Fred Zinnemann the first 25 American films chosen in 1989 for the National Film Registry. With its psychological and moral examinations of its lawman hero Marshall Will Kane, played by Gary Cooper and its innovative chronology whereby screen time approximated the 80-minute countdown to the confrontational hour, the film broke the mold of the formulaic western. Working closely with cinematographer and longtime friend Floyd Crosby, he shot without filters, giving the landscape a harsh "newsreel" quality that clashed with the more painterly cinematography of John Ford's westerns. During production he established a strong rapport with Gary Cooper, photographing the aging actor in
Ralph Meeker contract by MGM who put him in "Teresa" (1951), directed by Fred Zinnemann. Meeker played a support role, a sergeant, and the film was very popular. MGM then cast him in the leading role in "Shadow in the Sky" (1952), alongside Nancy Davis, later Nancy Reagan. The studio then tried him in "Glory Alley" (1952), billed above Leslie Caron and directed by Raoul Walsh. Both films flopped. Paramount borrowed him to play Betty Hutton's leading man in "Somebody Loves Me" (1952), a musical. It was a minor hit. Meeker's next two MGM films were very popular. He had a supporting