Shane

Composite Score: 85.67

Starring: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon De Wilde, Jack Palance, Ben Johnson, Edgar Buchanan, Emile Meyer, Elisha Cook Jr., Douglas Spencer, John Dierkes, Ellen Corby, and Paul McVey

Director: George Stevens

Writers: A.B. Guthrie Jr. and Jack Sher

Genres: Drama, Western, Action

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Box Office: $9.00 million worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                Shane is the film adaptation of Jack Schaefer’s novel of the same name about a drifting gunslinger who finds himself caught up in the conflict between homesteaders and open-range ranchers as he seeks to leave his violent past behind. The film stars Alana Ladd as the titular gunslinger, supported by Jean Arthur and Van Heflin as the homesteaders who take him on as a laborer, Brandon De Wilde as their son Joey who is enamored of Shane and his almost fantastical aura, Jack Palance as the hired gun and villain Jack Wilson, and Emile Meyer as the leader of the ranchers, Rufus Ryker. The film received Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor for both De Wilde and Palance, and a win for Best Color Cinematography. It stands the test of time as one of the most iconic westerns ever made, holding up well in its exploration of the nature of violence and interpersonal relationships.

Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?

                Shane is for Boomer and older Gen X dads as Saving Private Ryan or Gladiator are for younger Gen X and older Millennial dads. It’s easy to turn on AMC or TCM when this is on and feel like you’re watching a “man” movie that has some emotional payoff in the final act and that has enough slow moments in the middle that you can doze off and not feel like you’ve missed something huge. Here’s the deal, that’s not a knock on any of these films. It just means that, typically, it’s going to be the male audience who prefers this type of film. It’s not that there’s not universal truths being shared in the films; it's just that the truths are being communicated through predominantly male casts and male experiences, so it’s very feasible that a female audience watching this (or a lot of other “dad” films) won’t find a whole lot to latch onto. The nice thing is that there’s still enough action to keep any audience engaged even if they’re not necessarily resonating with the characters or the themes as much.

So wait, why should you Watch This Film?

                Where Shane shines, though, is in those thematic explorations of violence and its impact on individuals and communities. While it does contain it’s fair share of violent clashes, there’s never a moment in the film where it feels like the violence is happening solely for its own sake or as something to be celebrated. It always comes as a last resort for our heroes. For Shane, the Starrett homestead is an opportunity to get away from his violent past and perhaps start anew as a man of peace and hard work. Unfortunately, the homesteaders themselves are under constant threat of potential violence from Ryker’s ranchers, which is itself a form of violence, though passive in its execution. Finally, growing tired of this constant threat, Shane, Joe Starrett, and some of the other homesteaders are drawn into increasingly violent clashes with the ranchers, starting with a fistfight at the local saloon and ending with Shane’s lone showdown with the Rykers and Wilson. For some, these violent clashes serve as learning and growing experiences, putting them off of it entirely. For others, the consequences are far more dire, resulting in multiple instances of death. Through it all, we see the perspective of the Starrett’s young son, Joey, who just about worships the ground that Shane walks on. He is at first enamored of the violence, viewing through the fantastical lens that so many young boys view westerns and other tales of the past (knights, pirates, etc.) through. By the end, having seen so much of it firsthand, he realizes that it's not the gunslinging or fist-fighting that draws him in but the personas of the characters that he invents in his head, especially Shane, which is showcased in the iconic closing scene of the film where Shane imparts some final wisdom before the close of the film.

                Shane stands out among classic westerns as a film that explores the direct impact of violence, never celebrating it as something great, even when it results in frontier justice being brought to the most villainous of characters, which makes it unquestionable as one of the Greatest Films of All Time. It’s characters and content might cater more toward a predominantly male audience, but that doesn’t mean that the film is entirely without merit, and, honestly, society on the whole would benefit if more men would take the message of violence’s inevitable destruction of those who perpetrate it to heart. You can currently stream this film on Hoopla if that’s a service offered by your local library, or it can be rented on most other streaming services for those looking to check it out.