High Noon (1952)

New High Noon 2-disc Ultimate Collector's Edition due out June 10th, 2008!
Lionsgate has announced a new DVD release of High Noon with new special features. There is what appears to be a reliable report, though unconfirmed, that it will include a new transfer of the film, restored by Paramount. The current and older DVDs are only of average video and audio quality.

The new features are these:

-- "Inside High Noon," a 50-minute documentary on the making of the film (see below for more on this)

-- "Tex Ritter: A Visit to Carthage, Texas," on the Tex Ritter Museum

-- the full performance of "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin'" from the Jimmy Dean TV Show

The features carried over from the current release are:

-- commentary with Gary Cooper's daughter Maria Cooper Janis, screenwriter Carl Foreman's son Jonathan Foreman, director Fred Zinneman's son Tim Zinnemann and Tex Ritter's son John Ritter

-- "The Making of High Noon" featurette

-- "Behind High Noon" featurette

-- radio broadcast with Tex Ritter

Whether the new features will warrant an upgrade is a matter of personal preference, of course. A 50-minute documentary could be quite interesting, if it's well done.

It does sound interesting. The "new" documentary, actually made a couple years ago but shelved until now, is by film and Gary Cooper expert John Mulholland. It's expected to cover, among other things, the conflict between Cooper and John Wayne over the participation of the blacklisted screenwriter Carl Foreman. Given that the film appears to be in part an allegory of the public's acquiescence in the Red Scare, this will have more than the usual gossipy behind-the-scenes relevance. It includes interviews with three of the children of the principles who participated in the DVD audio commentary: Cooper's daughter Maria, director Zinneman's son Tim, and Foreman's son Jonathan. There are also interviews with Grace Kelly's son Prince Albert of Monaco, Western and film historians Brian Garfield, Lee Clark Mitchell, Stephen Prince and Meir Ribalow, and High Noon fan President Bill Clinton. The narration is by actor Frank Langella.

Lack of agreement between Paramount and Lionsgate prevented the earlier release of a restored transfer and the documentary, in case you're wondering why this didn't come out before.

Anyway, a heads-up for those looking to get this great classic film on DVD. Amazon is taking orders for the new edition [[ASIN:B0016MLIKM here]].

(Amazon has a habit of removing or not even accepting outside links, but if you want to read more about this, some of the more interesting tidbits are from a discussion at hometheaterforum. Just do a web search for "high noon" plus "ultimate collector's edition" or "inside high noon" and such keywords to find the links--easy to find.)

High Noon Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly
This is an excellent film made in the 50's starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. This is the collector's edition which is in my opinion much more enjoyable because it goes behind the scenes> Gary Cooper's daughter is the host along with the Director's view. The film is very good quality black and white and the story line is excellent. The music "Do not forsake me Oh My Darling" is sung by Tex Ritter. Beautiful movie all the way.

High Noon Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly
This is an excellent film made in the 50's starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. This is the collector's edition which is in my opinion much more enjoyable because it goes behind the scenes> Gary Cooper's daughter is the host along with the Director's view. The film is very good quality black and white and the story line is excellent. The music "Do not forsake me Oh My Darling" is sung by Tex Ritter. Beautiful movie all the way.