High Noon RevisiTed

The plot of the 1952 Western movie classic, High Noon, intrigues me greatly.  I wrote about it in this blog on March 22nd.  The basic story is that four notorious gunmen, led by Frank Miller, a man originally convicted of murder and sentenced to hang, but later pardoned, his brother, Ben, and two associates, Jack Colby and Jim Pierce, were determined to kill Will Kane, the ex-marshall of Hadleyville, a western town, some time in the late Nineteenth Century.  Their reason was revenge for Kane’s involvement in Miller’s murder conviction.  At his trial, Miller made his threat to kill Kane well-known. 

Killing Kane would of course be against the law, but these four men could care less.  Kane, recently married, had to think not only about his own safety, but that of his bride as well.  He first decided to run away.  He had about an eighty minute head start before the gang would all meet at the Hadleyville train depot.  Kane then changed his mind and decided it would be better to confront his enemies in Hadleyville, hopefully with the help of some friends.  In order to give himself some clout, he acted as if he was still the marshall, which was not true. 

According to my research, it is a crime in the United States to threaten someone.  Such threats can be written, verbal, or made by gestures or body language, depending on the law of the state.  However, the threat cannot be vague or unreasonable.  It must be credible, real, and imminent. 

Was it a crime when Miller first threatened Kane at the trial?  It probably wasn’t credible and imminent since Miller was on his way to prison to be executed.  Five years later, after being pardoned, Miller’s threat was being taken very seriously in Hadleyville.

What does someone do if their life is threatened and the threat seems real?  You can make a criminal complaint with the police.  The police should then investigate your complaint.  They will decide if there is enough evidence to bring criminal charges against the person who made the threat.  If charges are brought, there will be a trial to determine if the accused is guilty of a crime.  If found guilty, they will be punished in some fashion, perhaps imprisoned.

But what if it is just your word against the person’s making the threat?  What if there is not enough substantial evidence to support your charge?  What if the police can do nothing?  What if all you have is a restraining order from a judge?  Then what do you do?

Someone in Hadleyville suggested that Kane should have arrested Ben Miller plus Colby and Pierce while they were waiting at the train depot for brother Frank.  Kane said it was not against the law to wait for someone at the train depot.  Maybe he was wrong.  Perhaps they were guilty of a conspiracy to attempt murder.  They were not there to give Frank a welcome home party.  What about when they removed their spurs, loaded their weapons, and started marching toward the main street of Hadleyville looking to find and kill Kane?  When do they actually commit a chargeable offense?  Not until they fire on Kane?  But since Kane drew on them first, they could claim self-defense.

In the 1962 film, Cape Fear, we see a similar story.  There, an ex-convict, Max Cady played by Robert Mitchum, blamed another man, Sam Bowden played by Gregory Peck, for his having spent eight years in prison.  Bowden was a witness to Cady’s crime of assaulting a woman and testified against him at his trial.  In Cady’s warped mind, it was Bowden’s testimony, not his own actions, that sent him to prison.  Following his release, Cady stalked Bowden and his family.  His ultimate goal was to assault and rape Bowden’s young daughter as revenge for his lost eight years.  After a friendly police chief had exhausted all he could legally do to help, Bowden took personal responsibility to protect himself and his family.

Perhaps, like Bowden, at a certain point, you must take personal responsibility for your own or your family’s safety.  Perhaps you need to protect yourself.  Perhaps you need a gun, like Sam Bowden did above.  In the State of North Carolina, for example, a resident of the State can legally buy (with a permit) a pistol and carry it on their person with the State’s Concealed Handgun Permit.  Without any friends, save his wife, Kane took responsibility for his own safety.  What else could he have done?  Running away would have only postponed the inevitable.  Any comments?