Shane is a modest, simple Western from the 1950s that, even though I’m not a huge fan of most homegrown Westerns, is rightly accredited as a classic. George Stevens gets it right and provides everything for a quality and entertaining movie, regardless of genre.
A weary gunfighter surprisingly known as Shane (Ladd) wanders into a conflict between a group of ranchers, including the stubborn Joe Starrett (Helfin) and his family, who are resisting Ryker (Dierkes), a cattleman who wants to take their land. Shane grows close to Joe’s wife Marian (Arthur) and child Joey (De Wilde) and starts to get further into conflict with the Ryker gang after taking them on in a couple of bar brawls.
Starting with a minor negative: Brandon De Wilde,?the child actor portraying Joey, is by far the most annoying thing I have ever been enforced to endure on screen – beating Jar Jar Binks and Adam Sandler by a whisker. The little urchin can only speak in questions and squeaks, and repeats, the most inane utterances for the duration of the film. However, this all actually makes the most genuine portrayal of a real-life child you can imagine. Whether that is a good or bad thing for people wanting a bit of escapism is up for debate but somehow he was nominated for an Oscar for this performance so good for him.
Shane is a mature Western that doesn’t focus on overly heroic characters, injuns or damsels in distress but instead on an engaging plot, a couple of blended-in subplots and quality dialogue and action. The characterisation is very measured as Shane is not over-glorified and even the Ryker gang reside in a kind of grey zone – except for the straight up evil Jack Wilson (Palance) – and offer some reasoning for being mean to the farmers. George Steven’s Western is full of memorable characters, scenes (including two excellent bar brawls) and scenic vistas.