Tom Doniphon tells him that without a gun in his hand and the experience to use it, he will sooner or later certainly be killed by Valance. As opposed to his other films, this film begins on a sad note, and as it goes on, it becomemore tragic and dark and finally ends on a very pessimistic note. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU - where Hawkeye is clearly the best character - to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle. Valance and his two sidekicks hold up a stagecoach on the way to town, and when one of the passengers, Ransom, stands up to him Liberty nearly whips him to death. Stoddard and Hallie then sit in silence as the politician reflects on the life he built on a myth and John Wayne's Doniphon sacrificing his own happiness for him and Hallie. Tom Doniphon shoots the outlaw thug Liberty Valance from the shadows, keeps it a secret, then realizes that his girl Hallie is in love with Ransom Stoddard, whereupon he burns his house to the ground (starting with the new wing hed built for her. The film opens as Senator Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) and his wife Hallie (Vera Miles) arrive at Shinbone to bury a friend, Tom Doniphon (John Wayne). Hallie, once Tom's girl, has fallen in love with Stoddard, and in sparing him, Doniphon loses her. Subscribe to our email newsletter. Your comment may take some time to appear. Years ago Shinbone was held in a grip of terror by the sadistic Liberty Valance (played by Lee Marvin in a performance evoking savage cruelty). The corpse is being held in a plain pine box, and when he views it Stoddard is angered to see the boots have been stolen. As a showdown between Stoddard and Valance Ford begins to seem inevitable, Ford creates considerable tension. The year is 1910. Out of either James Stewart or John Wayne, who was The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and how does this alter the ending? Ford isn't making an anachronistic statement on racism, but he's being sure we notice it. He knows that his cowardice has lost him his chance at happiness. The film flashes forward to the present, where Stoddard sums up the rest of his story. 25 Years ago, Shinbone was held in a grip of terror by the sadistic Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin), who committed many murders and enjoyed torturing his victims using a leather bullwhip. It takes place in the town of Shinbone, in an unnamed territory that is moving toward a vote on statehood. Here, Doniphon is a horse trader while the bad guy Valance is a stagecoach robber; within the framework of the film, both are from the same world and are pretty much allies; both are trapped in obsolescent careers, neither seems willing to adapt; they represent the best and worst of that old-world. Ford uses a flashback structure to tell the story; Fords films are usually very linear, and he seldom uses a scattered narrative. 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). 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. Hes even elected as a delegate to the territorial convention but refuses to serve. When a meeting is held to vote on statehood, Pompey sits outside on the porch. The screenplay by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck contains one of the best-known lines of dialogue in any Ford movie, spoken to Stoddard years later by the town's new newspaper editor: "This is the West, sir. His illiterate students include Hallie. Its not just a matter of printing the legend: it really makes no difference. But in addition to drawing on Americana, Ford created it; the characters and situations in his westerns, from The Iron Horse to Stagecoach to Ford Apache to The Searchers to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, have become as much a part of American tradition as those on which Ford originally drew. There's a lot in the film if we care to notice. Also, the rumination on the differences between truth and fact was at the heart of Kurosawas classic. Ford was very angry about it, having to secure a favor from his protge and he doubled down on his venom on Wayne during the shooting. 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. Stoddard believes so firmly in the law that he is willing to lose his life for his principles. I just had to wander around in that son of a bitch and try and make a part for myself. This would make him a tragic figure, even if he lived the rest of his days honorably under the 'law and order' creed. A man of action and few words (note his instinctive hatred of the rhetoric in the Convention speeches), Doniphon is very much an individual who minds his own business. With Valances death, the road is clear for Stoddard to become the delegate to Washington and with Doniphon out of the way, he can also marry Hallie. They were playing dual archetypes of the myth: the grizzled veteran cowboy and the idealistic, young, city-slicker lawyer. Tom Doniphon: Pilgrim, hold it. The next bullet, he says, will be right between the eyes; but Stoddard fires first, and to everyones surprise, Valance falls dead. You aint exactly the type., Liberty Valance: You lookin for trouble, Doniphon? Stoddard, on the other hand, is of another breed; the movement West, triggered by Greeley, came after the settlers in the wagon trains, and brought with it well-established Eastern customs. Answer, Bart Allison (Randolph Scott) to rancher Morley Chase in 1957's. But the fact is that Wayne is really good as Tom Doniphon; Both he and Stewart, who were 54 and 53 respectability, were too old for the parts, but the film could not have been made without them. Fromthere to Liberty Valance, the character has now changed into a tragic