“High Noon and On the Waterfront share similar themes of integrity, morality, corruption, and religion, as well as narrative structures emphasizing the collective cowardice of the bystander community—though they ultimately remain on opposing sides of their HUAC (House of Un-American Activities) allegories.”

"While individually reflecting the time and place in which each film was made, a look at the two films in tandem reveals how those differences, especially a shift in perceptions of law enforcement, have reevaluated the crime genre’s ending convention of “the bad guys always get caught” and cast it in a negative light."