High Noon review, Harold Pinter Theatre – A thoughtful Western with vital moments missing

Billy Crudup in 'High Noon' - (Johan Persson)

The 20th century's great movie Westerns have given us so many enjoyably kitschy tropes: swaggering cowboys, tough sheriffs with shiny badges, ruffle-skirted saloon girls, and quick-draw gun battles. All those elements are technically present in director Thea Sharrock's thoughtful staging of the 1952 movie High Noon, but they're painted in muted colours, rather than nostalgic technicolour. This story doesn't romanticise the old West; instead, it punctures its mythos, acting as a sobering critique of gun-slinging masculinity and the McCarthy-era cowardice that surrounded the original film. Here, Billy Crudup lends a quiet integrity to the role of sheriff Marshall Kane, who finds his town turns its back on him, while an impassioned Denise Gough throws his values into question as his pacifist new wife Amy.

The pair's heartfelt wedding vows are interrupted by some unwelcome news. A bad guy who once menaced the town is out of jail. So Kane's plan to surrender his star-shaped badge and open a general store is out the window. The bulk of this play focuses on this mild-mannered sheriff's attempts to convince the rest of the town to stand with him and defend their community against villainous influence. But although everyone tells him what a great guy he is, they pretend to be out when he comes knocking. A principle isn't worth dying for.