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Movies in Memories 2
Shane (1953)

Alan Ladd - Jack Palance
 and All of us, born to roam


The Call of the Faraway Hills

On a quiet spring day, looking up the snow-covered Rockies, I asked myself, "What was I doing in the spring of 1953?" It was almost 60 years ago.
Why did I ask? I was composing a webpage about the movie, "Shane".

Back then, I was in the middle school. Our school had some special connection with the owner of Dan-Sung-Sah (단성사) Movie Theater in Chong-No-3-Ka (종로 3가). About every other month or so, the school took us to a movie at the theater. During those school days of ours, we were not allowed to go to movie theater on our own. We had short haircut and we were easily spotted in the movie theater. The educational bureaucracy didn't want us to see kissing or loving scenes in the foreign movies. Such behaviors were considered to lead us into an immoral corruption in our minds, thus we were forbidden to see them. Well, but then, we were living in one of the most corrupted Banana Republics in the world. Yet, if we got caught, we got a suspension in attending school for a week. (Well, I am a bit off the tract.)

One day, probably in the spring of 1953, all middle school students went to Dan-Sung-Sah for a movie early in the morning.
It was a western movie, known as "Shane". It was probably the first time when we tasted an American western movie with cowboys and gun fights. There, we started to learn the law of the old American West where a faster shooter or the stronger was the winner. Living in Korea in those days, I thought we were a part of the old American West. (Off the tract again... I am supposed to and trying to write a romantic essay.) Why am I keep mentioning the bad old days in Korea? Because it might have something to do with our outbound roaming.

Since then, numerous western movies came along. As always, there were good and bad cowboys, poor helpless farmers or shopkeepers, and a pretty girl or two. A good cowboy always won the gun fight and he took the girl at the end. Shane was about as typical movie as we knew but, somehow, it left a very different feeling in our minds. Among numerous western movies, Shane is considered as one of the best 10 by American Film Institute. Obviously, Americans had a similar feeling at the movie like we had then. I am very thankful to my school (or the owner of Dan-Sung-Sah) who picked the movie for us. It was a wonderful movie. The images, sounds, and emotions of it stayed with me ever since unto this day.


Shane, Come back, come back - The movie trailer



The theme for George Stevens' "Shane" (1953)
This audio auto-starts. For other videos or audios, please click the "double bar"
at left lower corner to stop playing. Then click "right arrow" in other players.



The Call of the Faraway Hills - by a wind instrument



The Call of the Faraway Hills - by Guitar



THE CALL OF THE FARAWAY HILLS


Theme song from the film "Shane" (1953)
(Victor Young / Mack David)


      Shadows fall on the prairie
      Day is done and the sun
      Is slowly Fading out of sight
      I can hear, oh, so clear
      A call that echoes in the night
      Yes, I hear sweet and clear
      The call of the faraway hills

      There's no rest on the prairie
      There's no rest for a restless soul
      That just was born to roam
      Who can say, maybe way out there
      My heart may find a home
      And I hear sweet and clear
      The call of the faraway hills

      There are trails I've never seen
      And my dreams are getting lean
      And beyond the sunset
      There are brand new thrills
      When a new dream or two
      May just be one star away
      I must obey the call of the faraway hills

      I must obey the call of the faraway hills



      먼 산울림

      검푸른 저 산 너머
      깃들인 석양빛은 소리없이 사라져
      넓은 벌판에 해는 떨어지고
      가슴에 다가오는 내 설움

      산울림뿐 풀잎 그리운 저 산 동네
      어두운 벌판길 나만 외로이
      말을 타고서 어데로 가나

      나는 정처 없이 떠가는 새와 같은
      긴 새 언제나 끝나리
      먼 산울림만 날 불러준다
      산울림만 날 불러준다.



Way back then, some of us used to sing the theme song of Shane in Korean lyrics. The melody and the lyrics, about a lonely wandering soul, were wonderful and never forgotten. It must have touched the hearts of us who were living in a society with a lot of hardships. In the hearts of the growing minds of juvenile students, it was a fitting sentiment.

After landing in America, I searched for the song but I didn't even know the name of it. No one seemed to know about the movie "Shane" and it's theme song. Only after many years' search I found that it was Victor Young's "Call of the Faraway Hills". The English lyrics almost matched the Korean one.

Having born in the remote mountains of Kang-Won-Do and then lived in Seoul, I had always missed my native home and thought of going back to the faraway hills of eastern Korea for my medical practice, but the reality of life had a different plan for me.  As my fate prepared something I would have never imagined, "the call of the faraway hills" pulled me across the Pacific Ocean. After life-long medical practice in Kentucky and my retirement, I happened to move to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, truly faraway hills from where I was born and grown up. Was it a coincidence?

