"Shane" is deservedly known as one of the great Westerns."Shane" is the story of a gunfighter who comes to the aid of a family of settlers who are being persecuted by free-rangers. There a many allusions to Christ in the character of Shane - his sensitivity, his serenity, his humbleness, his restraint, his self-sacrifice, even the fact he is only ever referred to by one name.Shane is perfectly played by Alan Ladd matched by Brandon de Wilde as the young boy Joey who idolizes Shane, and Jack Palance is appropriately sinister as the "bad guy"."Shane" is superbly staged and shot with great use of foreground and background shot compositions particularly in the bar-room sequences - and who can forget the final sequence. This film more that any other mythologizes the Western. A stunning achievement by director George Stevens.