During the production of HIGH NOON ('52) screenwriter Carl Foreman was called to testify for the House Un-American Activities Committee. Although he admitted to once being a member of the Communist party, he refused to name other names, which effectively blacklisted him. Before Gary Cooper joined the cast, John Wayne was offered the lead, but refused to take the part. In a 1971 interview with Playboy magazine, Wayne called the film "the most un-American thing I've ever seen in my whole life," an

"To me 'High Noon' (1952) was about conscience and degrees of compromise. Most people, when they encounter such a situation, will rationalize their way out of it, they will always have a reason why they can't help." Fred Zinnemann From the interview with Brian Neve, 1997 | History of Cinema