High Noon Actress, Score, and Cinematography-Black and White). The award-winning score was written by Russian-born composer Dimitri Tiomkin. "High Noon" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" in 1989, the NFR's first year of existence. In Hadleyville, a small town in New Mexico Territory, Marshal Will Kane (Cooper), newly married to Amy Fowler (Grace Kelly), prepares to retire. The happy couple will soon depart for a new life to raise a family and run a store in another town. However, word arrives that Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald),
High Noon against the popular will. Any time you're alone and you feel you're not getting the support you need, Cooper's Will Kane becomes the perfect metaphor." Ronald Reagan cited "High Noon" as his favorite film, due to the protagonist's strong commitment to duty and the law. By contrast, John Wayne told an interviewer that he considered "High Noon" "the most un-American thing I've ever seen in my whole life", and later teamed with director Howard Hawks to make "Rio Bravo" in response. "I made "Rio Bravo" because I didn't like "High Noon"," Hawks explained. "Neither did Duke [Wayne]. I didn't think