As the lyrics says, looking back at my life, and tracing the paths I have trodden, it seemed that I must have faithfully "obeyed the call of the faraway hills". The song must have been the invisible guide to the life-long trip of mine and seemed to have mirrored the story of my life.

Here, finally into a webpage, I put together all the images, melodies, and the lyrics of the movie that I never forgot since having seen it at Chong-No Street. Thanks for the modern technologies. Without it, my story is just a scribble on a piece of paper with no sounds or images.

This cyber-essay is for you too, because I am sure that my story is not much different from yours. One way or the other, knowingly or unknowingly, we shared same paths that followed the calls of the faraway hills.

As Shane did at the end of the movie, the small boy in the spring of 1953 isn't far away from saddling up and riding away toward the sunset, again to the unknown and never-seen hills faraway. That's one more call that the roamer must obey for the last time.
               - SNUMA WM


The Call of the Faraway Hills - Voice of Ken Curtis

Film Details



SHANE
Release Date: Feb 1953
Duration (in mins): 118
Cast:
Alan Ladd (Shane)
Jean Arthur (Marian Starrett)
Van Heflin (Joe Starrett)
Brandon de Wilde (Joey Starrett)
Walter Jack Palance (Jack Wilson)
Director:
George Stevens (Dir)
John Coonan (Asst dir)
Writer:
A. B. Guthrie (Scr)
Jack Sher (Addl dial)
Producer:
George Stevens (Prod)
Ivan Moffat (Assoc prod)
Distribution and Production 
Company:
Paramount Pictures Corp.


Summary:

While playing on his Wyoming homestead, young Joey Starrett spies a lone rider approaching his house, then listens
with great curiosity as Shane, the buckskin clad stranger, reveals to his father Joe that he is heading north, toward home. When Joey cocks the rifle he has been toting, Shane, startled by the noise, draws his gun with the speed of a gunslinger. Joe is disturbed by Shane’s behavior and, as a group of men ride up, sends him on his way. The men’s leader, grizzled cattle baron Rufe Ryker, accuses Joe of squatting on his grazing land and demands that he give up his homestead. When Joe refuses, Ryker’s men start to intimidate him until Shane suddenly reappears at Joe’s side. The men depart, and Joe’s wife Marian, who has observed everything from inside the house, urges Joe to invite Shane to dinner. Joey is thrilled to have Shane spend the evening with them, and at the end of the meal, Shane, reticent to talk about his past, goes outside to chop wood for the family. Joe joins in and the next day, the two men team up to pull a stubborn tree stump out of the ground.

Later, Joey tells Shane that his parents want him to stay and innocently lets on that his father is concerned about Ryker’s threats. Shane, who has put away his gun, agrees to remain and heads to town to buy work clothes. Soon after, homesteader Ernie Wright arrives at the Starretts’ to announce that Ryker’s men have destroyed his wheat field and, consequently, he and his family are moving away. Joe begs Ernie to stay and calls for a meeting of the homestead men that night. Meanwhile, in town, Shane purchases clothes at Sam Grafton’s general store, then orders a soda pop in the adjoining saloon. There, Chris Calloway, one of Grafton’s men, calls Shane a “sodbuster” and tosses a glass of whiskey on his new shirt. Shane does not react to Calloway’s provocations, however, and walks out.

That night, during the meeting, Joey overhears homesteader Fred Lewis, who witnessed the saloon exchange, declare that Shane did not stand up to Calloway. Marian reassures Joey that Shane is not a coward, but counsels him not to become too attached to him. Later, having decided to stick together as a group, the homesteaders and their families go to town to shop for the next day’s Fourth of July celebration. At Grafton’s, Calloway again confronts Shane in the saloon, but this time, Shane throws two drinks on Calloway and slugs him. After a grueling fistfight, Shane finally knocks out Calloway and is offered a job by Ryker. When Shane declines, Ryker accuses him of lusting after Marian, and despite pleas from Joey, Shane single-handedly takes on all of Ryker’s men. Joe aids Shane in the fracas, until Grafton, fed up with the destruction, demands a halt.

