Gary Cooper is great in this tightly-packed revenge western. Newly married to "Amy" (the sparingly used but effective Grace Kelly) he has decided to stop being the town marshal and live a more peaceful life. It's on that very day, however, that he discovers that the outlaw "Miller" (Ian MacDonald), whom he sent to jail years earlier has been released and is heading back on the noon train to settle some old scores. "Kane" initially concludes that discretion is the better side of valour and decides to skedaddle, but a change of heart sets up a potential conflict that he soon discovers his cowardly townsfolk have little stomach to support him through. Fred Zinnemann allows Cooper and the very effective Thomas Mitchell as the spineless mayor "Henderson" to work well in building up a toxic mix of double-standards and fear whilst always fuelling the anticipation of the inevitable duel that's got to happen at the denouement. Dimitri Tiomkin's score and the Carl Foreman adaptation of the original short story help to keep this taut, exciting and puts this up there amongst the best of the genre. A classic example of concise and engaging storytelling with a strong cast and a solid story.
