the audience applauded

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Shane is a beautiful film and an unapologetic, old-fashioned Western. It has an innocence and sincerity that you can't really find in films today. If you're looking for a classic example of the Western genre, this is it.

I liked: Jack Palance, Brandon de Wilde, Alan Laddthe settingsI didn't like: the overuse of musicthe length, 20 mins too longSPOILER ALERT plotting. Why did Chris betray his boss? Why didn't Shane at least tell Joe what was waiting for him (a "stacked deck")? This manoeuvring towards a finale was too obvious to be believable.Shane is absent for great chunks of the movie as the settlers and ranchers battle it out.This was once one of my favourite movies but it hasn't aged well. The callous violence makes it unsuitable for children.

In her introduction of this film, Tiffany Vazquez of Turner Classic Movies stated that some viewers consider this to be among the best western movies of all time. Although I am not a qualified expert of the genre, "Shane" could never compete with the likes of a nearly perfect "High Noon", which happened to be produced in the same year. I could probably name at least a dozen other westerns that exceeded this one in overall quality, but I'll spare you those details.Although the setting of the spectacular Teton Mountains of Wyoming was breathtaking, for some reason I had trouble seeing the version that was aired on TCM this week. It seemed to be of poor quality.Aside from Brandon de Wilde's extremely abrasive voice and peculiar appearance as the boy, which was enough by itself to destroy the entire production, Jean Arthur was sadly miscast as Marian Starrett. Summoned from retirement by her friend George Stevens, the director, she would never make another film again. She didn't appear to be inspired by this role at all, a far cry from her light, airy, and comedic performances in "You Can't Take It With You" and "Foreign Affair", just to name a couple. Her portrayal here was dark and dreary. She whined and fussed too much to be a credible pioneer woman. I could have rated this even lower, but I thought that Alan Ladd and Van Heflin turned in very decent performances, as did a very sinister Jack Palance and Elisha Cook's faithful dog, (spoiler alert!) although the heartbreaking burial scene was reportedly very difficult to pull off. In the end, the dog was among the best features of the film along with those magnificent Tetons in the background. Unfortunately, the toxic combination of the kid and his mother could have dealt this movie a fatal blow, but they didn't, which was miraculous by itself.

One of my all time favorite westerns. Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, and Jack Palance give fine performances in this classic. Jean Arthur is the wife trying to save her husband and Elisha Cook, Jr., is the heroic but outgunned homesteader. Heflin is the righteous husband who has the courage, but not the fighting skills, to confront his enemies.Palance steals the show as the vicious hired killer. His confrontation with Cook is riveting as he humiliates and then shoots him down in the street mud. Palance's every move is sinister He is so evil that even the dog slinks away from him. Jack meets his end at the hands of Shane in an epic gun battle. Shane challenges, baits him into drawing, and shoots first. His commentary on the dead man is "He was fast." Shane then blasts the rest of that evil family who is about to ambush him. The movie ends as Shane, wounded, rides off into the twilight, and little Brandon de Wilde, who has witnessed the battle, calls after him wistfully to no avail.