Rent Shane (1953)
3.7 of 5 from 140 ratings
1h 53min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Alan Ladd plays the titular gunslinger, the archetypal "man alone" who wanders into town and shortly afterward becomes embroiled in a conflict between a group of Wyoming homesteaders and the nefarious cattle baron who has designs to wrest away their land. As the conflict escalates, and a romance develops between Shane and homesteader Marian Starrett (Jean Arthur, in her last screen role), a who's-who of studio system character talent revolves through the production - Van Heflin, Jack Palance, Elisha Cook, Jr. - before one of cinema's most famous, unforgettable endings.
- Actors:
- 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, Paul McVey, John Miller, Edith Evanson, Leonard Strong, Ray Spiker, Janice Carroll, Martin Mason, Helen Brown
- Directors:
- George Stevens
- Producers:
- George Stevens
- Voiced By:
- George Stevens
- Writers:
- A.B. Guthrie Jr., Jack Sher
- Others:
- Loyal Griggs, A. B. Guthrie Jr.
- Studio:
- Paramount
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Classics, Romance
- Collections:
- 21 Reasons to Love, 21 Reasons to Love..Modern Westerns, Award Winners, Getting to Know..., Getting to Know: Clint Eastwood, The Biggest Oscar Snubs: Part 1, The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to: Mel Brooks, Top 100 AFI Movies, Top Films
- Awards:
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 06/06/2016
- Run Time:
- 118 minutes
- Languages:
- English LPCM Mono, English LPCM Stereo
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Mixed
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Uncompressed mono and stereo soundtracks
- Audio commentary by George Stevens, Jr. and associate producer Ivan Moffat
- Video interview with film scholar Neil Sinyard
- Complete Lux Radio Theater adaptation of Shane
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Disc 1:
- This disc includes:
- Main feature in the 1:33 presentation - Disc 2:
- This disc includes:
- Main feature in 1:66 original theatrical presentation
- Main feature in 1:66 framing optimised for this ratio
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Reviews (2) of Shane
Classic movie - Shane review by KL
Old and no nonsense - what refreshing change.
The tale has been told in so many ways, but it seems this movie was the first.
I'd strangle the kid myself, but the relationship between the star and each of the family members suggests so much without needing to be obvious.
Ideas about violence, intimidation, resistance.. all for the seeing.
4 out of 5 members found this review helpful.
Classic Western. - Shane review by Steve
Crowd-pleasing, sentimental western which draws on the range wars between settlers and cowboys in 1890s Wyoming. This one takes the side of the farmers who are stampeded and burned out of their homes by the cattle barons whose demand that the plains remain open is backed up by intimidation, guns and a lot of muscle.
Van Heflin plays the most resolute of the farmers, a family man who can't operate a firearm but won't back down. He is supported by Shane (Alan Ladd), a mysterious, impassive drifter who might be a gunman seeking to bury his bloody past. When the cattle boss drafts in a cold eyed assassin- Jack Palance as a kind of proto-Terminator- maybe Shane will strap on his pistols one last time...
The main weakness is an astonishingly irritating performance by Brandon De Wilde as Heflin's impressionable 12 year old who hero-worships Shane. But, without him, this would be just another range war western. It's the way the stranger ingratiates his way into the the family, including the wife (a rather elderly Jean Arthur) that sets the film apart.
Maybe Ladd lacks stature, but his role remains one of the most potent in fifties cinema. It's Heflin who physically dominates the frame. But Shane is the quintessence of the western's most enduring archetype; the wandering gunfighter who can never escape his past, so must go on searching the valleys of the old west for an elusive peace.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.