FILM 1195: HIGH NOON
TRIVIA: Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly had an affair
that lasted for the duration of filming.
Its loss in the Best Picture
category to the much-derided The Greatest
Show on Earth (1952), by Cecil B.
DeMille, is usually cited as one of the biggest upsets in the
history of the Academy Awards. This loss is often seen as an effort to satisfy
Senator Joseph McCarthy, as
DeMille was one of his biggest supporters.
Director Fred Zinnemann said that
the black smoke billowing from the train is a sign that the brakes were
failing. He and the cameraman didn't know it at the time, and barely got out of
the way. The camera tripod snagged itself on the track and fell over, smashing
the camera, but the film survived and is in the movie.
This film was intended as an
allegory in Hollywood for the failure of Hollywood people to stand up to the
House Un-American Activities Committee during the Sen. Joseph McCarthy
Red-baiting era.
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