The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
As I’ve shared in previous columns, we’re fortunate to have a variety of venues showing classic films in the greater Los Angeles area.
One of those theaters is The Autry Museum of the American West, cofounded by cowboy star Gene Autry.
Over the years I’ve seen a number of Westerns at The Autry, as it’s referred to informally, including Shane (1953), Johnny Guitar (1954), The Tall T (1957), and Canyon Passage (1946).
I wrote about the Canyon Passage screening here almost exactly seven years ago; it’s hard to believe it’s been that long!
I just returned to The Autry for my first screening in a couple of years. In the intervening time the museum theater dropped Wells Fargo as a sponsor name and was remodeled.
I’m pleased to say that the theater sound system is now vastly improved, enabling me to clearly hear every word, even with, shall we say, “imperfect” hearing. I very much recommend that Southern Californians visit The Autry.
The impetus for my return to The Autry was a 35mm screening in the museum’s ongoing “What is a Western?” movie series.
Making the event even more interesting was that the film was introduced by retired USC Cinema professor Drew Casper, who was one of our oldest daughter’s professors when she was in college. I got to sit in on one of her classes; he’s an interesting and entertaining speaker.
The movie shown was John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), which I’d not seen for literally decades. In fact, while I’ve seen bits and pieces over the years, my records indicate that I’d not seen the complete film since my early teens.
At that time in my life I found the movie something of a downer, with its tragic love triangle and melancholy tone about the passing of the American West. The optimism of Ford films such as Wagon Master (1950) and Rio Grande (1950) was much more appealing to me, and I never returned to Liberty Valance.
I knew it was past time to revisit the movie and watch it in a more mature context, in terms of both my age and the hundreds of Westerns seen in the intervening years. And indeed, while the earlier “optimistic” Ford films remain my favorites, I was very much able to appreciate Liberty Valance now. It may not be my favorite story, but every frame is rich, majestic Fordian storytelling of a caliber rarely equaled by other filmmakers. I very much enjoyed it.
One of the first things I noticed was that the Liberty Valance titles were done in a similar style to one of my favorite Ford films, My Darling Clementine (1946).
That’s the kind of thing you only tend to note as an older viewer who’s seen a lot of movies – or at least a lot of Ford movies! I found it interesting as Clementine is also about the taming of the West, but while it has its own melancholy aspects, Darryl Zanuck saw to it that the final edit ended on a relatively optimistic note. Liberty Valance, by contrast, ends wistfully, perhaps even sadly.
As the 123-minute The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance begins, prominent, older politician Ransom “Ranse” Stoddard (James Stewart) and his wife Hallie (Vera Miles) are returning to a dusty Western town from their past.
As they meet up with old friends such as Link Appleyard (Andy Devine) and Pompey (Woody Strode), we learn they have come to town to mourn the death of an old friend, Tom Doniphon (John Wayne).
In flashback Ranse recounts to some newspapermen how he came to meet Tom and Hallie, after being severely beaten by Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin) during a stagecoach robbery. Ranse had come to the defense of a widow when Valance tried to take some sentimental jewelry; it’s of note the small part of the widow was played by Ford regular Anna Lee, whose work with the director went back to How Green Was My Valley (1941) two decades earlier.
Link, the sheriff, is terrified of Valance and doesn’t do anything to stop his reign of terror in the town. Tom and Ransom represent two different points of view on how to stop Valance: physical might or the law?
The two men, incidentally, are also eventually in conflict over Hallie, as they each love her.
Matters finally come to a head regarding Valance when Ranse picks up a gun after Valance badly beats Ransom’s friend Peabody (Edmond O’Brien), the alcoholic newspaper publisher.
Ranse kills Valance in a street shootout and is celebrated by the town as a hero, but unbeknownst to Ranse, it’s actually Tom’s rifle which killed the villain. With Tom’s urging, the truth does not come out and Ranse goes on to a storied political career, with Hallie at his side.
As Ranse finishes recounting the true story at movie’s end, the newspaper editor (Carleton Young) tears up the real story, saying “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is an unusual Western in some ways, starting with the fact that the beautiful Arizona and Utah landscapes we associate with Ford are not in evidence here. Doniphon’s ranch is in a nondescript area, filmed outside Los Angeles, and the key stagecoach robbery appears to have been filmed in a soundstage.
Despite the lack of scenery, some of the compositions, filmed in black and white by William H. Clothier, are incredibly striking and artistic. There’s a fabulous moment when the camera pulls all the way around the saloon bar, panning various faces, which I loved. And take a look at the saloon shot below, which is pure Western art.
Returning to unusual aspects of the film, the legendary Wayne, billed first after a coin flip with Stewart, has a presence which lingers over the film, yet is far less seen – and less central to the story – than Stewart’s Ranse Stoddard.
Wayne’s Doniphon is a symbol for the passing of the traditional West, as might, via strong men with guns, made way for civilization. Perhaps Wayne’s less central character was also an inadvertent symbol for what was happening to Western films. Just a couple years later the genre would receive a jolt from Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwoods “spaghetti” Westerns.
Stewart’s Ranse threads a needle, being “citified” yet never cowardly. Time and again he stands up for others at great personal risk. The scene where Ranse slugs Tom after Tom plays a prank on him is a great moment, as one senses dawning respect, rather than anger, coming from Tom.
Among the superb supporting cast, I couldn’t help thinking that Edmond O’Brien was basically playing Thomas Mitchell playing a Ford character. He’s great, while not very original. Mitchell, who won an Oscar for Ford’s Stagecoach (1939), died in December 1962, just a few months after the release of Liberty Valance.
Miles had played Laurie in Ford’s The Searchers (1956), and she’s moving here in a slightly more mature role as the uneducated, feisty Hallie. John Qualen, who played her father in the earlier movie, plays her father again here, with Jeanette Nolan as her mother.
Hallie’s unspoken regret throughout the film, especially at the end, gives the viewer much to consider. One senses she loved both Tom and Ranse, but could only choose one.
Hallie gave up not just Tom, but her “roots,” to wander the world as far as the “Court of St. James.” The viewer isn’t left thinking she was unhappy with Ranse, exactly, yet one wonders if she might have ultimately been happier remaining in her hometown with the man who proved in countless ways that he loved her, even at great cost to himself.
I also especially loved Ford regular Woody Strode, moving here as Tom’s loyal friend. He is elevated beyond being a mere “sidekick” with key moments such as saving Tom’s life from a fire and tossing him the rifle used to shoot Liberty Valance.
The cast also includes Lee Van Cleef, Strother Martin, Ken Murray, Willis Bouchey, Denver Pyle, Jack Pennick, and O.Z. Whitehead. The screenplay was written by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck from a story by Dorothy M. Johnson.
To enrich my viewing experience, I ordered the brand-new book on the movie from the University of New Mexico Press Reel West series. The book, also called The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, was written by Chris Yogerst, author of several other books I’ve enjoyed.
I’ve just begun reading it, and other than several typos – unfortunately very common in today’s publishing world – it’s of the caliber I’ve come to expect from both the author and the Reel West series. I’m finding it an interesting and informative read which is adding to my greater appreciation of the film.
One of the bits of trivia in the book I love most: The robbery scene was filmed first to hide Marvin’s swollen nose behind a kerchief; it had accidentally been broken by Martin Milner during a shoot for TV’s Route 66!
Both the movie and the “making of” book are recommended.
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– Laura Grieve for Classic Movie Hub
Laura can be found at her blog, Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings, where she’s been writing about movies since 2005, and on Twitter at @LaurasMiscMovie. A lifelong film fan, Laura loves the classics including Disney, Film Noir, Musicals, and Westerns. She regularly covers Southern California classic film festivals. Laura will scribe on all things western at the ‘Western RoundUp’ for CMH.
