I’ve had an interesting relationship throughout the years with westerns. As a kid I hated them. Whenever I would visit my grandparents and they would put one on I would quickly exit the room. I just couldn’t stand them. The colors looked very dull and brown and they all seemed so boring. Now that I’m older and wiser I realize that I was just an idiot as a child. Westerns are freakin’ awesome!
I’m not sure what point it was that I started to get into westerns, probably some time in high school, but I do know that it was the spaghetti westerns that pulled me in. The music is what hooked me and then as I started to watch them more and more I became entranced with their unique style. I love a good zoom and spaghetti westerns have them in spades!
These days I’m all about westerns and like to get my hands on as many of them as I can. That’s where the good folks at Kino Lorber come in. Their western collection is second to none and it just keeps growing. Recently I checked out the Blu-ray for The Man Called Noon and man oh man was it a treat!
Based on a novel from acclaimed western author Louis L’Amour, The Man Called Noon is the story of gunfighter who wakes up with no recollection of who he is or what exactly he’s doing. What he does know is someone is trying to kill him because he wakes up being shot and has to run for his life. His head also seems to hurt. Given that bit of information it’s safe to assume that he probably lost his memory when hitting his head during some sort of attack. This gunfighter is who we come to know as Noon and he’s played terrifically by Richard Crenna. Noon is serious but also quite charming and funny.
Along the way Noon runs into an outlaw named Rimes (Stephen Boyd) and a woman named Fran (Rosanna Schiaffino). Rimes and Fran help guide Noon through his journey as he picks up clues along the way trying to figure out who he is. Complicating matters is the fact that Noon, regardless of who he is, appears to have a lot of enemies. At every turn it seems someone new pops up that wants Noon dead. While this certainly isn’t ideal, it does help jog his memory.
Like most westerns The Man Called Noon is pretty violent. None of it is extreme like the what you see in more modern westerns but there’s still a whole lot of shootouts along the way. Director Peter Collinson handles the action scenes quite well. They sort of remind me of the gunfight performances you can see at Old Tucson, which I think is very positive for a western.
The Man Called Noon weaves an interesting tale. Watching a film and not fully understand if your lead is a protagonist or antagonist keeps you on your toes. Should you be rooting for him? Maybe or maybe you’re supposed to root for the people after him? And what about Rimes and Fran? What’s their angle? Every time you think you have it figured out a new bit of information emerges shifting you in another direction.
The recent Blu-ray from Kino Lorber is fantastic. They really have a knack for presenting these westerns the way they’re meant to be presented. They never clean things up too much. The Man Called Noon maintains that grain and texture we all love with film. The detail is strong and the colors all look accurate. There are a few scratches present here and there from the source material but that’s never an issue as far as I’m concerned.
If you’re looking for special features you won’t find any here. If there’s a downside to some of Kino Lorber’s releases it’s that not all of them have bonus content. That’s a bummer, I’ll admit, but sometimes stuff just isn’t available. At the end of the day picture quality is the most important thing and in the regards Kino Lorbder does a terrific job, per usual.
If you’re a fan of westerns or just action in general, I’d suggest checking out The Man Called Noon. It has a nice twisty/turny script, sort of Memento but as a western, and Collinson directs with a clear and steady hand. And like most westerns it has a beautiful score courtesy of Luis Bacalov. The Man Called Noon gets my seal of approval!
The Man Called Noon is now available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.
