Shane

1953
Approved
1h 58m

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

45K

YOUR RATING

Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Brandon De Wilde, Van Heflin, Jack Palance, and Ben Johnson in Shane (1953)

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99+ Photos

Classical Western Drama Western

An ex-gunfighter defends homesteaders in 1889 Wyoming.An ex-gunfighter defends homesteaders in 1889 Wyoming.An ex-gunfighter defends homesteaders in 1889 Wyoming.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

45K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 6 wins & 12 nominations total

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Principal photography had been completed in October, 1951, but the amount of coverage shot by George Stevens resulted in such an extremely protracted editing process that the film wasn't released until August, 1953. All this drove up the costs of what should have been a simple, straightforward Western; in fact, they spiraled so much that Paramount approached Howard Hughes about taking on the property, but he declined. He changed his mind when he saw a rough cut and offered to buy the film on the spot. This made Paramount rethink its strategy--originally it was going to release it as a "B" picture but then decided it should be one of the studio's flagship films of the year. This proved to be a good decision, as the film was a major success and easily recouped its inflated budget.

Goofs
At the beginning, when Shane rides a horse down the hill, Teton Pass Highway is visible in the background.

Quotes
Shane: I gotta be going on.
Joey: Why, Shane?
Shane: A man has to be what he is, Joey. Can't break the mould. I tried it and it didn't work for me.
Joey: We want you, Shane.
Shane: Joey, there's no living with... with a killing. There's no going back from one. Right or wrong, it's a brand. A brand sticks. There's no going back. Now you run on home to your mother, and tell her... tell her everything's all right. And there aren't any more guns in the valley.
Joey: Shane...
[Joey notices that Shane is wounded]
Joey: It's bloody! You're hurt!
Shane: [Shane starts to stroke Joey's hair] I'm all right, Joey. You go home to your mother and father and grow up to be strong and straight. And, Joey... take care of them, both of them.
Joey: Yes, Shane.
[Shane rides off]

Crazy credits
Introducing Brandon De Wilde

Alternate versions
The film was shot in Academy Ratio (1.33:1 or 4:3), but this was done around the time widescreen filmmaking was coming around. As such, many theatres cropped the film into a widescreen ratio to take advantage of this, with many DVDs being cropped as well. The 2013 Blu-ray Disc release is in the proper Academy Ratio.

Connections
Edited into Go West, Young Man! (2003)

Soundtracks
Abide With Me
(uncredited)
Music by William H. Monk (1861)
Hymn by Henry F. Lyte (1847)
Played on piano and sung by many at a meeting
Also played and sung at a funeral

Considered by most a masterpiece and by a few 'a waste of film', 1953's SHANE is a mini-epic that tells of the arrival of the mysterious stranger who comes to 'town' and impresses the innocent and threatens the guilty. A good versus evil western was never been more defined. Alan Ladd plays the stranger in an outfit that has been criticized since day-one. He wears a buckskin shirt ala Davy Crockett and if I heard it once, I heard it a thousand times, "that shirt ain't right"! Well, 'pards, I ask you, "Have you ever heard of "Buckskin Frank Leslie?" Just happens to be one of the baddest-ass real life western gunslingers who ever strapped on a gun-rig. Why they haven't made westerns about Leslie I will never know. Doc Holliday, known for reckless bravery, knew enough to stay out of Frank's way. And P.S. he was known for his 'patented' Buckskin Shirt. But I digress...

Shane was directed by George Stevens who admittedly directs with a strictness that borders on fascism. And yet he pulls it off with aplomb. Ladd's character is criticized as well, because he is played by Ladd himself, an actor that is an easy target for certain critics. There's the old joke about Ladd standing in a hole (outside of camera view) to match the heights of his leading ladies, or by standing on a ramp or box so their heights in close-ups would be matched for love scenes. Is this the 'stuff' of western heroes? Not hardly. So here we have "little Alan" taking on one of the most vicious actors that ever played 'Satan Incarnate', the incomparable Jack Palance! Jack's 'Lucifer' is a messenger from hell hired by the bad'uns to save them all from Ladd's goodness. Jack wakes up shortly after arriving in town to assassinate another little man, Elisha Cook Jr., in a scene which was completely and shamelessly ripped off by Eastwood in 'Pale Rider'. The death is completely believable and establishes Palance's character as unstoppable.

The characters in Shane are cut from a woodcarving, they glisten with familiar yet surprising motivations. Ben Johnson, the Sainted actor of westerns plays a very small part that almost steals the film. The bad guys in this film are a textbook rendition of meaness.

But some say that the action is subdued in Shane. But I say the build-up is worth the wait as the final climatic shoot-out has been described by many western film scholars as the best that was ever put to film.

Shane a waste of film? I think not.