High Noon

This is the film that put director Fred Zinnemann on the Hollywood A-list, revived the career of Gary Cooper and made Grace Kelly a star. If that's not enough, this multiple Oscar winner was also one of the first psychological westerns, breaking the mould of the gun-toting tales that had dominated the genre since the early silent era. It was also a highly controversial film, being seen as an attack on those who deserted their colleagues during the Communist witch-hunts that turned Hollywood into a place of fear between 1947 and 1951. John Wayne was chief among the film's critics, denouncing it as "un-American". Whatever the truth about the story's origins, High Noon remains a classic thanks to its sterling performances and marvellously suspenseful "real time" structure.