Hillsborough Classic Film Society presents “High Noon” (1952).

On Sunday, March 8, the Hillsborough Classic Film Society will present High Noon (1952), one of the greatest and most elegant of the mythic westerns. It stars Gary Cooper as Marshal Will Kane and Grace Kelly as his new bride. The plot is simple. Marshal Kane has made the town safe, and is now about to leave his job and ride off with his new bride to take up work elsewhere. Just as he’s about to go, he gets a message that a man he’s sent to prison is coming back to town to meet with three henchmen and come after the marshal. The question is whether Kane will stay to confront the killers, or will ride off before they arrive to save himself and his bride, leaving the town to the four brutal gunmen. It’s a choice, as the title song says, between love and duty. The movie was produced by Stanley Kramer and directed by Fred Zinneman, who also directed From Here to Eternity, Oklahoma!, The Nun’s Story, and A Man for All Seasons. The speaker will be Ken Wetherington, a local author and film buff. March 8 at 3 pm in the Hillsborough Public Library on Margaret Lane. It is free to the public and, of course, there will be free popcorn. The Society’s website is www.hillsboroughclassicfilms.com.