In the end,The Man Who Shot Liberty Valanceis about two men: One man is humble and comes to serve the people of a frightened community and to bring law and peace, and is willing to put his life on the line for it. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. I think even if Tom had lied to Stoddard about the shooting to ease Stoddard's conscience, it would strike me as more profound. Even his house is far outside the town (whereas Stoddard lives in its heart: at the restaurant and newspaper office). It also seems that Doniphans decision to put Stoddard in as delegate and then offer him a wagon out of town when Valance threatens him is motivated by his desire to keep Hallie to himself. John (John Wayne) is the gunfighter, Tom (Dean Martin) is the gambler, Matt (Earl Holliman) is the quiet one, and Bud (Michael Anderson Jr.) is the youngest. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. As the film opens, U. S. Senator Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) arrives in Shinbone by the new railroad with his wife Hallie (Vera Miles) to attend the funeral of a man named Tom Doniphon (John Wayne). On the page, Tom Doniphon was more of a mentor to Ranse Stoddard, easing him along the road from frontier lawyer to state senator. In this movie Ransom Stoddard is a well educated attorney from the East who comes to the West to find new opportunity and a place to practice law. Valance challenges Stoddard to a show-down, although he knows Stoddard can hardly hold a gun. In its tone, structure and visual style, the film is very different from other John Ford Westerns. His own conscience clear, Stoddard goes back into the hall and accepts the nomination; Doniphon goes home alone. His films appeared very simple and, at times, very simplistic, but they dealt with huge themes: the expansion of American military might, the conflict between the European settlers and native American civilizations, the establishment of law & order in the wilderness, and the coming of religion, trade and commerce; all these themes are reflected in one way or the other in all his westerns. True Grit: How The 2010 Movie Compares To The Book & John Wayne Version, The Barbarian And The Geisha Had John Wayne Literally Fighting His Director. Stoddard grabs a six-gun he can barely use and offers to meet Valance in the street while Hallie summons Doniphon for help. Valance and his two henchmenterrorize Shinbone, while the bumbling Marshal Link Appleyard (Andy Devine ) lacks the courage and gun fighting skills to challenge him. Jeanette Nolan Nora Ericson In its sparseness and interplay of light and darkness, Ford evokes moments from Film Noirs- where Wayne comes out of the darkness, shoots Marvin, and then recedes back into darkness. Marvin is magnificent as the snarling villain. Only Pompey and a few others saw him. First from the subjective perspective of Stoddard, and then an objective version, depicting the fact; that it was Doniphon who killed Valance, and not Stoddard. He would suddenly come across as a selfish coward because he was late to the scene, certainly a shocking resolution for any John Wayne character. Trying to defend a woman passenger, Stoddard is beaten by Valance, left for dead, and brought to town by Tom Doniphon. Even the impact of this noble deed is lessened by Doniphan indulging himself in bitterness and self-pity. In this movie Ransom Stoddard is a well educated attorney from the East who comes to the West to find new opportunity . When Stoddard is wracked with guilt thinking he killed Valance, Doniphon relieves his conscience, leaving him free to pursue his political career, founded on his false heroism. This famous aphorism (One of the most famous lines in Movie history) is spoken by the character of a newspaperman in Fords 1962 western,The Man who shot Liberty Valance. Thirty years ago the swaggering, tough-talking leader of the Gambino crime family was found guilty of murder and racketeering after eluding prosecutors at three previous high-profile trials. The characters in Liberty Valance are the archetypal figures of all Ford westerns brought together for a last reunion, in order that they might be destroyed. The body of Tom Doniphon is at rest in a plain, wooden casket. When Peabody and Stoddard are elected as the delegates, Valance promises vengeance. Valance and his gang beat up a drunken Peabody nearly to death, and ransack his office. Tom Doniphon is the archetypal Ford hero, the John Wayne of all Ford's westerns. Doniphon comes in and sees Hallie and Stoddard together and apologizes to Hallie that he did not arrive in time to help. Now obviously this revelation makes the frame story of Old Senator Stoddard work better. Tom Doniphon was rough-edged, but gentlemanly to all but Liberty Valance and his henchmen. At the convention, Stoddard and an ally (a local newspaper and town drunk played by Golden Globe Winner Edmond OBrien) are elected, but Valance threatens to kill him. Stoddard's first instinct is to demand the arrest of Liberty Valance; Doniphon tells him that law books mean nothing out West, that if Stoddard wants to take Valance, he'd better start carrying a hand-gun. We watch events of long-ago happen before our eyes, and are content to take a temporary departure from