High Noon 1952

In the late 1890s, Will Kane is the chief marshal of Hadleyville, a small town in the New Mexico Territory, and despite all of his deputies having resigned, he continues to serve out of a steadfast sense of duty. His new wife, Amy, a Quaker pacifist who deplores violence, urges him to retire and become a farmer.

However, Kane learns that Frank Miller, a gunfighter he brought to justice years earlier, has been pardoned and will arrive in Hadleyville on the noon train. Miller’s old gang has returned to join him, and a message arrives stating that his first order of business will be to murder Kane as revenge for the conviction.

Kane reaches out to his former deputies for help, but all refuse, either out of fear of Miller or because Kane’s integrity renders him unable to grant them special treatment. He attempts to form a posse, but the townspeople are even less willing to fight alongside him. Some are sympathetic to Miller, since his notoriety had made the town famous and they blame Kane for ruining a comfortable situation; others argue that dealing with him isn’t their problem. Several residents volunteer, but Kane is forced to turn them away as they are too young, old, or physically unfit to fight.

A desperate Kane turns to his friend, Judge Mettrick, for advice; Mettrick—who has already resigned—tells him to leave town as he had initially planned. Unwilling to abandon his post, Kane decides to face Miller and his gang alone. Amy, who had threatened to leave on the noon train with or without him, returns and saves him by shooting one of Miller’s men in the back. Kane finally guns his nemesis down after he tries to threaten her. After Miller’s death, the town people come out to congratulate and thank Kane. Without saying a word, he throws his marshal’s badge in the dirt and rides away.