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On Screenwriting

Editor's Note: Authorlink welcomes Los Angeles screenwriter and teacher Neil Flowers and his new monthly column on the subject of writing for film and television. Neil's columns appears on the first of every month.

". . . This moment of change -- a major plot point -- is sometimes called
the point of attack. . ."
—Flowers

This moment of change -- a major plot point -- is sometimes called the point of attack or inciting incident. It launches the protagonist into the conflicts and attendant complications of act II. Often, however, there is a slight lull in the narrative before the conflicts begin. In this lull, the hero hesitates to commit fully to the enterprise or can even refuse it entirely. Christopher Vogler in The Writer's Journey calls this transition the "Refusal of the Call," i.e., the refusal of the summons to action inherent in the turning point.

High Noon demonstrates this refusal: Accepting the remonstrations of friends at his wedding, Will Kane climbs into the buckboard with Amy, and leaves. Once Will is out of town, though, he stops the buckboard and reconsiders. When Miller and his gang realize that he has left town only a short while before, they will ride after him and Amy. And the couple will be "alone on the prairie" with Will unarmed. Amy pleads with Will to go on, but he turns the buckboard around and heads back. He feels that they will be safer there among his old friends: Will has now accepted — even at the risk of his life — the challenge Miller presents. He cannot run away from his fate.

Now the conflicts and complications of act II truly begin. Since this Western is so simply constructed — which is not to say that it is a simplistic film — let's follow it through.

As we saw last month, Will's conflicts start with Amy. She begs him again not to stay, but he is now determined. His friends will help them, he says. Amy doesn't care. She tells Will that she is leaving on the noon train and walks away.

Next Judge Mettrick (Otto Kruger) appears: He who has not twenty minutes before married Kane and Amy. Mettrick doesn't want to be around when Miller arrives, so he starts packing his law books. Will reveals his expectations to the judge. All he needs to defeat the Miller gang, he says, are "ten or twelve guns." Mettrick doubts the courage of the townspeople. He cites an example from Greek history to prove his point and then rides off after delivering a memorable parting shot: "This is just a dirty little town in the middle of nowhere. Nothing that happens here is really important. Get out of town Will, while you still can." But at this point, Will expects his friends will provide the force he needs.

Within the first few minutes of the second act, and less than 20 minutes into the story, Will's wife, deputy, and good friend the judge have all abandoned him to his chosen fate. Talk about complications arising from conflicts!

And the first person who has agreed to help, Herb Baker (James Millican), finally backs out because everyone else has done the same. He and Kane alone meeting the gang, he says, "would be just plain committing suicide." In the end, only two people in Hadleyville agree to stand with Kane against Miller: Johnny, a 14-year-old kid, and Jimmy, the town drunk. Kane declines their help.

Another fact about High Noon regarding act II that is worth looking at closely.