the Twentieth Century. And after the flopping of Sergeant Rutledge, Ford found himself out of work. He even takes on the duty of helping out with waiting tables. He arranges his characters within the frame to reflect power dynamics--or sometimes to suggest a balance is changing. There is so much to love about this movie and John Ford is especially skilled at luring sentimentality out of you (even for otherwise comic-relief characters like the town drunk/newspaperman). [Valance looks and sees Pompey at the door holding a rifle] Floyd: I'll get it, Liberty! It should be clear from that line-up that he often worked alongside John Wayne too, who credited the filmmaker with making him a star. Now Hallie has started to like this lawyer-man from the East, who starts up a one-room schoolhouse to teach people how to read. His relationship with Wayne was a little strained at the time, mainly because of incidents involving Waynes directorial ventureTheAlamo, in which Ford worked as a second unitdirector. Doniphon returns drunken to his place where he torches it and would be content to die if Pompy did not rescue him from the burning house. Watching the film, we see that Ransom Stoddard is indeed the story true hero and protagonist, and at times, almost a Christ-like figure. Though we still see Stoddard shoot in the direction of Valance simultaneously, almost making the true killer ambiguous. Liberty Valance is a film about death, about a sad but inevitable transition from an old social order to modern society as we know it today. Stewart turns in another winning performance. The police tried to pull him over in Lake View Terrace in San Fernando Valley after he was speeding at 110 mph. In The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, the newspaper editor says, "This is the West. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance focuses on the love triangle between Stoddard, Doniphon and his girlfriend Hallie (Vera Miles, Psycho). A man of action and few words (note his instinctive hatred of the rhetoric in the Convention speeches),. Now with his conscious clear, Stoddard returns to the convention, accepts the nomination, and is elected to the Washington delegation. Change). Stoddard recounts the whole tale to a local newspaper reporter - and plans to come clean about that night. Of these "Liberty Valance" was the most pensive and thoughtful. What Doniphon craves most is domesticity, but by finally shooting Valance, he loses that opportunity; thismakes Doniphon the most tragic character that John Wayne has ever. His friend & Ranch hand Pompey (Woody Strode)saves him from the fire, but is unable to save the house. (LogOut/ By the end of Liberty Valance, it was more than obvious that Ford and Wayne had come to the end of their long association, which started when Ford cast Wayne as an Odysseus like courageous hero in his western odysseyStagecoach. Mr. Connors died in Peterborough, Ont., at the age of 77 from "natural causes," according to spokesman Brian Edwards. His mood made life difficult for all the actors involved but he was especially tough on Wayne, who found himself in the direct firing line again. Despite his many abilities, he simply will not take part in the community. ", Also online in my Great Movies Collection: John Ford's "The Grapes of Wrath," "Stagecoach," "The Searchers," "Rio Bravo" and "My Darling Clementine," and John Wayne in Howard Hawk's "Red River.". Stoddard's first confrontation with Doniphon reveals absolutely no understanding between them; they eye each other as if the other were a strange animal. However, he was nowhere near good enough as Doniphan proved in ahumiliating display. The legend of how Stoddard stood up to Valance and killed him spread wide and helped him build a career in politics. Ford's greatest films are his westerns, a uniquely American art form he helped create, and a genre of which he is undisputed master. Sure, he talks a big game, and he certainly has a certain degree of martial prowess, but he refuses to put it to use, perhaps for fear of failure. Doniphan, while still doing dishwashing work, hangs. It was like Gary Cooper inHigh Noonexcept Stoddard wasnt Gary Cooper with the gun. He knows that his cowardice has lost him his chance at happiness. Its much more explicit in Sergeant Rutledge, which transposes the incident involving rape and murder in medieval Japan to the American frontier west. And so Stoddard tells them the story, one they decide not to print because, in this case, legend has become fact. Be sure to vote on the main blog page, not an individual photo page, so theyll tabulate correctly. He strides around as the quickest gun on the side of right, calling Stoddard pilgrim, standing up to Valance when the need arises. [Doniphon kicks Floyd in the face as he bends down to retrieve the tray] [Doniphon has just faced down Valance in the diner] From the time Ford first teamed up with Wayne inStagecoachin 1939, Waynes towering persona was Fords chief instrument in conceiving and propagating the myths about the old west. John Ford and John Wayne together created much of the mythology of the Old West we carry in our minds. You aint exactly the type., Liberty Valance: You lookin for trouble, Doniphon? Now that's out of the way, a brief