Enigmatic gunslinger Shane rides into a small Wyoming town with hopes of quietly settling down as a farmhand, but a smoldering settler/rancher conflict forces him to act to clear out all the guns from the valley.
Here, as too often in his career, Stevens is aiming to have the last word on a genre: everything aims for 'classic' status, and everything falters in a mire of artsiness and obtrusive technique.
For Shane contains something more than beauty and the grandeur of the mountains and plains, drenched by the brilliant Western sunshine and the violent, torrential, black-browed rains...
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
January 01, 2000
There are intriguing mysteries in Shane, puzzles and challenges, not least in the title character and the way he is played by Alan Ladd.
The direction is deliberate, but the attention to detail is impressive, and the perfromances of Jean Arthur, Alan Ladd, and Brandon De Wilde are so good and restrained that they overcome the social-mythical types they're playing.
Wyoming's scenic splendors against which the story is filmed are breathtaking. Sunlight, the shadow of rain storms and the eerie lights of night play a realistic part in making the picture a visual treat.
