High Noon (1952)

Will Kane (Gary Cooper), the longtime marshal of Hadleyville, New Mexico Territory, has just married pacifist Quaker Amy Fowler (Grace Kelly) and turned in his badge. He intends to become a storekeeper elsewhere. Suddenly, the town learns that Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald)—a criminal Kane brought to justice—is due to arrive on the noon train.

Miller had been sentenced to hang but was pardoned on an unspecified legal technicality. In court, he had vowed to get revenge on Kane and anyone else who got in the way. Miller's three gang members - his younger brother Ben (Sheb Wooley), Jack Colby (Lee Van Cleef) and Jim Pierce (Robert J. Wilke) - wait for him at the station.

Kane and his wife leave town, but fearing that the gang will hunt him down and be a danger to the townspeople, Kane turns back. He reclaims his badge and scours the town for help, even interrupting Sunday church services, with little success. His deputy, Harvey Pell (Lloyd Bridges), resigns because Kane did not recommend him as the new marshal.

Kane goes to warn Helen Ramírez (Katy Jurado), first Frank Miller’s lover, then Kane's, and now Harvey's. Helen is already aware of what Miller will do to her if he finds her, and has sold her business. She prepares to leave town to avoid Miller, but also to avoid seeing Kane killed.

Amy gives her husband an ultimatum: she is leaving on the noon train, with or without him.

Kane tries to elicit help from the locals at a bar; and then tries the church. Nobody at either place responds, and few support him.

Many of the townspeople encourage Kane to leave, hoping that would defuse the situation. Even Kane's good friends the Fullers are at odds about how to deal with the situation. Mildred Fuller (Eve McVeagh) wants her husband, Sam (Harry Morgan) to speak with Kane when he comes to their home, but he makes her claim he is not home while he hides in another room.

In the end, Kane faces the Miller Gang alone. Kane guns down two of the gang (first Ben Miller, then Colby), though he himself is wounded in the process. Helen Ramírez and Amy both board the train, but Amy gets off when she hears the sound of gunfire. Amy chooses her husband's life over her religious beliefs, shooting Pierce from behind. Frank then takes her hostage to force Kane into the open. However, Amy suddenly attacks Frank, giving Kane a clear shot, and Kane shoots Frank Miller dead. As the townspeople emerge, Kane stares at the crowd, contemptuously throws his marshal's star in the dirt, and leaves town with his wife.

The plot's sequence of events occurs in real time.