High Noon 1929 film version of "The Virginian" in which Cooper also starred. The film was criticized in the Soviet Union as "glorification of the individual". The American Left lauded it as an allegory against blacklisting and McCarthyism, but it gained respect in the conservative community as well. It has been cited as a favorite by several U.S. presidents. Dwight Eisenhower screened the film at the White House, and Bill Clinton hosted a record 17 White House screenings. "It's no accident that politicians see themselves as Gary Cooper in "High Noon"," Clinton said. "Not just politicians, but anyone who's forced to go
High Noon and "Los Angeles Times" gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, among others. According to "Darkness at High Noon: The Carl Foreman Documents"—a 2002 documentary based in part on a lengthy 1952 letter from Foreman to film critic Bosley Crowther—Foreman's role in the creation and production of "High Noon" has been unfairly downplayed over the years in favor of Kramer's. Foreman told Crowther that the film originated from a four-page plot outline he wrote that turned out to be very similar to a short story by John W. Cunningham called "The Tin Star". Foreman purchased the film rights to Cunningham's story and wrote