There's a lot to like about Shane, the 1953 masterpiece from George Stevens.

There is Alan Ladd of course, all five feet six of him, with his nickel/ivory Colt (no front sight) and his buckskins.

There is the fact the movie is set (and filmed) in Wyoming, not the overused Monument Valley.

There is the mostly unspoken tension between Shane and Marion, played by the great Jean Arthur in her last (and only color) film role. Unspoken except by the kid Joey, who yells out to Shane as he rides off, slumped in the saddle from a bullet wound, into a graveyard: Mother wants you too, Shane! I know she does!

There is Walter Jack Palance, nominated for an Oscar for his first movie role as Jack Wilson, gunfighter extraordinaire, and his gunning down of Stonewall Torrey in a muddy street, the first time a bullet impact on film caused someone to flop backwards.

All those are great, but my favorite part is the black and white dog that hangs out in Grafton's bar. He's been through so much he knows when to get out of the way, before bullets start to fly. He does it twice.

I've probably watched Shane 20 times, and it never gets old.

YouTube

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

Yeah, Shane is an awesome movie!!

I'd like to add that the book is incredible, too!!
It was written by Jack Shaefer in the mid 1940s. Published as a three part serial in Argosy Magazine in 1946 under the title Rider from Nowhere, it appeared as the novel Shane in 1949.
It was part of the assigned reading for my Grade 7 English class. I loved it, and thank my teacher for having it as part of the curriculum!

I love the scene where Shane does the fast draw for the boy, Bobby Starrett. In the book and the movie, it portrays the incredible firepower of the basic SAA when in the hands of an expert.
(Right up there with Dirty Harry wasting the bank robbers!)

Alan Ladd was an actor of amazing expressive subtlety. You can see in his face that when he tells Bobby about the ways of the gunfighter, he has some dark experiences in his past.

Here's the fast draw scene, with the "Gun is a tool" monologue:

YouTube

I love that dog! Every time Jack Wilson (Palance) walks by, the dog gets up and slinks away as if to say “Now this is a really evil guy!” I remember to this day the first time I saw this movie. I was about 7 yrs old and we saw it at a drive-in theater in about 1959. In the scene where Wilson guns down the little rebel character, Wilson does his speech then has his gun in his hand before the Reb even clears leather. I remember thinking “Well, so he beat him. He made his point. Gunplay is over.” Then Wilson pulled the trigger! I was APPALLED! Dumbstruck! This was a clear violation of The Code of the West and would never have happened in a Roy Rogers or Gene Autry movie! Thus was my first lesson in how Bad Guys operate. It served me well in later years.

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Everybody could shoot

"Prove it."

Torrey even got off a good line in his showdown with Wilson: Who'd they name you after, or would you know?

A clever way to call him illegitimate. Too bad he didn't get to enjoy it for long.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

Great book and a great movie. It was assigned reading in 9th grade, and one of the only assigned books I enjoyed (Robinson Crusoe was the other). I still have it on my bookshelf, right next to my copy of “True Grit”. Whenever I run across “Shane” on the TV I watch it.

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Wheel guns are real guns.

Little know fact: Jack Wilson is the only guy that Chuck Norris is skeered of. He just looks MEAN.

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I told you not to use Lifebuoy

Yeah but them "black hats" didn't get the memo, or abide by it.

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I told you not to use Lifebuoy

Shane is certainly a good film, but I've never seen it as a memorable one, in sharp contrast with the comments of those that rate the film among the very best of westerns. Perhaps I missed something that others didn't. Filming in the The Rocky Mountain high country was a big asset.

Shane was a 'darker' character. Since I read it around 1970 I'm not sure I'd seen the movie since it was before VCRs and cable. Of course I liked the book better. but it was a great classic movie.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Generally speaking, if I read a book, I'll decline the movie. I'm usually dissatisfied with the interpretation.

I read Shane in 7th grade. I watched the movie a few years later, and it was the first in a line of films that formed the opinion I just related.

While Shane was (is) a good movie, it doesn't hold up compared to the novel.

Come to think, I don't recall any movie in which Jean Arthur appeared that I disliked. I've always enjoyed her work. She seemed, well, real.

Shane came out while my dad was in college, and apparently it was quite popular. I remember him telling me that for weeks afterward, it wasn't unusual to hear, as he walked the sidewalks among the ivy-covered university buildings, the plaintive call "Shaaaaaaane!" ringing out on campus.

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

I didn't really care for Alan Ladd in films that I have seen him in except Shane.

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"In God We Trust"

I like Shaefers Monte Walsh better as a book than Shane. I have seen two or three versions of movies with the same title as Monte Walsh and they all pale in comparison to the book.

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Front sight and squeeze

I never read Monte Walsh, but I'll bet it's a good book. The Monte Walsh movie with Lee Marvin was certainly not the actor's best effort, but it's worth seeing once. Sort of offbeat for a western and "offbeat" is usually synonymous with "no good", but Monte Walsh was good.

I've read the book (probably in grade school or Junior HS?) and seen the movie once or twice. A good story. The book is ALWAYS better than any movie.

I was a young airman home on a Christmas leave in December of 1953.
My dad was a railroad man, so moved around quite a bit. The family
lived in Wellington, Colorado at that time. My dad took me up to Cheyenne
to catch a train. We got there early and had time to kill, so we went to the
movie. It was Shane. It was the best western I had seen up to that time.
But there have been better ones since IMHO. Here are some of my favorites:
The Shootist
Unforgiven
Tombstone
The Outlaw Josey Wales
The Westerner

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In Omnia Paratus

Never saw it

Good western and worth watching once, but if I had to rate my personal favorite westerns, "Shane" would barely make the top ten.

Shane: why no front sight on his SAA ?

The reason it wasn't filmed in Monument Valley was due to the fact that the Indians owned and still do the entire area. Only Navajo may live on the land consequently no cities or towns or farms other than Navajo.

The problem with Ladd was that he was so short he couldn't get into the saddle without using a box or small ladder or from a porch.

I assume the idea — movie land or otherwise — is that a front sight could potentially snag on the holster or elsewhere, and since Shane is a point shooter anyway, no front sight needed.

Re the dog, shoulda given it an Oscar, too! Note how it slinks away in fear. No cheerful doggy saunter for that one!

Dozens of movies (including The Searchers) were filmed in Monument Valley. Just not this one.

Monument Valley in the movies - CBS News

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

Shane would have been a much better movie with almost anyone other than Alan Ladd in the lead. He pretty much makes the movie unwatchable for me. Robert Mitchum might have been a good choice.

Best regards,

They could have searched time and space and never come up with a better Jack Wilson than Jack Palance.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Don't believe there were any scenes in the Searchers where there was a "town". Also do not recall any movies filmed in Monument valley where there was a town.. Last time I visited monument Valley I never saw a town per say...Plenty of Navajo homes....

Should have got him a Shetland.

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