History Film / HighNoon

* BittersweetEnding: Will was able to defeat Miller but departs by throwing down his badge without a word, disillusioned by the townspeople's cowardice.

* ButtMonkey: Kane.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Kane spends most of the movie asking the townspeople for help; he also manages to gun down three out of four of the gang (including Miller himself) in just a few minutes

* CrouchingTigerHiddenBadass: Kane spends most of the movie asking the townspeople for help; he also manages to gun down three out of four of the gang (including Miller himself) in just a few minutes

* DamselOutOfDistress: Miller captures Amy, and holding her at gunpoint, orders Kane to come out in the open. When Kane does, Amy claws into Miller's face. Miller pushes her away to the ground, giving Kane the chance to gun him down.

* WeddingDay: A pretty impressive wedding disaster: the minute it's over, Will gets the news there are three men in the town planning to kill him when their leader arrives, in just over an hour.

** Kane's decision to stay. He tells Amy that if they flee, they won’t be able to settle down because the Miller Gang will pursue them.

** Kane's decision to stay. He tells Amy they will always be on the run if he doesn’t stand up to Miller and his gang.

** Kane's decision to stay.

* ChekhovsGun: A literal example. During the first act of the film, Will's deputy quits because Will doesn't agree to make him the next marshal, and makes a point of hanging his revolver and belt in the wall. During the climactic fight [[spoiler: this is the revolver Amy uses to shoot Pierce in the back and kill him.]]

Creator/LloydBridges (father of [[Creator/JeffBridges Jeff]] and Beau) plays Kane's callow deputy. Creator/ThomasMitchell is the cynical mayor of the town. Harry Morgan, who would later become a TV star on ''Series/{{Dragnet}}'' and ''Series/{{MASH}}'', is a cowardly townsman.

Additionally, ''High Noon'' "inspired" ''Film/RioBravo'' and ''Film/{{Outland}}''; see RecycledInSpace for more.

* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: Kane's old girlfriend is a curvaceous, passionate dark-haired SpicyLatina. His new wife is an innocent, angelic blonde pacifist.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: An extremely cynical film, just about the most cynical movie ever made in the studio era. One hero asks for help from the people of his town when a bunch of killers show up, but no one will help him. They won't help, because they're cowards, too cowardly to defend their own town against criminals. They're all perfectly willing to let Will Kane die.

* UngratefulTownsfolk: Marshal Kane is trying to save the town from a gang of criminals and the rest of the ungrateful townspeople don't lift a finger to help him. In fact, some support the gang being allowed to run the town.[[note]]Namely, the manager of the hotel, who tells Amy straight-up that he made more money when the town was a WretchedHive dominated by the Millers.[[/note]] At the end, after beating Miller and his gang, Kane throws down his badge and walks away without a word.

* UngratefulTownsfolk: Marshal Kane is trying to save the town from a gang of criminals and the rest of the ungrateful townspeople don't lift a finger to help him. In fact, some support the gang being allowed to run the town. At the end, after beating Miller and his gang, Kane throws down his badge and walks away without a word.

* PunchClockHero: Kane's job as marshal is unglamorous and he openly admits that he doesn't like having to face Miller and his gang, but he does it anyway because it's his responsibility.

* PetTheDog: When he hears Miller's train is coming, one of the first things Kane does is warn Helen (Miller's ex) so she can get to safety, even though they don't get along. Likewise, during the climax when a barn is set on fire, Kane drops everything to unhook the horses so they can escape.

* AdrenalineMakeover: Amy fires a decisive gunshot despite being a pacifist (and openly telling Kane to get out of town) through most of the film. While it may not be as adrenalin charged as other examples, it is a pretty major shift in terms of the character!

* HonorBeforeReason: Kane's decision to stay.

* CrapSaccharineworld: On the surface, Hadleyville is a small, peaceful and prosperous town in the New Mexico Territory that was cleaned up when Kane captured Frank Miller and had him sent to prison. However, when push comes to shove, virtually all the townspeople turn out to be too cowardly, apathetic or opportunistic to defend the town, if they're not outright [[TheQuisling welcoming Miller's return]]. This is something that Kane's old lover Helen has known all along on account of being a Mexican woman in a predominantly white town, with all the drawbacks involved. This is why she decides to move out of Hadleyville, because regardless whether Kane lives or dies, by the inaction of its people Hadleyville has shown that it is ultimately doomed to return to the bad old days once Kane, the only one willing to stand up for law and order, is no longer around.