The works of the transition period

The environment and images of classic Westerns are highly graphical. The vast wasteland, monumental towering mountains and rocks, desolate towns, quiet streets, simple taverns, and even costumes and props all have specific code meanings. The environment in "Noon" is no different from other classic Westerns. But in the director Fred. Zinaman’s meticulous handling shows that the empty wilderness, clean and vibrant towns, churches, railways, courts, and police stations are symbols of wildness, civilization, legal order, and the medium that connects wildness and civilization, visually A dichotomy is formed powerfully. This visual antagonism is precisely the social contradiction reflected in the film. In other words, the environment and images of "Noon" are not only a typified background, but also effectively participate in the narrative.
"Noon" shows a small town where a legal order has been established. When justice and the legal system are threatened by powerful evil, whether justice and law can survive. It is concerned with the moral and ethical issues of American society in the late 1940s. Specifically, "Noon" is a metaphor for McCarthyism that emerged in the United States in the late 1940s, expressing criticism and exposure of the director. In 1947, a 10-year-long anti-communist non-American activity investigating scandalous and subsequent blacklisting activities broke out in Hollywood. Major Hollywood companies have responded to protect themselves. In the two interrogations, a large number of artists were blacklisted, some lost their jobs, and some were forced to stay away from the United States. Chaplin was the victim of this political terror. In 1952, in order to take refuge, he left the United States forever. Moreover, with the outbreak of the Korean War in 1951, the atmosphere of the Cold War became more and more serious. Many liberals in the past gave up the struggle, and some even became informers, causing the white terror of everyone's danger.
This 10-year political movement almost completely wiped out the social progress and democratic tendencies that strengthened in Hollywood during the 1930s and World War II, forcing all the best artists in Hollywood to stop working. "Noon" shaped Will in the dark age of American society and politics. Kane is such a tragic hero with awe-inspiring justice. This tragic hero finally defeated evil by virtue of justice, morality and courage under the situation of collective betrayal in the small town. The screenwriter of the film, Karl Forman, is the artist on the blacklist, so the meaning of the film is self-evident.

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