FILM SUMMARY

High Noon opens with the marriage of Will Kane (Gary Cooper) and Amy Foster (Grace Kelly). Kane has been serving as marshal of Hadleyville, but following the ceremony, he officially relinquishes his badge, as he and Amy plan to move to another town where Kane will tend a store rather than carry a gun. As they prepare to leave, however, word comes that Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald) has been paroled and is scheduled to arrive on the noon train; Miller's old gang is already waiting at the station. When he was convicted, Miller had sworn to return and kill Kane, who had arrested him. Kane's instinct is to postpone his departure and stay to protect the town, since the man who is to replace him as marshal is not scheduled to arrive until the next day, but his friends convince him to make use of the little more than an hour he has before the train arrives and follow through with his plans.

The newlyweds hit the road, but they don't get far before Kane reconsiders and turns around over Amy's protestations. Back in town, Kane explains the situation to Amy as he reassumes his badge, intending to recruit special deputies to help him in the anticipated showdown with Miller. Amy pleads with him to avoid the confrontation, but although he recognizes the religious grounding of her opposition to violence, he remains resolute – even when she offers him the ultimatum that if he won't leave with her, she'll be on the next train without him. As she takes her leave, Kane encounters Judge Percy Mettrick (Otto Kruger), who sentenced Miller, and who is now packing to leave town, advising Kane to do the same. Just then, Kane's regular deputy Harvey “Harv” Pell (Lloyd Bridges) appears and tries to manipulate Kane into backing him as the new marshal; when Kane refuses, believing he isn't ready for the job, Harv accuses him of speaking against his petition for the position to the city fathers out of jealousy over his relationship with Kane's ex, Helen Ramírez (Katy Jurado) and turns in his badge.