Shane (film)

Plot

In 1889, a quiet gunfighter with an unknown past rides into a remote Wyoming valley. He takes work as a farmhand for Joe Starrett, a struggling rancher living with his wife Marian and their son Joey. Starrett tells him that a wealthy cattleman named Rufus Ryker is using hired thugs to bully homesteaders off land they legally own. The drifter, Shane, goes to town alone and orders a soda for Joey at a saloon where Ryker’s men hang out.

One of them, Chris Calloway, throws a drink on Shane, but Shane does not react. Later, when Shane returns with the Starretts and other settlers, he beats Calloway in a fight, and he and Starrett win a brawl against most of Ryker’s crew. Ryker then brings in Jack Wilson, a cold-blooded gunfighter. Joey looks up to Shane after seeing him shoot.

Wilson provokes a hotheaded ex-Confederate settler named Frank Torrey into drawing his gun, then kills him. At Torrey’s funeral, the settlers talk about giving up, but after Ryker’s men burn a homestead, they decide to stay. Ryker sets a trap for Starrett, inviting him to the saloon under the pretense of talks. Calloway, now against Ryker, warns Shane.

To protect Starrett, Shane knocks him out and rides to town, with Joey following on foot. Shane guns down Wilson, Ryker, and Ryker’s brother, but is wounded. Outside, he says goodbye to Joey and rides away, ignoring the boy’s calls to come back.

Production

Shane was expensive for a Western at the time, costing $3.1 million. It was the first film projected in a "flat" widescreen 1.66:1 ratio, a format Paramount invented to offer a wider panorama than television. The basic plot elements derived from the 1892 Johnson County War in Wyoming. The physical setting is the high plains near Jackson, Wyoming, with many shots featuring the Grand Teton massif.

The fictional town and Starrett homestead were constructed near Kelly in the Jackson Hole valley and demolished after filming. One vintage structure, the Ernie Wright Cabin (now called the "Shane Cabin"), still stands but is deteriorating. Alan Ladd disliked guns; Shane's shooting demonstration for Joey required 116 takes, and a careful review shows Ladd firing with his eyes closed. In the saloon battle, Ladd's pistol is pointed well away from the man he shoots.

Jack Palance was nervous around horses and had great difficulty mounting and dismounting; after many attempts, he executed a flawless dismount, which Stevens used for all of Wilson's dismounts and, run in reverse, his mounts. Palance looked so awkward on horseback that Stevens replaced Wilson's introductory ride into town astride a galloping horse with Palance riding at walking pace, which Stevens later noted made the entrance more dramatic. The final scene, where the wounded Shane explains to Joey why he must leave, was moving for the cast and crew except Brandon deWilde, who crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue, making Ladd laugh until Ladd threatened him.

Reception

Shane premiered in New York City at Radio City Music Hall on April 23, 1953, grossing $114,000 in its four weeks there. The film earned about $9 million in theater rentals from the United States and Canada, translating to about $20 million in actual box-office receipts.

Bosley Crowther called the film a "rich and dramatic mobile painting of the American frontier" and noted that the concept and presence of Joey provided a refreshing viewpoint. Woody Allen called Shane "George Stevens' masterpiece" on his 2001 list of great American films. On Rotten Tomatoes, Shane has a 97% critical approval rating based on 39 reviews.

Legacy

The 1966 TV series Shane starring David Carradine was directly based on the film. The 1980 Japanese film A Distant Cry from Spring features a similar plot. The 1971 Indian film Door Ka Raahi was also based and adapted from this film, directed by Kishore Kumar, who was heavily influenced by it. In 1981, British singer Kim Wilde released the song "Shane" as the B-side to her single "Chequered Love", with lyrics dealing with impressions of the movie.

The 1982 Italian comic book Ken Parker 53 - I Pionieri draws inspiration from the movie, reimagining the story with Ken Parker as a lone hero. The 1983 Japanese TV movie "The Duel in the Forbidden Territory" has a similar plot and dialogue, with additions involving gold nuggets and a father's past with a ninja criminal gang. The 1984 song by Roger Waters, "The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking", includes the lyric "Do you remember Shane?" and features interspersed audio from the film.

The 1985 song by Haustor, "Šejn", is named after the film. The 1987 postapocalyptic movie Steel Dawn closely follows the plot of Shane. In his 1997 album Arizona Bay, Bill Hicks parodies Jack Palance's role in Shane. In the 1998 film The Negotiator, the two leading characters discuss Shane, arguing about the ending.

Shane was the first film comedian Billy Crystal saw in theaters, described in his autobiography 700 Sundays. In the 2013 Hallmark series Signed, Sealed, Delivered, "Shane, come back" was referenced. The 2017 film Logan features characters watching scenes from the film, with lines directly quoted.