Compare and contrast the attitude of each movie regarding guns. The two movies which I will compare are “High Noon” and “Shane”. These are two western classics made around the same time. First a little bit of info about each. 

High Noon was a western classic made in the year 1952. According to Google, “Former marshal Will Kane (Gary Cooper) is preparing to leave the small town of Hadleyville, New Mexico, with his new bride, Amy (Grace Kelly), when he learns that local criminal Frank Miller has been set free and is coming to seek revenge on the marshal who turned him in. When he starts recruiting deputies to fight Miller, Kane is discouraged to find that the people of Hadleyville turn cowardly when the time comes for a showdown, and he must face Miller and his cronies alone.”

Shane was also a western classic made in the year 1953, one year after High Noon. According to Google, “Enigmatic gunslinger Shane (Alan Ladd) rides into a small Wyoming town with hopes of quietly settling down as a farmhand. Taking a job on homesteader Joe Starrett’s (Van Heflin) farm, Shane is drawn into a battle between the townsfolk and ruthless cattle baron Rufus Ryker (Emile Meyer). Shane’s growing attraction to Starrett’s wife, Marian (Jean Arthur), and his fondness for their son Joey (Brandon de Wilde), who idolizes Shane, force Shane to realize that he must thwart Ryker’s plan.”

Both movies are westerns, so they both have a big gun fight at the end, but neither of the main characters wants to use their guns. In High Noon, Will Kane was former marshal and there are times when he needs to use his gun, but his new wife  does not want him to shoot anyone so he tries not to. In Shane, the main character Shane was a former gunslinger who did not want to kill anymore. Both did not want to kill, but for separate reasons.