The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

A senator returns to a western town for the funeral of an old friend and tells the story of his origins.

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

James Warner Bellah (screenplay), Willis Goldbeck (screenplay)

Stars:

James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Wayne	...	Tom Doniphon
James Stewart	...	Ransom Stoddard
Vera Miles	...	Hallie Stoddard
Lee Marvin	...	Liberty Valance
Edmond O'Brien	...	Dutton Peabody
Andy Devine	...	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

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.

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Plot Keywords:

friend | funeral | outlaw | stagecoach | pistol | 

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Taglines:

Two Great Stars Appear Together For the First Time!

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the second John Ford movie each for Vera Miles (The Searchers (1956)) and Jeanette Nolan (Two Rode Together (1961)).

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Goofs

At minute 52:37, when the children are singing the alphabet song, the letter Q is sung, but left out of the closed captioning.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Referenced in Veronica Mars (2014)

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Soundtracks

Hail! Hail! The Gang's All Here!
(1879) (uncredited)
Music by Arthur Sullivan from "The Pirates of Penzance"
Played in the score

User Reviews

The tallest cast in the West?

I've never really explored the western genre, and plucked this one from the IMDb top 250.

It's a cracking film that I really enjoyed, and one which I now understand why people debate so much.

What struck me though, was how tall the leads are! I'm used to seeing Stewart towering over everybody, but putting him with an astonishingly good Marvin (6' 3") and of course the towering Duke (6' 4 1/2") must make this the tallest cast ever until the Green Mile came along!

I've seen more than one person say that Stewart was twenty years too old for this role. I don't agree, and thought he was fairly convincing in this. There's also nothing to say how old his character was on arriving in Shinbone.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 April 1962 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

John Ford Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min 113 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1