For this noir blog, it was tempting to participate in Once Upon a Screen’s Hispanic Heritage Blogathon by sharing the disturbing tale of abused young Margarita Cansino, the lovely girl who was transformed into troubled Hollywood celebrity Rita Hayworth. But it’s a story often told of an actress often lauded for her glamour, beauty, and talent.
Leaping from Hayworth to Jurado is no small feat, especially given that I want to discuss the specific role of Mrs. Ramirez in High Noon for Dia de la Raza. While the film is clearly a Western, it does have noir elements, especially the way Jurado confronts the femme fatale stereotype. So let’s go with that.
Classic Hollywood Westerns aren’t known for their nuanced portrayals of racial diversity or gender equality. Some may reject or satirize the anti-Native American / anti-Mexican representations, but on those rare occasions it’s attempted at all, it’s usually accomplished through the perspective of a sympathetic white male protagonist, or one who has a change of heart.
High Noon is in many ways a film that challenges Hollywood Western norms, from the age of its protagonist to his desire for marriage from the film’s outset to his failed attempts to gather a posse in a town that claims to value his efforts but will not risk their lives to support them. (And yes, there’s also the allegorical reading of blacklisting and the horrors of HUAC.)
Katy Jurado’s Helen Ramirez stands out from the glaring whiteness of the film — there are no “Indians” and the only Mexicans we see don’t seem to be allowed into the town’s establishments. She also stands out from the other images of (white) femininity in the film, especially the Marshal’s (Gary Cooper) Quaker bride (Grace Kelly) who wears her spotless white bridal dress throughout the film. While Amy proves to have some gumption in the end and defends her man despite her pacifist beliefs, it is only after she gets a lecture from Helen Ramirez that she does so. But we’ll come back to that at the end of this post.
With the dark vs. light contrasts between dark-haired, dark-eyed, dark clothed, sexually experienced Helen vs. pale, blonde and blue-eyed, white-clad virgin Amy, the familiar iconography of virgin/whore is present. The fact that Helen was formerly the girlfriend of the very villain (Frank Miller played by Ian McDonald) whom Will put behind bars and now returns with his brothers to kill Will and take over the town pushes her into the femme fatale category. That she has taken up with Will’s deputy, Harvey Pell (Lloyd Bridges), adds to her black widow image.
But soon and for the rest of the film, we are encouraged to question the sexism and potential racism in the initial judgment to which we are led. We learn, for example, that Helen is “Mrs. Ramirez,” a widow and a great benefactor of the town, with her name on several establishments that help the town to flourish and as a silent partner to local white businessmen.
We also learn that she is the one who dumped Will, not the other way around, just as she dumps his deputy Harvey (a very young Lloyd Bridges) when he acts possessive and childish, seeming to use her as a way to get “even” with Will, who did not choose Harvey for the next Marshal when he stepped down from his job upon marriage.
Perhaps Helen was also playing games by taking up with Harvey, but we see her claim her self-respect when she throws Harvey out, and then again when she leaves town, recognizing that Will Kane is not her man and that she, as a widow and Mexican woman in the white male-dominated (Hollywood) West must fend for herself.
Perhaps my favorite moment in Jurado’s compelling portrayal of this nuanced character is when she welcomes Amy Fowler (who has left Will because he plans to fight Frank Miller) into her room. There is no competition from Helen’s side; she gave Will up before he met Amy. And we know too much now to accept this as the meeting of feminine purity vs. corruption (with racial implications). But Amy is frightened, and it is Helen who advises her to stand by her man. It may not seem a progressive, feminist message in general terms, but it is a powerful one within the context of the film, and what Helen would do if Will were hers…if he had ever truly been hers.
With this, Helen boards the train out of town (and out of the film). We see that as a woman of color in the wild white West, this is her only real option. She has existed at the fringes of society, and this may be her fate for the rest of her life. Her role and her actions make a viewer think — about gender, about race, about Westerns — and I applaud her performance.
Helen Ramirez is a truly sympathetic, dynamic character played by a powerful, beautiful actress. And even if Cooper got the only acting Oscar for High Noon, not only Cooper (as Best Motion Picture Actor) but Katy Jurado brought home a Golden Globe (for Best Supporting Actress, along with a nomination for Most Promising Newcomer – Female).
October 12, 2015 at 4:44 PM
Wow – I love your discussion of a film and actress I love. I’ve never given much of what you mention – the nuances and deeper meanings – a second thought. And suddenly my appreciation of this Western has grown. Bravo!
Thank you so much for this contribution to the blogathon!!
Aurora
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October 12, 2015 at 4:45 PM
Thanks so much for your praise. I’m so glad to add depth and Jurado’s awesomeness to your appreciation of High Noon.
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October 12, 2015 at 6:04 PM
Jurado’s Helen Ramirez was definitely the stronger of the female characters in this film. She is easily the most sympathetic character in the film. Great job.
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October 12, 2015 at 6:04 PM
I agree entirely, and thanks for your feedback!
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October 12, 2015 at 9:10 PM
Great post. I’m not really into Westerns, but I’ve always liked this one because it plays against type. I’ve always particularly liked the symbolism of Kelly’s white dress and the contrast of Jurado’s look, which is meant to be dangerous and trouble, but to a modern eye is interesting and complex. I’ve frequently defended this as, if not a feminist film, then at least a progressive one. Glad to read you’re in the same camp.
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October 12, 2015 at 11:41 PM
Definitely some of the best roles in Westerns for women. Thanks for commenting!
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October 13, 2015 at 6:00 AM
I’ve always enjoyed Katy Jurado’s work. She was a strong, sympathetic and memorable character in High Noon. Definitely a better role than Kelly’s in my opinion.
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October 13, 2015 at 12:31 PM
Amen! Thanks for commenting.
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October 13, 2015 at 10:41 PM
Thank you for the fresh insights. I was never interested in this film. Now I can watch it for Katy Juradi’s performance.
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October 14, 2015 at 12:28 AM
I hope you enjoy the film. It’s a very atypical western and one of the first films to use a theme song that actually references details in the movie. Plus Jurado. 🙂
Thanks for commenting!
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October 13, 2015 at 10:45 PM
I made a typo in Katy Jurado’s name, above. I do not want to let this mistake go uncorrected. I have a beautiful sister-in-law from Mexico who Is also a beautiful and powerful woman, similar to Katy JURADO.
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September 21, 2016 at 1:39 AM
Good critique of Katy’s role in this. She’s so strong in the film for any other actress it would have served as a gateway to major Hollywood stardom but unfortunately it didn’t do much for her. I don’t know if she considered it much of a loss since she was already a huge star in Mexico and had a consistently busy career for the remainder of her life but the unfairness is evident.
She’s so strong in High Noon that if she didn’t know how to modulate her performance she could have thrown the whole balance of the film off when she interacted with Grace Kelly, still very green as the rather drippy Amy. Instead she’s cautiously aggressive yet guarded drawing Kelly out, their scenes together are by far Grace’s most potent in the picture.
But how she missed being Oscar nominated for this beautiful richly textured piece of work, especially considering that year’s field, is perplexing. Even if she had I’d still say Jean Hagen should have won for her iconic Lina Lamont but how could she have been left out to make room for Terry Moore’s bland performance in Sheba or especially Colette Marchand in Moulin Rouge-I had to go back and check who she played after watching the film? Hollywood at least realized they screwed up and cheated her so handed her a makeup nomination the next year, but it was for a nothing role albeit one she played with great dignity but not even a patch on Helen Ramirez.
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September 21, 2016 at 3:41 PM
Thanks so much for the response and notes about the Oscars. You’re entirely right.
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