As the homesteaders depart, Ryker vows to fight on and sends for notorious Cheyenne gunslinger Jack Wilson. Back at home, Joey gushes to Marian about his love for Shane, while Marian wrestles with her growing romantic feelings for the loner. The next day, after Joey admits to Shane that he sneaked a peek at his gun, Shane gives the boy some pointers on how to shoot and demonstrates his skill as a marksman. Though impressed, Marian expresses her disapproval of guns and asks Shane not to encourage Joey’s interest. Ernie, meanwhile, complains to neighbor Stonewall Torrey that because Ryker’s men killed his sow and ruined his fields, he is giving up. Angry, Stonewall, whose courage has been questioned by some of the homesteaders, goes to town and, in the saloon, criticizes Ryker for running Ernie off his land. Later, at the Fourth of July party, Joe and Marian also celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary, and Marian shares a dance with Shane. When Stonewall arrives and announces that Ryker has hired a gunfighter, Shane guesses he is Wilson.

Back at their house, the Starretts and Shane are met by Wilson, Ryker’s brother Morgan and Ryker, who in an attempt to appear reasonable, offers to sell Joe his land. Joe angrily rejects the idea, pointing out that the government already recognizes the homesteaders’ claims. In turn, Ryker complains that because he fought the Indians and slaved to make the land livable, he is entitled to own it, without fences. Ryker and Wilson depart peacefully, but in town, Ryker instructs Wilson to do whatever is necessary to defeat Joe. To that end, Wilson provokes a confrontation with Stonewall, then shoots him down when he makes a half-hearted move for his gun. With the nearest lawman a three-day ride away, Wilson’s claim of self-defense goes unchallenged. At Stonewall’s funeral, the Lewis family announce that they, too, are leaving their homestead, but Joe and Shane beseech their other neighbors to keep fighting. Just then, a fire is spotted at the Lewis place, and Ryker’s blatant sabotage strengthens Joe’s resolve to stop Ryker at any cost.

That night, Ryker sends for Joe, while Joe prepares to challenge Ryker at gunpoint, ignoring Marian’s tearful pleas not to risk his life. Shane, who has been warned about Ryker’s plans by a reformed Calloway, dons his buckskins and straps on his gun, then fights Joe to keep him from leaving. When Shane hits Joe in the head with his gun butt, a terrified Joey screams hatefully at him, but Marian is relieved. Joe is knocked out, and aware that she will not see Shane again, Marian says a grateful goodbye. Joey trails Shane to the saloon and sees him goad Wilson into drawing his gun. Shane shoots Wilson dead, then shoots Ryker when he draws, and with Joey’s help, outdraws Morgan. Later, Joey apologizes for his angry words and begs Shane to return to the homestead. Gently declining, Shane tries to explain to the boy that he cannot change the man he is at heart and does not belong there. As Shane mounts his horse and rides off, Joey, devastated and confused, cries after him to "come back."


"Shane" played by Alan Ladd and "Wilson" by Jack Palance in final shootout
as the movie ends. As he leaves, Shane says, "A man has to be what he is".


Introduction and Summary, from a Korean source

1950년대영화계를 풍미한 가장 멋진 서부 영화중의 하나. "알란 래드를 위한 영화이고 알란 래드는 셰인을 위해 태어났다" 라고 평할 정도로 찬사를 받은영화. 이영화는 셰인을 애타게 부르는 목소리 "셰인~~ 컴백~~"을 뒤로 하고 떠나가는 남자 주인공의 모습으로 미국 서부영화의 스타일을 가장 멋지게 보여줍니다. 셰인은 서부의 방랑자입니다.

1890년 초여름의 태양이 내리쬐는 어느날. 초록빛으로 물든 아름다운 와이오밍 고원에 한 사나이가 말을 타고 나타난다. 단정한 몸차림에 침착한 태도, 그리고 눈매는 온화하면서도 예리함이 번뜩이며 뜨내기 카우보이와는 다른 모습이다.

이곳엔 동부에서 이주해 온 개척민들이 살고 있다. 개간한 토지는 그들의 소유로 법률이 보장해 주었다.
수수께끼의 사나이는 개척민의 한 사람인 죠 스타레트의 집에서 물을 얻어 마시고 저녁 식사까지 초대 받는다. 사나이는 스타레트의 호의에 감사하는 마음으로 하룻밤 신세를 진다. 수수께끼의 사나이는 이름이 셰인이라고 자기 소개를 간단히 한다.

스타레트는 아내 마리안과 아들 조이, 단출하게 세 식구이다. 스타레트는 의지가 강인하고 그곳 주민들의 대변자이다. 그러나 스타레트는 이 지방에서 오래 전부터 목축업을 하고 있는 라이커라는 사나이 때문에 골치를 앓고 있었다.

