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Shane Overview:

Shane (1953) was a Drama - Western Film directed by George Stevens and produced by George Stevens and Ivan Moffat.

The film was based on the novel of the same name written by Jack Schaefer published in 1949.

SYNOPSIS

Considered one of the greatest Westerns, this is Ladd's finest role. Like High Noon, with which it shares some similarity, Shane proposes that the stain of killing can't be washed away, even if the death comes in a righteous cause. Ladd gets involved in a nasty skirmish between ranchers and farmers when he rides up to Heflin's farmhouse looking for water. From the first, he impresses young De Wilde with his instinctual quick draw and then earns Heflin's trust when he backs down bullying Meyer. Ladd seems to be putting down roots as he fights for the farmers. But after a final showdown with steely-eyed Palance, he rides away from the farm he's made secure, knowing that his mere presence will bring more death. A landmark Western, beautifully directed and photographed.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Shane was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1993.

Academy Awards 1953 --- Ceremony Number 26 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Supporting ActorBrandon De WildeNominated
Best Supporting ActorJack PalanceNominated
Best CinematographyLoyal GriggsWon
Best DirectorGeorge StevensNominated
Best PictureGeorge Stevens, ProducerNominated
Best WritingA. B. Guthrie, Jr.Nominated
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Shane Quotes:

Shane: A gun is a tool, Marian; no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.
Shane: You speaking to me?
Chris Calloway: I don't see nobody else standing there.
Shane: [to Joey] You go home to your mother and your father and grow up to be strong and straight.
Shane: You were watchin' me down it for quite a spell, weren't you?
Joey: Yes I was.
Shane: You know, I... I like a man who watches things go on around. It means he'll make his mark someday.
Shane: There's no living with a killing. There's no goin' back from one. Right or wrong, it's a brand... a brand sticks. There's no goin' back. Now you run on home to your mother and tell her... tell her everything's alright. And there aren't any more guns in the valley.
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Shane Facts
During the filming Jack Palance had problems with his horse. In the scene at the Starrett ranch where Alan Ladd (Shane) and Palance (Jack Wilson) first look each other over. Palance was to dismount for a minute then remount his horse. He could not remount, so the director had Jack dismount his horse slowly, then ran the film in reverse for the remount.
Ranked #3 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Western" in June 2008.
The film cost so much to make that at one point, Paramount considered selling it to another distributor. The studio felt the film would never earn back what it cost to make. It ended up making a significant profit.
When writer A.B. Guthrie Jr. came on board the project, he didn't know what a screenplay looked like.
Shane's fancy gun twirling in the climactic showdown was actually performed by Rodd Redwing. Earlier, when Shane demonstrates his prowess for Joey, and it is clearly Alan Ladd himself on camera, the actor had been given a different, easier-to-use revolver for the scene.
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