Happy ending for an underdog

The plot of a lone rider helping a group of homesteaders to stand up to a greedy cattle baron has been material for numerous western novels and films over the decades. This story line can be found in the novels of Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour as well as many B-western films. It can also be found in the history of the American West, notably the Johnson County War.

But perhaps the greatest use of this threadbare plot was in the classic western released 50 years ago today: “Shane.”

How that film became a classic is another story. It was expected to be a modest hit at best. With weather delays, director George Stevens’ meticulous filming and a rising budget, Paramount judged the movie a loser and was ready to sell the film rights to Howard Hughes in return for its initial investment. But much like the film’s protagonist, “Shane” has endured.

When Jack Schaefer’s novel was first published in 1949, it did not create much of a literary stir. Always on the lookout for new story material, Paramount bought the rights to the novel as a vehicle for contract star Ray Milland or Alan Ladd. In June 1950 the studio offered the novel to producer-director Stevens, who saw it as an “American tale in the King Arthur tradition.” Stevens discounted a studio list of writers, feeling few had any experience with writing a western screenplay.

Instead the director chose A.B. Guthrie Jr., who had written the award-winning novel “The Big Sky,” because he believed Guthrie could best capture the essence of “Shane.” Stevens’ script is filled with detailed notes regarding the characters’ motivations as well as his concept for the look of the film. The script describes young Joey (Brandon De Wilde) carrying “a lever-action .22 rifle, probably a Winchester ’73 or ’76.” Stevens wrote in the margin, “Make sure these models were made in the .22 caliber.” In general, though, Stevens wanted to deglamorize the gun. With the rise in popularity of the TV western, many children were adorning themselves with toy guns. Having seen what a real gun can do to the human body during his World War II service (he headed an Army film unit that covered such events as the freeing of the inmates of Dachau concentration camp), Stevens stated that he wanted to show a gun for “what it was. A destructive, violent instrument.”

Rising budget, falling rain

From the time he first read the novel, Stevens envisioned Montgomery Clift as Shane. Stevens was considering William Holden for the Joe Starrett role, and at one point Katharine Hepburn was seriously courted to play Marion.

When Clift and Holden dropped out, it suddenly appeared doubtful that “Shane” would be turned into a movie. Stevens met with studio head Y. Frank Freeman and looked over the roster of contract stars. Within a few minutes, Stevens had chosen Ladd for the role of Shane, Jean Arthur as Marion and Van Heflin as Joe. For Joey, Stevens chose De Wilde, who had recently made a favorable impression in a Broadway play.

One of Stevens’ biggest concerns was that everything should appear as authentic as possible, whether it was the characters’ clothing or the tools on Starrett’s ranch. He found a valuable asset in Joe De Yong, who was raised in Wyoming and knew just about everything there was to know about the West. In a letter to De Yong (who became the film’s technical advisor), Stevens was very specific about his desired “look” for the costumes, stating, “We want these people to wear the things that were available to them and that they would wear when they lived in this country at this time.... They didn’t have Western Costume Co. to make them look attractive and conspicuous. I make this point strong, Joe, because it seems everybody’s effort ... is to make them look as much like Western movie actors as possible.”

Stevens selected a location outside Jackson Hole, Wyo. -- a flat, empty sagebrush plain sprawling in the shadow of the giant Teton Range. The film’s estimated budget of $1.8 million was based on a 42-day shooting schedule. Anxious to save money, the studio looked for ways of shaving expenses, including filming in black and white instead of in Technicolor..

A month before filming, the rising budget of nearly $2 million made Paramount nervous, especially when Freeman claimed that any “Alan Ladd picture [would] only make $2.6 million.” The company began location filming on July 25, 1951, with the exterior set of the Starrett ranch. The daily production report noted the location had “clouds & showers until 4 p.m. as an omen of things to come. George Stevens Jr. remembered, “We had a lot of days where we couldn’t get a full day’s work [due to the rain].”

Not only did Stevens have to deal with the rising budget and filming delays, but he had to finish all scenes with De Wilde by Oct. 4, as the young actor was scheduled to begin rehearsals for a play in New York. Preparations for the big fight scene began at 7:15 p.m., and rehearsals continued until midnight. By Oct. 10, the production was 23 days behind schedule and the production report noted “slow progress in battle royal fight sequence.” What began as a 48-day shoot ended up taking 75 days, with a final cost of $2.9 million.

Paramount’s near miss

Paramount studio head Freeman, worried about the film’s escalating budget, made a deal with Howard Hughes (who was then running RKO Studios) to take “Shane” off Paramount’s hands. From the beginning, no one at the studio had much faith in the film’s commercial possibilities, let alone any idea it would become a classic. The deal, which would grant Hughes ownership of “Shane” in return for reimbursement of Paramount’s costs, left the studio heads feeling they had dumped a loser.

However, the deal ultimately fell apart, which was a stroke of luck for Paramount. As it turned out, “Shane” proved to be a huge moneymaker (by the standards of the time), taking in more than $7 million in 1953. The reviews were enthusiastic: Time magazine noted, “The way Stevens has put it together, ‘Shane’ adds up to something more than the sum of its individual parts. It almost rises above its stock material to become a sort of celluloid symphony of six-shooters and the wide open spaces.”

“Shane’s” true moment of glory came in 1954, when it received six Academy Award nominations, including best picture, best director and best screenplay. (Cinematographer Loyal Griggs was the only one who went home with an Oscar.)

The film’s appeal was simple yet effective. It combined a familiar, always popular plot with two very emotional and compelling elements: Joey’s adoration of a heroic figure (he’s too young to see his own father’s quiet heroism) and his eventual relinquishment of childhood; and a growing, unspoiled affection between Shane and Marion.

Stevens, who once said he made films for “a truck driver in Indiana,” understood what drew an audience to a film. In “Shane” he created an audience pleaser that has stood the test of time. While the American West has long since passed into the pages of history, and the western has become an endangered film species, “Shane” remains a vital, vibrant piece of American filmmaking 50 years later.

*

Michael F. Blake is the author of “Code of Honor: The Making of Three Great American Westerns -- ‘High Noon,’ ‘Shane’ and ‘The Searchers,’ ” published by Taylor Trade Press.