High Noon
written by John W. Cunningham & Carl Foreman
Jonas Anderson: All right, I'll say this: what this town owes Will Kane here can never be paid with money and don't ever forget it. He's the best marshall we ever had, may be the best marshall we'll ever have. So if Miller comes back here today, it's our problem not his. It's our problem because this is our town. We made it with our own hands out of nothing, and if we want to keep it decent, keep it growing we gotta think mighty clear here today. And we gotta have the courage to do what we think is right! No matter how hard it is.
All right. There's gonna be fighting when Kane and Miller meet. And somebody's gonna get hurt, that's for sure. Now, people up North are thinking about this town -- thinking mighty hard, thinking about sending money down here to put up stores and to building factories. It'll mean a lot to this town, an awful lot; but if they're gonna read about shooting and killing in the streets, what are they gonna think then? I'll tell ya.
They're going to think this is just another wide-open town. And everything we worked for will be wiped out. In one day, this town will be set back five years. And I don't think we can let that happen.
Mind you, you all know how I feel about this man. He's a mighty brave man. A good man. He didn't have to come back here today, and for his sake and the sake of this town I wish he hadn't. Because if he's not here when Miller comes, my hunch is there wont be any trouble. Not one bit. Tomorrow we'll have a new marshall and if we can all agree here to offer him our services, I think we can handle anything that comes along. To me that makes sense. To me thats the only way out of this. Will, I think you better go while there's still time. It's better for you and it's better for us.
Kudos and much thanks go to Mikko for the donation of this monologue, it is very much appreciated.