introduction. Miraculously, Stoddard kills Valance, wins Hallie (Tom's former girl), and goes to the political convention. Tom Doniphon is played by John Wayne, while Ransom Stoddard is played by Jimmie Stewart. Tom repeatedly helps Ransom and the two become a competitive force against Liberty Valance. He built a home which he assumed Hally (Vera Miles) would share with him as his wife, but he lost her to the hero of the moment, Stoddard. All three spend much of their time hanging out in the restaurant kitchen. John Wayne as Tom Doniphon, the man who finds Stoddard wounded on the road to Shinbone in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), James Stewart as Ransom Stoddard, fresh off a beating at the hands of Liberty Valance in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). When movies depict the past, that past generally becomes the immediate present of the audience. James Stewart is Ransom Stoddard, an idealistic young lawyer who heads West and quickly runs afoul of an outlaw named Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). I just had to wander around in that son of a bitch and try and make a part for myself. They were playing dual archetypes of the myth: the grizzled veteran cowboy and the idealistic, young, city-slicker lawyer. Marvin stole almostevery scene in which he is featured. His films begins on an optimistic note and ends on an optimistic note; even if the they would detour into darker, pessimistic territory in between, his films always end on a note of hope and glory. In fact, they find themselves up for election as territorial delegates to work toward that goal. Doniphon - calling Stoddard 'Pilgrim', an epithet . These westerns are memory films, filled with the traditions of the past, created from the anecdotes, fables, and songs that sprang from American history. [Spoilers] My thoughts on the ending of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Edmond OBrien Dutton Peabody Stoddard was inept but courageous. After this film, his career would see a meteoric rise and, by the mid 1960s, he would become one of the top stars in the industry. Strother Martin Floyd The final line of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance sees the conductor ensuring the couple of a smooth journey and stating nothing is too for the man who killed Valance. His world is diffused by time, by memory and nostalgia, by folklore and myth. You helped to make it," we cannot help feeling a deep regret that it had to happen that way. I said you, Valance; you pick it up. /a > Oar. Four sons reunite in their Texas hometown to attend their mother's funeral. Live Action again exposes Planned Parenthood. It turns out an unseen Doniphon shot Valance with a rifle from across the street and he later came to regret saving Stoddard as he lost Hallie to the lawyer, but he pushes him to pursue a career in politics to make Hallie proud. He finds out real soon while traveling to the town of Shinbone that the West doesn't really care about law or . Subscribe to our email newsletter. Related: True Grit: How The 2010 Movie Compares To The Book & John Wayne Version. I will not go into details because the suspense should not be spoiled. You put that thing up, youll have to defend it with a gun. When he died in 1961, Corriere della Sera wrote: "Perhaps with him there has ended a certain America: that of the frontier and of innocence" Photograph: SNAP/Rex Features John Wayne His first. It turns out he hadn't worn a handgun in years. He has no fear about standing up for what he believes is right, regardless of his physical inability to defend it or himself. Stoddard is saved by Doniphon, a local farmer and horse trader, who observes: Liberty Valances the toughest man south of the Picketwirenext to me. Stoddard is nursed back to health by Hallie (Vera Miles). Ford had pestered Wayne to take up the role, because without him there would be no film. He would also emerge victorious (at least temporarily) in his fight against cancer as well,and he would go on to enjoy more than a decade and half of solid superstardom, before he would finally succumb to cancer. Is it that the Randian half of him is ashamed of his altruistic impulses? Realizing that he will be nominated on the grounds that he shot Liberty Valance. An old black cowboy named Pompey (Woody Strode) takes Hallie on a buckboard ride into the countryside where they regard the burned-out remains of Doniphon's cottage. Learn how your comment data is processed. He always liked his films to be clean and straight, and any form of alteration to the classical structure of the film was anathema to him. His westerns were all optimistic in nature and concentrated on building a myth, rather than showing the gritty reality. When Hallie says to Stoddard at the end, "This country used to be a wilderness. When they confront each other in the restaurant, Ford cuts directly back and forth between close shots of the two of them, establishing the direct link between them and the instinctive understanding each one has of the other. Shinbone is the only Western town I've seen in a movie with no prostitutes. Wayne was always against doing End of the west westerns, because End of the west means end of the western which translates as end of John