At first glance, George Stevens’ Shane, while beautifully shot, might appear to be similar to countless other Westerns. A lone gunman looking to start a new life, rides into town and ends up reluctantly using his guns in defense of the good townspeople against the hired thugs of the local cattle baron. In truth, the story has a lot more going on just below the surface.
Based on the Jack Schaefer novel, the story begins in a sparse Wyoming Valley, where the Starrett family—Joe (Van Heflin), his wife Marian (Jean Arthur), and son Joey (Brandon de Wilde), having staked their claim, are members of a small group of homesteaders determined to eke out a living on land dominated by big cattle interests. Ruthless cattle baron Rufus Ryker (Emile Meyer) is doing everything possible to force the homesteaders off the land. Shane (Alan Ladd) rides into this increasingly volatile environment.
From the moment Shane rides onto the Starrett homestead there’s something mysterious about him. It’s obvious that he’s a gunfighter with a past, but those details are never revealed, and we’re given no inkling about where he’s come from. Immediately, young Joey is drawn to Shane and his gun. In Joey’s eyes, through whose eyes we see most of the film, Shane is the perfect hero and any wrong is quickly forgiven. Nonetheless, initially Shane seems a bit uneasy. You can’t help but think he might have a few dark secrets in his past.
Shane agrees to be Joe Starrett’s hired hand. He quickly becomes attached to the family; hero worshipped by Joey and sharing obvious chemistry with Marian. Both Joe and Joey notice their obvious attraction to each other, but trust that neither will take it beyond friendship. Shane rides into town exchanging his buckskins for some store-bought clothes and a bottle of soda pop. Tough guy Calloway (Ben Johnson) throws a drink on Shane’s new shirt. Shane leaves quietly. A few days later, Shane goes back to the bar to return the soda bottle. He buys two whiskeys, throws one on Calloway’s shirt, another on his face and then proceeds to beat him to a pulp, in one of the best fistfights ever captured on film.
It’s only after Shane and Joe show they’re willing to stand up to his men that Ryker decides to bring in a hired gun to handle the situation. A young Jack Palance plays the hired gun, dressed all in black. He makes the perfect western bad guy, He only has a few lines, but he stands menacingly every time he appears on screen. When Ryker says, “I’ll kill him [Starrett] if I have to.” Palance gets one of the best lines in the movie when he says, “You mean, I’ll kill him, if you have to.”
Predictably, the story leads to a final gunfight. Shane knows he must pick up his guns again and do what he can’t let Joe do. Shane knows that once the killing is done, the killer will have to leave town, and Joe needs to stay with his family. With that, Shane does what he must do. Being a farmer was never in the cards for Shane; instead, it was a brief respite from his life as a gunfighter.
Ladd underplays Shane to perfection. While Palance seemingly towered over him, Ladd was reportedly anywhere between 5’5″ and 5’7″—but Ladd gave Shane an inner confidence that seemed to allow him to tower over everyone in his path.
Framed at 1.37:1 (Paramount eventually cropped it to 1.66:1 in select theaters for a faux widescreen effect), the 2160p transfer looks glorious (due in large part to the Technicolor cinematography of Loyal Griggs, who won an Oscar for his work here), Colors look earthy and full throughout. Several outdoor scenes are so lifelike they jump off the screen. Occasionally, some of the matte backgrounds look a tad washed out, but that doesn’t affect the overall viewing experience. According to Kino Lorber, the transfer is from a brand new Dolby Vision Master – from a 4K scan of the 35mm camera negative,
The mono DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track is solid as well. There are a couple of occasions when the orchestral score crowds out the dialogue a bit, but that’s a minor quibble. Gunshots and other effects come through rather well and dialogue is decipherable throughout the presentation.
English SDH subtitles are available.
The following extras are included:
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
- NEW! Audio Commentary by Author/Film Historian Alan K. Rode, Writer of the Forthcoming Monograph, Shane, a Reel West Series Book from the University of New Mexico Press
- Audio Commentary by George Stevens Jr. (Production Assistant and Son of the Late Director/Producer George Stevens) and Associate Producer Ivan Moffat
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
- NEW! Audio Commentary by Author/Film Historian Alan K. Rode, Writer of the Forthcoming Monograph, Shane, a Reel West Series Book from the University of New Mexico Press
- Audio Commentary by George Stevens Jr. (Production Assistant and Son of the Late Director/Producer George Stevens) and Associate Producer Ivan Moffat
- Theatrical Trailer