"Shane" (1953)

"Shane" (1953) - Intro

Written by: Josh Lansky

TCM's "The Essentials"

Intro:

Hi everybody, and welcome to Turner Classic Movies. I’m your host, Keith Carradine. This month we’re taking a closer look at Westerns and tonight, some of the best barroom brawls. Barroom Brawls are a staple of westerns but a proper barroom brawl is much more than haymakers and fisacuffs. It is complete and utter chaos wherein furniture is destroyed, glass is broken, and popular weapons of choice include chairs, bottles, and the maniac swinging from the chandelier. Patrons may have been chatting peacefully before but pretty soon everyone is entangled in the chaotic bout. Up next we’ll see a film that features a famous barroom brawl, from 1955, it’s the legendary: “Shane.” When “Shane” was released to theaters in 1955, it received critical acclaim and was a box office success. Quite the surprise for Paramount. The studio had little faith in the picture. “Shane” had been shooting behind schedule and running over budget. To Paramount, it had already been deemed a flop, unworthy of the hefty expenditure it required. Luckily, it paid off. “Shane” went on to be the third highest grossing film of 1953 and, to this day, is thought by many to be the greatest western of all time. “Shane” was an adaptation of the Jack Schaefer novel (also entitled “Shane”) which had been adapted from his series of short stories entitled “Rider to Nowhere,” (published in the popular pulp magazine “Argosy”). The story focuses on the mysterious gunslinger ‘Shane’ (played by Alan Ladd) who arrives “from nowhere” and enters an isolated valley in the partially settled state of Wyoming. Tension between homesteaders and cattlemen is already running high and the newcomer’s presence only further exacerbates the problem. Then…all out war breaks loose. Shane won an Oscar at the 1954 Academy Awards and was nominated for five additional Oscars including: ‘Best Picture,’ ‘Best Director,’ ‘Best Cinematography,’ ‘Best Screenplay,’ and two ‘Best Supporting Actor’ nominations. From director George Stevens featuring Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, and Brandon De Wilde, Here’s: “Shane.”

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“Shane” (1953) - Outro

Written by: Josh Lansky

TCM's "The Essentials"

Outro:

Following WWII the appetite for moviegoers changed and matured. A new demand for realism in literature and film changed how studios casted their films. Mature preferences or not, when Paramount casted Alan Ladd as ‘Shane’ it was thought of as an especially peculiar casting. Paramount had already lost faith in the actor, and to that point, Ladd was by no means a typical Hollywood leading Man. He was shorter than most leading men at 5’6, he was tranquil and relaxed, serene and calm, and as a result remained on the fringes of Hollywood for much of his career. But Ladd’s career took a turn for the best after meeting (and eventually marrying) Sue Carol. Carol was an actress turned agent who believed in Ladd and fought for him to land the roles she believed he deserved. Good insight and a job well done by Carol, as they New York Times later noted, “Ladd’s role in “Shane” is generally regarded as one of the best performances ever given in a western movie.” Not to be outdone by the Oscar nominated performances of Brandon De Wilde (who played Joey Starrett) and Jack Palance (who played the villainous Jack Wilson). Coming up, another western and another wild barroom brawl, starring Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn, and Mary Beth Hughes it’s: “The Ox-Bow Incident,” -next, on TCM.

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