I haven't seen a lot of westerns, not even the great ones. They never interested me while I was growing up. So I'm trying to catch some of the better ones to get a feel for the genre. Shane is one of those classics that I only really know of from an episode of the Batman TV series from the sixties.
Joe and Marrion Starrett are homesteaders in Wyoming, they have a young son Joey. Shane is a gunslinger who comes to town apparently trying to escape a past, Joe hires him to help on the farm. The homesteaders are being intimidated by a local cattleman named Ryker who wants their land. Joe and Shane handle themselves well in a saloon fight but then Ryker hires a gunslinger to clear out the homesteaders and Shane and he duel.
It's old school good vs evil with wonderful scenery and a glimpse of life in a different era, when people built their own houses starting with trees and axes. But what makes this movie stand out from other westerns (I think) is the boy Joey. The movie is basically told through his eyes. He comes to idolize Shane, wanting to learn how to shoot a gun from him despite his mother's wishes. Whether this framing or point of view says anything more, I'm not really sure. Shane was good, but I'm not rushing out to see it again.
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