라이커는 툭하면 개척민들을 못살게 들볶으며 이들의 모든 땅을 차지하려 한다. 스타레트가 부리던 머슴들도 라이커의 등쌀에 견디지 못하고 떠나버리고 만다. 그간의 사정을 말한 스타레트는 셰인에게 월동 준비가 끝날 때까지만이라도 머물러 달라고 한다.

그래서 스타레트의 일을 도와주기로 한 세인은 마을에 물건을 사러갔다가, 라이커 일당에게 곤욕을 치루지만 말썽을 일으키지 말라고 한 스타레트의 당부 때문에 묵묵히 참고 집으로 돌아오는데...

[스포일러] 마을 사람들은 라이커 일당 때문에 마을에 갈 때는 단체로 가기로 한다. 이때 또다시 시비를 걸어오는 라이커 일당과 싸움이 붙은 셰인은 물러서지 않고 싸워 이긴다.
하지만 적수가 많아 위기에 빠졌을 때 스타레트가 도와주어 모두 쓰러뜨린다. 이를 지켜보면서 자랑스러워하는 죠이. 총을 좋아하는 죠이는 셰인을 만났을 때부터 그의 반짝이는 권총에 관심을 갖는다.

결국 죠이의 간절한 요청에 셰인이 커다란 소리를 내며 사격 시범을 보이자 눈이 둥그래 진다. 어머니 마리안은 셰인에게 점점 더 깊은 호감을 느끼고 셰인도 이를 느낀다. 그러다 마을 사람 하나가 라이커가 고용한 잭 윌슨이라는 이름높은 냉혹한 쌍권총잡이에게 사살되자, 겁을 먹은 마을 사람들은 모두 떠나려한다.

이 때문에 스타레트가 그를 상대하려하지만, 셰인은 마리안을 위해 그를 때려눕히고 자신이 나선다. 아버지와 싸우는 것을 보고 밉다며 화를 냈던 죠이는 셰인의 깊은 뜻을 알고 사과하러 그를 뒤쫓아간다. 처음으로 마을에 총을 차고 나타난 셰인.윌슨과 생사의 결투가 벌어지고 셰인의 총성과 함께 윌슨은 뒤로 나자빠진다.

그리고 나머지 라이커 일당도 처치한다. 그리고 죠이 덕분에 나머지 한 놈도 처치하고 자신도 한 쪽 팔에 부상을 입는다. 일이 모두 끝나고, 그가 떠나지 말기를 간절히 요청하는 소년 죠이에게 사람을 죽인 사람은 계속 머물 수가 없다고 눈물을 흘리는 소년에게 말한는 셰인은 소년 조이의 머리에다 손을 얹고 "어머니에게 더 이상 이 마을에 총이 필요없다고 말씀드려라"고 말한 뒤 마을을 떠난다. "잭은 총도 뽑지도 못했어요! 돌아와요 셰인!"하고 소리치는 소년의 메아리를 뒤로 한 채.

모래 먼지가 날리는 황량한 서부를 배경으로 정의와 평화를 지키려는 한 사나이와 소년의 우정이 낭만적인 서사극으로 그려진 불후의 웨스턴 무비!. <젊은이의 양지>로 친숙한 조지 스티븐스 감독의 색채 데뷔작으로, 리얼리즘 터치와 서정미가 듬뿍 풍기는 서부극의 대명사로 손꼽히는 영화다.

미남 배우 앨런 래드의 우수에 젖은 미소가 수 많은 여성들의 가슴을 저리게 만들고, 키 작은 그가 상대역 진 아서를 위해 굽높은 구두를 신었다는 일화가 유명하다.
특히 소년과의 마지막 이별 장면은 영화사의 손꼽히는, 긴 여운을 남기는 명장면이다.

1953년 아카데미 작품상과 감독상을 비릇, 6개 부문에 노미네이트되어, 컬러 촬영상을 수상했다. 또한 아름다운 영상과 함께 주제곡 "The Call Of The Faraway Hills"도 오랫동안 사랑받은 명곡이다.
영화음악을 맡은 빅터 영은 [누구를 위하여 종은 울리나], [80일간의 세계일주], [고원의 결투] 등의 음악을 맡았고, 특히 고원의 결투의 주제가인 "자니 기타"는 심금을 울리는 노래 중의 하나입니다.


The theme song and the beginning scenes
 
Some parts from American Film Institute, Youtube, and the Internet,
Webpage - May 10, 2010, SNUMA WM

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