---
product_id: 40123054
title: "High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic"
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reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.sn/products/40123054-high-noon-the-hollywood-blacklist-and-the-making-of-american
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region: Senegal
---

# High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic

**Price:** 35824CFA
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- **What is this?** High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic
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## Description

From the New York Times- bestselling author of The Searchers , the revelatory story behind the classic movie High Noon and the toxic political climate in which it was created. It's one of the most revered movies of Hollywood's golden era. Starring screen legend Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly in her first significant film role, High Noon was shot on a lean budget over just thirty-two days but achieved instant box-office and critical success. It won four Academy Awards in 1953, including a best actor win for Cooper. And it became a cultural touchstone, often cited by politicians as a favorite film, celebrating moral fortitude. Yet what has been often overlooked is that High Noon was made during the height of the Hollywood blacklist, a time of political inquisition and personal betrayal. In the middle of the film shoot, screenwriter Carl Foreman was forced to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities about his former membership in the Communist Party. Refusing to name names, he was eventually blacklisted and fled the United States. (His co-authored screenplay for another classic, The Bridge on the River Kwai , went uncredited in 1957.) Examined in light of Foreman's testimony, High Noon 's emphasis on courage and loyalty takes on deeper meaning and importance. In this book, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Frankel tells the story of the making of a great American Western, exploring how Carl Foreman's concept of High Noon evolved from idea to first draft to final script, taking on allegorical weight. Both the classic film and its turbulent political times emerge newly illuminated.

Review: High Noon - I don’t tend to read a lot of non-fiction so the subject matter really needs to appeal to me and in the case of High Noon – it did. It’s got Hollywood, politicians behaving badly and a movie I remember watching with my father when I was a child. One of the first things I did after finishing the book was to go back and watch the movie again. It would have been nice to have had my father here to watch it with me again but I’m sure he was with me in spirit. The book focuses on the movie High Noon but it’s really the retelling of how the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) went on its witch hunt throughout Hollywood to route out members of the Communist Party. Many had joined not out of any deep seated loyalty to Russia or “the Party” but rather as a rejection of policies that didn’t favor the working man. Many drifted out of the party without giving it a second thought not realizing the impact it would have on them later. Then the Cold War politics of fear began and as history tells us common sense went out the window. In Hollywood the HUAC started calling in people to testify and they had limited choices if they wanted to keep working; admit they were once in a member of the Party, say they no longer were and name the names of others they knew. It was a system that survived on fear; the fear of being called, the fear of having to name the names and the fear of being named. It was a horrifying time in American history. There were no checks and balances. Even the press failed to provide a counter; the journalists of the time went along with whatever the Committee put out. From the initial concept to the final cut I found the story of the making of High Noon to be fascinating. It almost didn’t get made and it changed as the screenwriter, Carl Foreman felt the impacts of the HUAC on his life and on Hollywood overall. He was a man committed to his ideals in a very difficult time. Mr. Frankel’s writing style is very easy to read and I never felt like I was in a textbook. It is deeply researched and footnoted. I think it’s an important book to read so we don’t forget what can happen when things get out of control. Anyone who loves movies and is interested in the political history of the country will find this to be a fascinating book.
Review: I COULDA BEEN A FASCIST. - “The Communist Party was for years the best social club in Hollywood…” (p. 28). In the early 50s, when High Noon was released and I was on the cusp of adolescence, I remember thinking what a proud and patriotic thing the House Committee on Un-American Activities was doing: ridding Hollywood of all the subversive, ‘Commie rat bastards’ they could find. I was an idiot. In his excellent, well researched book, High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic, Glenn Frankel expertly illuminates the evil, harmful, and lasting impact that the HUAC had on real people—mostly sincere and caring Americans who thought freedom was a good idea. Witch-hunts and inquisitions are rarely noble; just self-righteous, and vicious. With blacklists, and graylists, and actual jail terms meted out for contempt of Congress—I can’t believe that even reopening the Japanese-American concentration camp at Tule Lake to house dissidents was considered—Tinsel-Town’s paranoia was more than justified. And, at the height of it all comes an American screen classic, a metaphorical tale of a reluctant hero, a man of integrity, abandoned by the friends from whom he’d expected better, who stands tall and faces evil on his own at, High Noon: screenplay by, soon to be blacklisted, Hollywood screenwriter, Carl Forman. Recommendation: For me: a painfully reminiscent story about more innocent times, and the tale of the making a great movie. For you: a bit of history, and a closer look at today’s world. For us: a cautionary tale well worth reading. “It is a story that bears a clear relation to things that are happening in the world today, where people are being terrorized by bullies and surrendering their freedom out of senselessness and fear.” (p. 259) Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition, 380 pages.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,419,289 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #2,062 in Movie History & Criticism #30,567 in United States History (Books) #80,159 in Arts & Photography (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 558 Reviews |

