Ranked by the American Film Institute among the top ten Westerns in the history of the art form, SHANE (1953) also appeared on both AFI’s lists of the greatest American films of all time – the original and 10th anniversary edition – as well as among the cinema’s most inspirational stories. Alan Ladd’s iconic turn as the title character – a reluctant gunslinger who protects a frontier family from unsavory elements of the lawless west – earned him a place among AFI’s accounting of cinema’s great heroes, and Brandon de Wilde’s impassioned cries to the gunfighter at movie’s end landed on AFI’s list of the most memorable movie quotes.
SHANE was directed by the great George Stevens, a titan whose credits included THE MORE THE MERRIER (1943), SWING TIME (1946), A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951), GIANT (1956) and THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK (1959). He was also father to George Stevens Jr., lifelong advocate for advancing the art of American film and founding director of the American Film Institute – whose new book chronicles his relationship with his Oscar®-winning father and his own distinguished career in Hollywood and Washington. Featuring fascinating people, priceless stories and a behind-the-scenes view of some of America’s major cultural and political events, “My Place in the Sun: Life in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Washington” provides an insightful look at Hollywood’s Golden Age and an insider’s account of Washington spanning six decades, bringing to life a sparkling era of American history and culture.
For more about SHANE, visit the AFI Catalog – and for more about George Stevens Jr.’s “My Place in the Sun: Life in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Washington,” visit the author’s website at: https://www.georgestevensjr.com.
