Set in Wyoming in the late 1800s after the American Civil War the film has long been regarded as the quintessential Western movie, a claim that has a great deal of merit and one that the ratings I give will clearly SHOW I agree with. The plot centres on the friction between the open range rancher and the many homesteaders who have started to settle in the rich valley. The setting is superb and the special camera effects make the Teton mountains a feature of this classic movie throughout. The filming of the mountains is so well done that they become part of the whole movie, offering context and a sense of scale to the rest of the events about to unfold.
We open with a small boy Joey, played by Brandon de Wilde in his first film, stalking a deer in the idyllic setting of a lovely valley nestling. Joey breaks off the game as a rider approaches the homestead where his father Joe Starrett (Van Heflin) is hard at work as usual. The rider Shane (Alan Ladd) is a very polite but mysterious man, seemingly on his way to somewhere, who carries himself with the surety of a man who knows how to handle himself in a fight, with or without guns. He witnesses an attempt by the hired help of the local rancher Ryker to scare Starrett and his family off their homestead and eventually decides to stay on an help around the place, much to the beautifully understated but apparent delight of Marian Starrett played by Jean Arthur. It is clear that Shane is a gunslinger looking for a bit of peace but he is also clearly not a man to be messed with.
Shane meets up again with the ranchers hired help when he goes into town to pick up supplies and allows others to make ill-informed judgements about his character by backing away from a possible fight with Chris Calloway, played by ex-rodeo rider Ben Johnson. As the story unfolds it becomes clearer and clearer that Shane will be forced to fight at some stage but it will be on his terms and at a time of his choosing. The fact that he leaves his gun at home appears to make him weak, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Joey confesses at one stage to his mother that he loves Shane almost as much as his father and it is pretty evident that Mum does too, but she wont let on. The tension between Shane and Marian is palpable but their characters are so well done that there is never the hint of anything improper. But Marian warns Joey not to get too attached as she reckons Shane will be moving on one day and she doesnt want Joey to get too upset but it is just as clear she doesnt want to get too attached either.
Joe is a leader of the homesteaders and eventually decides to stand up to the bullies that Ryker employs. He joins Shane in a classic fight scene where the bad guys had tried to take on Shane on his own and the two of them give the bad guys a hiding. But Ryker decides to send for a gunslinger from Cheyenne in an attempt to further intimidate the homesteaders. This is when we get to meet Jack Wilson, played by Walter Jack Palance before his screen name got shortened. Palances character is obviously a baddie  he dresses in black, has an aggressive attitude and appears to be itching for a fight. Watch for the way the dog who lives in the saloon slinks off whenever his character is around  the dog is an excellent judge of character.
After managing to kill one of the homesteaders Wilson appears to be the straw that broke the camels back. Various people decide they will leave before they get shot but Joe Starrett rallies them to stay on and to fight for a future for their kids. But it is clear that only Shane has the wherewithal to deal with Wilson and when he makes that decision he has to fight with Starrett to determine who goes into town. Shane wins the right to confront Wilson. As he rides off Joey and his dog follow him all the way, a measure of the boys devotion.
In yet another classic barroom confrontation Shane challenges Wilson to a gunfight as the boy and dog look on from under the saloons swinging doors. Wilson may be quick but he isnt quick enough for Shane, who deals with Ryker in the same exchange. After a warning from Joey he also shoots another baddie who had been hiding. With his work done Shane gently tells Joey to grow up big and strong before he rides off into the mountains again.

THE EXTRAS

There are 24 language options to choose from at the start, a fair indication of the popularity of the film since its release. You can have subtitles if you want and Scene Selection. But the best bit is the commentary on a voice over of the actual film that is provided by George Stevens Jnr, the son of the Producer/Director as he talks with the original Second Unit Director. There are some fascinating things to learn about the film, including how different the film might have been had the original choices for the cast been available. I have watched Shane so many times that I could not picture HAVING Montgomery Clift in the Alan Ladd role, nor William Holden instead of Van Heflin or Katherine Hepburn as Marian. For a variety of reasons the first choices dropped out one by one so we were blessed with the alternatives. The fact that Jean Arthur was actually in her fifties when she made the film is almost incomprehensible  whatever face cream or plastic surgery she was using worked a treat as she looks 20 to 30 years younger. The discussion about trying to keep everything historically accurate in terms of the clothing worn, the way the farmhouse was laid out and even the way the ropes were tied is fascinating.

CONCLUSION

Made in 1953 this is arguably the classic Western. Shane is the gunslinger who is longing for a peaceful life but he stumbles upon a beautiful valley where the homesteaders are being threatened by the local rancher. He decides to throw his lot in with the homesteaders to help them forge the community they all want. His interaction with the locals, the obvious hero-worship from the boy Joey and the undercurrent of attraction to the homesteaders wife are all fabulous sub-plots to the film. But almost inevitably Shane is forced to use his guns one more time to deal with the hired bad guy. He does so but as a consequence moves on to let everyone get on with their lives. Truly a must see!