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![High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81MF21c2t4L.jpg)

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ High Noon
*by P***D on April 7, 2017*

I don’t tend to read a lot of non-fiction so the subject matter really needs to appeal to me and in the case of High Noon – it did. It’s got Hollywood, politicians behaving badly and a movie I remember watching with my father when I was a child. One of the first things I did after finishing the book was to go back and watch the movie again. It would have been nice to have had my father here to watch it with me again but I’m sure he was with me in spirit. The book focuses on the movie High Noon but it’s really the retelling of how the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) went on its witch hunt throughout Hollywood to route out members of the Communist Party. Many had joined not out of any deep seated loyalty to Russia or “the Party” but rather as a rejection of policies that didn’t favor the working man. Many drifted out of the party without giving it a second thought not realizing the impact it would have on them later. Then the Cold War politics of fear began and as history tells us common sense went out the window. In Hollywood the HUAC started calling in people to testify and they had limited choices if they wanted to keep working; admit they were once in a member of the Party, say they no longer were and name the names of others they knew. It was a system that survived on fear; the fear of being called, the fear of having to name the names and the fear of being named. It was a horrifying time in American history. There were no checks and balances. Even the press failed to provide a counter; the journalists of the time went along with whatever the Committee put out. From the initial concept to the final cut I found the story of the making of High Noon to be fascinating. It almost didn’t get made and it changed as the screenwriter, Carl Foreman felt the impacts of the HUAC on his life and on Hollywood overall. He was a man committed to his ideals in a very difficult time. Mr. Frankel’s writing style is very easy to read and I never felt like I was in a textbook. It is deeply researched and footnoted. I think it’s an important book to read so we don’t forget what can happen when things get out of control. Anyone who loves movies and is interested in the political history of the country will find this to be a fascinating book.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I COULDA BEEN A FASCIST.
*by G***N on March 16, 2017*

“The Communist Party was for years the best social club in Hollywood…” (p. 28). In the early 50s, when High Noon was released and I was on the cusp of adolescence, I remember thinking what a proud and patriotic thing the House Committee on Un-American Activities was doing: ridding Hollywood of all the subversive, ‘Commie rat bastards’ they could find. I was an idiot. In his excellent, well researched book, High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic, Glenn Frankel expertly illuminates the evil, harmful, and lasting impact that the HUAC had on real people—mostly sincere and caring Americans who thought freedom was a good idea. Witch-hunts and inquisitions are rarely noble; just self-righteous, and vicious. With blacklists, and graylists, and actual jail terms meted out for contempt of Congress—I can’t believe that even reopening the Japanese-American concentration camp at Tule Lake to house dissidents was considered—Tinsel-Town’s paranoia was more than justified. And, at the height of it all comes an American screen classic, a metaphorical tale of a reluctant hero, a man of integrity, abandoned by the friends from whom he’d expected better, who stands tall and faces evil on his own at, High Noon: screenplay by, soon to be blacklisted, Hollywood screenwriter, Carl Forman. Recommendation: For me: a painfully reminiscent story about more innocent times, and the tale of the making a great movie. For you: a bit of history, and a closer look at today’s world. For us: a cautionary tale well worth reading. “It is a story that bears a clear relation to things that are happening in the world today, where people are being terrorized by bullies and surrendering their freedom out of senselessness and fear.” (p. 259) Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition, 380 pages.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A marvelous, riveting read about Hollywood - and how Stars were made "Back then."
*by J***N on April 3, 2017*

For those who love "classic Hollywood" and are into behind the scenes glimpses into how movie stars were "Made" back in the day of the "Studio System" in the 1930s through the late 1940s, and maybe into the VERY early 1950s, this is a MUST READ book. I could not put it down. The, well, amazing story of how Gary Cooper got into movies is fascinating and illustrates (back in those days), how "valuable" it was to know how to ride a horse (!) and how THAT skill helped Cooper make the big time. Equally riveting is how he got the name GARY. Also mind boggling is the $$$ he made back then (compared to today's multi million dollar payouts, is again fascinating. Even more beguiling, is how HIGH NOON was made and promoted. Back then it was considered a "so-so" movie NOT worth any special attention. In fact Stanley Kramer the overall "Boss" of everything, was so "Down" on the movie, he gave Cooper a very large percentage of all future profits as he, Kramer, thought it would be a loser. As it turned out, Cooper made something like 15 times his salary in this Profit Participation! Also spellbinding is the "Other Part" of this marvelous book, that cover and yes, UN covers the Hollywood Blacklist of that era. It seems inconceivable today that such an "Operation or Proceeding" could not only take place, but also ruin the lives and well being - especially financially - of so many up and coming movie stars, directors and producers. Yes, even if you are NOT interested in "Things Hollywood" this is still an excellent book to place in your home and on your bookcase shelves.

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*Last updated: 2026-08-29*