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Title: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| John Wayne | ... | ||
| James Stewart | ... | ||
| Vera Miles | ... | ||
| Lee Marvin | ... | ||
| Edmond O'Brien | ... | ||
| Andy Devine | ... | ||
 |
Ken Murray | ... | |
| John Carradine | ... | ||
| Jeanette Nolan | ... | ||
| John Qualen | ... | ||
| Willis Bouchey | ... | ||
|
|
Carleton Young | ... | |
| Woody Strode | ... | ||
| Denver Pyle | ... | ||
| Strother Martin | ... | ||
Storyline
When Senator Ransom Stoddard returns home to Shinbone for the funeral of Tom Doniphon, he recounts to a local newspaper editor the story behind it all. He had come to town many years before, a lawyer by profession. The stage was robbed on its way in by the local ruffian, Liberty Valance, and Stoddard has nothing to his name left save a few law books. He gets a job in the kitchen at the Ericson's restaurant and there meets his future wife, Hallie. The territory is vying for Statehood and Stoddard is selected as a representative over Valance, who continues terrorizing the town. When he destroys the local newspaper office and attacks the editor, Stoddard calls him out, though the conclusion is not quite as straightforward as legend would have it. Written by garykmcd
Taglines:
Together For The First Time - James Stewart - John Wayne - in the masterpiece of four-time Academy Award winner John FordParents Guide:
View content advisory »Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
28 May 1962 (UK) See more »Also Known As:
Un tiro en la noche See more »Box Office
Budget:
$3,200,000 (estimated)Company Credits
Technical Specs
Runtime:
| (cut)Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)Color:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1Did You Know?
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. See more »Goofs
Another song played at the Convention is "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here" from the song "Alabama Jubilee," written in 1915 and based on the chorus of "With Cat-Like Tread," ("Come Friends Who Plough The Sea") from Gilbert and Sullivan's 'Pirates of Penzance', written in 1879. Since the "Pirates" chorus would not have been played in a convention, this references a "Hail! Hail!" usage when the piece was written later than the action of the film. See more »Quotes
[first lines]Ransom Stoddard: [descending from railway carriage and consulting pocket watch] Thanks, Jason. On time.
See more »
Soundtracks
"Home on the Range"(1904) (uncredited)
Music by Daniel E. Kelley
Played in the score
See more »
"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