s. His iconic roles include Longfellow Deeds in "Mister Deeds Goes to Town" (1936), Lou Gehrig in "The Pride of the Yankees" (1941) and Professor Bertram Potts in "Ball of Fire" (1941).
While John Wayne often played western lawmen, he hated "High Noon" (1952), and would never have accepted the role as written. Wayne even teamed with Howard Hawks to make "Rio Bravo" (1959) as a response to "High Noon". Ironically, it was Wayne who accepted the Oscar on Cooper's behalf at the awards ceremony.
The Fondas do have some connection to "High Noon". In 1966, a young Peter Fonda would play Will Kane, Junior in "High Noon: The Clock Strikes Noon Again".
Peck was offered the role, but turned it down. He later described that as one of the biggest regrets of his career, even though Peck thought Cooper did a better job than he would have.

Answer: Frank Miller

Frank Miller was sent to prison for murder by Will Kane. He was pardoned based on a technicality and is returning to seek vengeance. Miller was played by Ian MacDonald, a character actor who frequently portrayed bad guys. Miller is joined by his brother Ben, Jack Colby and Jim Pierce. Although that's Mister Miller or Mister Colby if you aren't carrying a gun.
There is a real life Frank Miller who is a graphic novelist, as are Moore, Corben and Byrne.

Answer: Lee Van Cleef

Lee Van Cliff started his film career playing Jack Colby, a member of the Miller gang. He is the first person seen in the film. Van Cleef has no spoken lines, but is a menacing presence. Van Cleef's angular face and fierce gaze often got him cast as villains, and he appeared in many westerns in the 1950s and 1960s.

He is probably best known for his work in the Leone spaghetti westerns "For a Few Dollars More" (1965) and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1966). Van Cleef continued acting until his death in 1989. Eli Wallach's film debut was in the 1956 Elia Kazan film "Baby Doll". Clint Eastwood had his first screen role in a schlocky 3-D science fiction film, "Revenge of the Creature" (1955).

Answer: Hadleyville

The film takes place in Hadleyville, New Mexico territory. The 37-star flag indicates the story takes place sometime between 1867 and 1877. It is a small town, with an active church and citizens who are afraid to stand up to armed killers. Much of "High Noon" was shot at Columbia State Historic Park, which contains many old buildings from the Gold Rush era.

There is a real Hadleyville in the United States. It is located in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin. Shinbone is the setting for "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962). Wolf City, Wyoming is the setting for "Cat Ballou" (1965). Lordsburg, a real city is New Mexico, is a key location in "Stagecoach" (1939).

Answer: Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin'

Diomitri Tiomkin won an Academy Award for writing "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin'" as well as for the musical score of "High Noon". He was the first musical composer to win both awards in the same year.
Tiomkin wrote all the songs mentioned. "Wild is the Wind" (1957) and "The High and the Mighty" (1954) were the themes of the films of the same name, and "Strange are the Ways of Love" is the theme from "The Young Land" (1959). He was nominated for the Academy Award for all of them.
Tiomkin was one the most successful film composers of all time. He was a favorite of Frank Capra, writing the scores to "Mr Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), "Meet John Doe" (1941) and "It's A Wonderful Life" (1947). He wrote the scores to over 100 films over the course of 35 years.

Answer: Quaker

Amy is a Quaker. Both her father and brother were killed during the Civil War, and it led her to embrace non-violence. At the start of the film, Will has resigned as marshall, because being a sheriff in the old west requires at least some amount of violence. He is planning to become a shopkeeper. Amy's religious beliefs are tested at the end of the film during the shoot-out.

Answer: Helen

Helen Ramirez was the former lover of both Frank Miller and Will Kane, and at the start of the film was in a relationship with Deputy Harvey Pell. Helen is busy leaving Hadleyville as the film unfolds; she sells her business, and is on the train out of town. Helen Ramirez was played by Katy Jurado (1924-2002), born Maria Christina Jurado Garcia.

She began acting in Mexico in 1943; "High Noon" was her first big Hollywood film. She won a Golden Globe for her performance, the first Latina actress to win one. Jurado won several Silver Ariel awards, the Mexican equivalent of an Oscar, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Answer: Amy Kane

Amy is behind Pierce and shoots him in the back. As a Quaker, Amy has sworn to practice non-violence, but she kills Pierce to protect her husband. Shortly afterwards, Frank Miller grabs Amy and holds her at gunpoint. They struggle and Amy is able to break free, and Will Kane kills Miller.
Pierce was played by Robert J. Wilke, a veteran character actor who often played villains, and frequently appeared in western series such as "Gunsmoke" and "Bonanza".

Answer: His badge

Kane tosses his badge on the ground, in contempt of the town that refused to stand up for what is right. He then rides off with Amy without saying a word.
"High Noon" is seen as an analogy for the McCarthy era, when all too few people stood up against the bullying of McCarthy and his blacklisting tactics. The screenplay was written by Carl Foreman, who was a victim of blacklisting. Foreman was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, and when he refused to name names, he was forced into exile in Europe.
Gary Cooper, while a conservative Republican, was not a supporter of blacklisting, and even helped Lloyd Bridges (who was on the "Gray" list) get the job of Harvey.
John Wayne, who was an active supporter of HUAC and blacklisting, frequently spoke of his dislike of "High Noon" and even made "Rio Bravo" (1959) as a rebuttal.

Answer: The events take place in real time.

"High Noon" tells the story in real-time. There are frequent shots of clocks, to emphasize the impeding arrival of danger. Fred Zinnemann uses the clock to great effect to create a sense of tension throughout the film. The story takes place between 10:35 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. Since the film is only 85 minutes, there is some time compression, but most of the story is told in real time.
The script is brilliant in its sparse, yet insightful dialogue. Zinnemann's direction is also outstanding. He frequent uses tight close-ups of Cooper to emphasize Kane's isolation from the rest of the community.
Reverse order storytelling has been used in Christopher Nolan's "Memento" (2000) and parts of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (2004). Having a dead protagonist has been used in several films, most notably "Sunset Boulevard" (1950) and "The Sixth Sense" (1999). The using of multiple narrators, often with conflicting stories, is a common theme; the gold standard for such stories is "Rashomon" (1950) by legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa.