Friday, January 14, 2011
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
1962 Directed by John Ford
Written by James Warner Bellah, Screen play by Willis Golbeck
Starring James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin
With Edmond O'Brien, Andy Devine, and John Carradine
The film is in black and white; it is all the more effective for that reason. We first see Senator Rans Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart) and his wife Hallie (Vera Miles). They are well dressed in black and white. Everyone else appears in shades of gray in the opening scenes. The Senator and his wife carry a burden, a sadness, more melancholy than gloom, as they arrive by train at the town of Shinbone. The Senator agrees to meet with the press while Hallie goes to see the cactus blossoms and an old burned, abandoned farm. The senator reveals that he has come for the funeral of his old friend, Tom Doniphan.
A pine box shields our view of this old friend. When the senator opens the coffin, he demands to know the whereabouts of the deceased's boots; he also orders that the boots, gunbelt and spurs be put on his friend for the burial. The trappings of the rough and lawless West are being buried with its soul in the form of Tom Doniphan, courtesy of civilization brought by the railroad and Rans Stoddard. The transition from the old to the new, between the rule of might and the rule of law, happened because of Tom Doniphan. The senator begins to tell the story of the change and the parts played in its construction by Doniphan and himself.
The story begins with the robbery and brutal beating of Rans Stoddard. He is a young attorney, coming west with law and order carried in a bag of books. Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin), embodiment of the coarse rule of force and violence where everyman does as he pleases, robs the stage and beats Rans with a heavy quirt. He scatters and tears the prized books. Tom Doniphan (John Wayne) enters on horseback with chaps, spurs and guns. He takes the battered Rans to his girlfriend Hallie for looking after. Although we don't realize it yet, the planets are now set in their courses for the eventual defeat of Valance as well as the inevitable heartbreak of Doniphan.
Doniphan has Rans eat on his credit. He also offers Rans a gun. Rans refuses the gun on the grounds that it would make him the same as Valance. Rans goes to work washing dishes and serving tables to pay for his keep at the eatery run by Hallie and her parents. Hallie is unable to read and when Rans offers to teach her, she responds, "What good has readin' and writin' done you?" But she finally agrees to learn. When Rans plans to put up his law shingle, Doniphan prophetically tells him, "You put that thing up, you'll have to defend it with a gun."
Early on, Doniphan tries to call out Valance over a steak that he has made Rans drop, but Rans defuses the situation by picking up the steak. Valance pays for the steak and then proceeds to shoot-up the town. Rans admits, "It was the gun that scared him off." He is also informed by Peabody, the newspaperman, that he "can't shoot back with a law book, Mr. Stoddard." Doniphan tells him, "Votes won't stand up against guns." At the school that he teaches, Rans erases from the chalk board, "Education is the basis of law and order" and goes out to learn to shoot. In the shooting lesseon he is humiliated by Doniphan who has pegged him as a rival for Hallie.
In the fight for statehood, Rans nominates Doniphan as a representative to the convention. Doniphan refuses and Rans in nominated instead. That night, Valance, a gun for the interests opposed to law and order, calls out Rans. He destroys the printing press, beats Peabody, and shoots Rans' sign. Rans goes out in his apron with his pistol. He takes down the broken remnants of his shingle. In the face off with Valance, Rans is wounded but appears to shoot Valance as Valance is about to shoot him between the eyes. Liberty is dead.
Hallie didn't want Rans to run from Valance, she wanted him to stay. Doniphan pretends that he got there too late. There is rejoicing at the cantina as Liberty is loaded onto a wagon and taken away. Doniphan realizes that he has lost Hallie to Rans. In a drunken stupor, he burns the little home he had been fixing for the two of them.
At the convention, the railroad and people stand against the law of the hired gun, anf for progress and statehood to protect rights. Doniphan shows up as Rans trys to walk out of the convention under opposition claims that his only qualification is the blood of Valance on his hands. Doniphan informs Rans that he killed Valance, shot him from the shadows. Rans is convinced to go back and take the nomination. Doniphan walks off and the story is done, except for learning that Rans went on to be governor, senator, ambassador, and a senator who could be the vice-president is he so chose.
The press hears the story and elects not to print it. Up to that time, no one else knew that it wasn't Rans who had killed Liberty Valance. The editor exclaims, "This is the west, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." Cactus roses are placed on Doniphan's coffin and Rans decides that they will come back to Shinbone, like Hallie has dreamed; her roots are there. As they leave, a railroad man mentions to them, "Nothing's too good for the man who shot Liberty Valance."
Review:
What is to say? This is one of my favorite movies. Jimmy Steward, Vera Miles, John Wayne, Lee Marvin, just to name to the major stars. Each of them gives an excellent performance. This movie is just excellent. The imagery and the script truly emphasize the difficulty in obtaining law and order; and the necessity of having guns on their side to prevail. This movie should be required viewing.
1962 Directed by John Ford
Written by James Warner Bellah, Screen play by Willis Golbeck
Starring James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin
With Edmond O'Brien, Andy Devine, and John Carradine
The film is in black and white; it is all the more effective for that reason. We first see Senator Rans Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart) and his wife Hallie (Vera Miles). They are well dressed in black and white. Everyone else appears in shades of gray in the opening scenes. The Senator and his wife carry a burden, a sadness, more melancholy than gloom, as they arrive by train at the town of Shinbone. The Senator agrees to meet with the press while Hallie goes to see the cactus blossoms and an old burned, abandoned farm. The senator reveals that he has come for the funeral of his old friend, Tom Doniphan.
A pine box shields our view of this old friend. When the senator opens the coffin, he demands to know the whereabouts of the deceased's boots; he also orders that the boots, gunbelt and spurs be put on his friend for the burial. The trappings of the rough and lawless West are being buried with its soul in the form of Tom Doniphan, courtesy of civilization brought by the railroad and Rans Stoddard. The transition from the old to the new, between the rule of might and the rule of law, happened because of Tom Doniphan. The senator begins to tell the story of the change and the parts played in its construction by Doniphan and himself.
The story begins with the robbery and brutal beating of Rans Stoddard. He is a young attorney, coming west with law and order carried in a bag of books. Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin), embodiment of the coarse rule of force and violence where everyman does as he pleases, robs the stage and beats Rans with a heavy quirt. He scatters and tears the prized books. Tom Doniphan (John Wayne) enters on horseback with chaps, spurs and guns. He takes the battered Rans to his girlfriend Hallie for looking after. Although we don't realize it yet, the planets are now set in their courses for the eventual defeat of Valance as well as the inevitable heartbreak of Doniphan.
Doniphan has Rans eat on his credit. He also offers Rans a gun. Rans refuses the gun on the grounds that it would make him the same as Valance. Rans goes to work washing dishes and serving tables to pay for his keep at the eatery run by Hallie and her parents. Hallie is unable to read and when Rans offers to teach her, she responds, "What good has readin' and writin' done you?" But she finally agrees to learn. When Rans plans to put up his law shingle, Doniphan prophetically tells him, "You put that thing up, you'll have to defend it with a gun."
Early on, Doniphan tries to call out Valance over a steak that he has made Rans drop, but Rans defuses the situation by picking up the steak. Valance pays for the steak and then proceeds to shoot-up the town. Rans admits, "It was the gun that scared him off." He is also informed by Peabody, the newspaperman, that he "can't shoot back with a law book, Mr. Stoddard." Doniphan tells him, "Votes won't stand up against guns." At the school that he teaches, Rans erases from the chalk board, "Education is the basis of law and order" and goes out to learn to shoot. In the shooting lesseon he is humiliated by Doniphan who has pegged him as a rival for Hallie.
In the fight for statehood, Rans nominates Doniphan as a representative to the convention. Doniphan refuses and Rans in nominated instead. That night, Valance, a gun for the interests opposed to law and order, calls out Rans. He destroys the printing press, beats Peabody, and shoots Rans' sign. Rans goes out in his apron with his pistol. He takes down the broken remnants of his shingle. In the face off with Valance, Rans is wounded but appears to shoot Valance as Valance is about to shoot him between the eyes. Liberty is dead.
Hallie didn't want Rans to run from Valance, she wanted him to stay. Doniphan pretends that he got there too late. There is rejoicing at the cantina as Liberty is loaded onto a wagon and taken away. Doniphan realizes that he has lost Hallie to Rans. In a drunken stupor, he burns the little home he had been fixing for the two of them.
At the convention, the railroad and people stand against the law of the hired gun, anf for progress and statehood to protect rights. Doniphan shows up as Rans trys to walk out of the convention under opposition claims that his only qualification is the blood of Valance on his hands. Doniphan informs Rans that he killed Valance, shot him from the shadows. Rans is convinced to go back and take the nomination. Doniphan walks off and the story is done, except for learning that Rans went on to be governor, senator, ambassador, and a senator who could be the vice-president is he so chose.
The press hears the story and elects not to print it. Up to that time, no one else knew that it wasn't Rans who had killed Liberty Valance. The editor exclaims, "This is the west, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." Cactus roses are placed on Doniphan's coffin and Rans decides that they will come back to Shinbone, like Hallie has dreamed; her roots are there. As they leave, a railroad man mentions to them, "Nothing's too good for the man who shot Liberty Valance."
Review:
What is to say? This is one of my favorite movies. Jimmy Steward, Vera Miles, John Wayne, Lee Marvin, just to name to the major stars. Each of them gives an excellent performance. This movie is just excellent. The imagery and the script truly emphasize the difficulty in obtaining law and order; and the necessity of having guns on their side to prevail. This movie should be required viewing.
