The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

James Warner Bellah (screenplay) and
Willis Goldbeck (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

22 April 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Western

Tagline:

Together For The First Time - James Stewart - John Wayne - in the masterpiece of four-time Academy Award winner John Ford

Plot:

A senator, who became famous for killing a notorious outlaw, returns for the funeral of an old friend and tells the truth about his deed.

Plot Keywords:

Senator | Funeral | Outlaw | Lawyer | Stagecoach

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

John Wayne	...	Tom Doniphon
James Stewart	...	Ransom Stoddard
Vera Miles	...	Hallie Stoddard
Lee Marvin	...	Liberty Valance
Edmond O'Brien	...	Dutton Peabody
Andy Devine	...	Marshal Link Appleyard
Ken Murray	...	Doc Willoughby
John Carradine	...	Maj. Cassius Starbuckle
Jeanette Nolan	...	Nora Ericson
John Qualen	...	Peter Ericson
Willis Bouchey	...	Jason Tully - Conductor
Carleton Young	...	Maxwell Scott
Woody Strode	...	Pompey
Denver Pyle	...	Amos Carruthers
Strother Martin	...	Floyd

Runtime:

123 min | Brazil:124 min | West Germany:113 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Spain:T | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:PG | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved | Netherlands:12 | Brazil:12 | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | South Korea:12 | UK:U | West Germany:12 (w)

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

John Ford had considered casting a young actor as Stoddard, but feared that would highlight the fact that John Wayne was too old to play Doniphon.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the train ride back with Stoddard and his wife, the scenery is going by so fast that it is hardly recognizable, however the conductor states that they'll be there in no time because they'll be going 25mph. At 25 mph you could easily view the countryside. Additionally, as the conductor was talking with Stoddad he was perfectly still, no swaying back and forth, as anyone would've done on a train in the 1800s.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Ransom Stoddard: [descending from railway carriage and consulting pocket watch] Thanks, Jason. On time.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Along Came a Spider (2001)

Soundtrack:

Main Theme

"This is the west, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend".

"This is the west, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend". - Maxwell Scott, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance In John Ford's most mournful tale, the legendary director asks the question "How did this present come to be? Just how did an inferior race of men whose only weapon was that of law and books defeat the old gunslingers of the great West? Just what exactly happened to the Western heroes portrayed by John Wayne when law and order came to town? How did the wilderness turn into a garden? In The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, John Ford depicts a world where everyone has got everything they wanted, but nobody seems happy with it… sound familiar to anyone? Senator Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) arrives to Shinbone on a train with his wife Hallie (Vera Miles) to visit the funeral of an old friend named Tom Doniphon (John Wayne, remarkably the film opens where this iconic star is dead). The newspaper men have never heard of him, so why would such a powerful political figure visit the town to attend this funeral of a "nobody"? Through the use of a flashback, Stoddard tells us the tale of how he came to the town as a young lawyer but was immediately attacked by the psychotic villain Liberty Valance (terrifyingly played by Lee Marvin) who teaches him "Western law". The rest of the film tells the tale of how the man of books eventually defeated the race of the gunslinger and what sacrifices had to be made for that to happen.

In truth, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is more of a melodrama than a Western. Gone are the vibrant landscapes of Ford's landmark movie The Searchers six years earlier, which was so proudly promoted as being in VISTAVISION WIDESCREEN COLOR and instead the film has given way to a bleak, claustrophobic black and white tale, with so many enclosed sets and not one shot of Monument Valley.

There's a lack of a real bar scene, lack of shots of the landscape, lack of horses, lack of gunfights. It's a psychological Western, probably unlike anything ever filmed until maybe Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven.

Why is this movie so good then? In basic terms, it's about the sadness of progression and without giving way too much away the film tells a remarkable tale which truly does examine what Ford's view of the West as promoted in his earlier work truly meant. It's a tragic and pessimistic movie but it's a rewarding one, with huge replay value and one that leaves you with so many more questions than it does answers.

Do we prefer the legendary tale of our heroes or the truth? Are tales of people such as 'The Man With No Name' just more interesting than Wyatt Earp? Is living a lie as a successful guy better or worse than quietly dying as a hero? The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is one of the most complex Westerns that has ever been put on film and is a remarkable film when you consider it was directed by a guy who made his living telling grandeur tales of the American West. Well acted, very well written and is one of the most rewarding Westerns for replay value in the history of the genre.

Matt Holmes

www.obsessedwithfilm.com