Shane

Shane (1953) is George Stevens' classic Western, ready to watch online on iFILM. A lone rider drifts onto the Starrett homestead in Wyoming and asks for water. He gives one name only — Shane. The way his hand settles near his holster tells you everything his words won't about where he's been.

Shane (Alan Ladd) hires on with Joe and Marian Starrett and quickly becomes a hero to their young son Joey, who trails him everywhere. But a quiet war runs through the valley: cattle baron Ryker is squeezing the small farmers off their land. All Shane wants is to hang up his gun and live in peace. Then Ryker brings in a hired killer, Wilson — and Jack Palance plays him with a smile cold enough to freeze the screen.

Loyal Griggs filmed it against towering mountains and took home the Oscar for that cinematography; today the picture sits among the finest Westerns ever made, and Joey's final cry of "Shane! Come back!" is woven into movie language itself. This is no breezy shoot-'em-up but a sad ballad about a man who can't live without violence and is doomed to loneliness because of it. Stream Shane (1953) online on iFILM.