The recurring theme of heroic nobility and valor with a protagonist that could be described as a loner is quite common for the old westerns of John Ford and Anthony Mann. This isolated characterization could often be a reflective comparison to the wide expanse of the often un-chartered wild west itself. Lonely men in lonely towns with neighbors on homesteads miles apart. A comparison is surely there.

George Stevens (Giant) made a remarkable contribution to the western lore with his film 'Shane'. The screenplay was based on Jack Schaefer's successful 1949 book of the same name and the film received six Academy Awards nominations: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Brandon de Wilde), Best Supporting Actor (Jack Palance), Best Director, Best Screenplay (by A. B. Guthrie, Jr.), and Best Color Cinematography, and won its sole Oscar award for photographer Loyal Griggs. We seem abandoned in the late 1880s, settlers struggling for a new life and having each other as the only support mechanism. If it crumbles, we all crumble. The brilliance of the direction is it subtly detailing the story with minimal dialogue and like its protagonists preferring more to work within a certain unspoken code of behavior. The ending is uncompromising with the savior of the community becoming the outcast, and he rides off alone into the glorious mountains. Does valor require a decorated champion? or are the deeds themselves more expected than unique and hence the legend of such men seems to grow as the stories are told, often from young boys who become strong young men with real role models for their maturity. Justly considered one of the greatest westerns ever made.

Gary Tooze