Wayne. Keeping to one side, Tom Doniphon observes everything but is slow to act; his strength is silently coiled. Stoddard picked up with his least favored hand. Ken Murray Doc Willoughby It is also his most claustrophobic western; shot in Black & White and completely on a studio lot with minimal sets, the film has none of his trademark shots of stunning landscapes and colorful panoramic vistas. Wayne always plays characters who take charge of the situation, the guy who takes the fight to the opposition and, the contrast between him and the bad guy is always well defined. Authorities hoped to learn the answer today as they continued an investigation of the poison death of H. B. A newspaper reporter and editor begin asking questions about why the senator is back in town; Doniphon, after all, did not die as a man of any significance. He explains: "The Western is intrinsically the most political movie genre, because, like Plato's 'Republic,' it is concerned with the founding of cities, and because it depicts the various abstract functions of government as direct, physical actions." Tom Doniphon and Ransom Stoddard are the two key characters in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, directed by John Ford and filmed in 1962. Yes, but there's more to it than that, and in John Ford's mind, gun ownership is very much an open question. Ford's westerns represent one of the most significant achievements in the history of American art. Vera Miles Hallie Stoddard Both Ford and Wayne were extremely depressed by this, seeing the American values that they held so dear, and which they propagated so passionately through their movies, slipping away. He asks if she wants to move back to the town when they retire, which makes her delighted as she states her heart belongs there. Stoddard also becomes friends with Dutton Peabody (Edmond OBrien), editor of the Shinbone Star, as the two advocate for statehood for the territory. Big studios were giving way to Independents, and a new kind of gritty, violent cinema was being made for an emerging counter-cultural audience. He appears to be a roguish heroic type at first blush, but when you look deeper, you find a very self-centered character. I dont trust ambiguity. Wayne became surly and aggressive during the shoot and he started taking out his anger on everybody else on the set, except Ford. The age factor was a bigger problem with Stewart, because he was playing aguy half his real age for most part of the film, but with Wayne, he was again playing a personality, a symbol which represents some abstract values, so it was not a problem for him. Hes the individualistic strain in American history: the isolationist, the Randian, the pioneer who wants not to build a community, but his own private empire. Stoddard was wounded in the shooting. The character of Tom Doniphon was supposed to be a younger man, and the filmmaker relentlessly mocked and teased Wayne during filming. But Pompey won't drink. in Liberty Valance, he just slowly fades away from screen. Add to that the fact that he kills the villain, not face to face, but pretty much shooting him from the back- something that he abhorred and always criticized Clint Eastwood for doing. Doniphan is ready to kill Valance over spoiling his steak by tripping Stoddard, but does nothing while Valance oppresses his neighbors, and torments innocent people. John Ford died in 1973, and even though they didnt make any more films together, John Wayne would remain close to his mentor till his death. Predictions for the 95th Annual AcademyAwards. That he does this by mixing in history, humorous supporting characters and a poignant romance is typical; his films were complete and self-contained in a way that approaches perfection. Look instead at a debate that continues between the lawyer and the farmer about guns. 3 Stagecoach (1939) Stream now on Prime Video, Max, Roku, Tubi, and DirecTV ; In the 1930s, Wayne mostly worked as an extra or had small roles in films. TakeFort Apache (1948) for instance, which is a strong polemic on American military intervention against the Native Americans. Supposedly he likes Stoddard and doesnt want to see him killed, but what prevents him from announcing his presence before hand, or even after? The next bullet, he says, will be right between the eyes; but Stoddard fires first, and to everyones surprise, Valance falls dead. Stoddard raises no complaint when Valance seizes his fathers gold watch and robs him. He films mostly on sets, but we're not particularly aware. Stoddard thus fascinates and shames Doniphon. He also hated, what he called, intellectual snobbishness, but, this film is the most intellectual of all his films, not to mention cynical, political, pessimistic and subversive. Ford would repeatedly use Marvin (and Stewart, who also served in WWII) as a stick to beat John Wayne, who hadnt served in WWII, something that always offended Ford. The Man who shot Liberty Valance (1962) was the last western John Ford made with John Wayne. Throughout the movie there is a clear message; wilderness V. civilization. This was a breakout role for Marvin, who has been struggling in supporting parts and TV roles. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. The drunken marshal won't protect him.