hero, in the mold of Oedipus, who loses everything dear to him and wander off into the wilderness . Learn how your comment data is processed. Doniphan takes it for granted that Hallie will be his wife and resents it when she stars having feelings for Stoddard. Cattlemen do not. Wayne was Americas favorite cowboy, while Stewart, having graduated from the school of Frank Capra, withMr. Smith Goes to WashingtonandIts a wonderful lifeisits favorite idealist. You helped to make it," we cannot help feeling a deep regret that it had to happen that way. So Ford had to go back to his favorite son to get this picture made, and he didnt like it at all and neither did Wayne. In this film, it is related to the killing of Liberty Valance, which is shown from two different perspectives. Ford takes us into the past, to Shinbone before the coming of the railroad modernized the town. Change). Four sons reunite in their Texas hometown to attend their mother's funeral. His composition is classical. 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. 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. 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. Fatal Attraction Works As Entertainment, Fails as Social Commentary, Prime Videos Citadel Traps Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden in Played-Out Spy Game, New York Philharmonic and Steven Spielberg Celebrate the Music of John Williams, A Piece of His Fire: Harry Belafonte (1927-2023). Ford's view of women is interesting. Funeral of Tom Doniphon taken from the classic The Man Who hot Liberty Valance Another turn off was the fact that James Stewarts Ransom Stoddard is the fulcrum of the plot and, for 99 percent of the picture, is also the man who shot Liberty Valance. Because he had murdered Valance, rather than shooting him in self-defence, Doniphon had to conceal his role, lest he be prosecuted. Rodney King was beaten by the police on March 3, 1991. But the plans of statehood for the territory upset the cattle barons, who recruit Liberty Valance to sabotage the delegation. 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. Denver Pyle Amos Carruthers In a series of videos entitled, I had planned to leave this topic alone for awhile, but I. Beginning with "Stagecoach" (1939), continuing from 1948 through 1950 with the Cavalry Trilogy ("Fort Apache," "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" and "Rio Grande"), and finally to 1962 and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," together in 10 features they largely formed the templates of the Hollywood Western. The Man who shot Liberty Valance (1962) was the last western John Ford made with John Wayne. 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. Throughout the film, he tells us that hes tougher than Liberty Valance, that he can beat Liberty Valance and he makes us believe. This is also the last western he would make with his most favorite actor John Wayne, with whom he did close to 14 films. The drunken marshal won't protect him. The other could easily bring order, but doesnt because hes so busy taking care of number one and his crowning heroic moment is shooting down a distracted man in the city streets. And so Stoddard tells them the story, one they decide not to print because, in this case, legend has become fact. He pays off room and board to her Swedish parents by working in their cafe. The nave myths and legends (or untruths) that Ford had propagated about the civilizing of the West (and the building of the American nation), through the 70 odd films he made in his lifetime are all overturned by him in this film. This leads to Stoddard being elected as a delegate (along with Dutton Peabody (Edmond OBrien), publisher of the local newspaper) for a statehood convention at the territorial capital. On the other end of the scale, Ford portrays Liberty Valance as the archetypal villain. Tom Doniphon is the archetypal Ford hero, the John Wayne of all Ford's westerns. Lee Van Cleef Reese Stoddard demands that Doniphon's boots and spurs and gunbelt be returned to his corpse. In fact, they find themselves up for election as territorial delegates to work toward that goal. When someone tried to comfort him that Doniphon was full of ambiguity and his mindset may help his performance, Wayne snapped back, Screw ambiguity I dont like ambiguity. However, he was nowhere near good enough as Doniphan proved in ahumiliating display. Live Action again exposes Planned Parenthood. At the time of the films release, it was dismissed as a minor work from a master filmmaker, but watching it now , it shows his extraordinary growth as a filmmaker, which is not just restricted to its thematic resonance, but also extends to its visual and narrative stylistics. When Stoddard found the town marshal was a coward, he began to take an old gun out and practice. Stoddard was wounded in the shooting. That Stoddard, thus relieved of the sin of murder has no problem committing the sin of dishonesty says as much about the nature of politicians as it does his own character. A dejected Doniphon, who was hoping to marry Hallie and move into his new house, gets drunk andburns down his house. The deadliest and most sadistic killer in all Ford's films, Liberty Valance has been filtered through all Ford's other villains, emerging as a composite of the worst features in each. Personality chivalrous, calm, and tough as all hell. But he was frustrated with his costars leisurely pace,; he was a guy who moved fast , talked fast and worked fast. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valancefinds Wayne playing a local man named Tom Doniphon in a small Western town. Farmers want statehood. Tom Doniphon and his handyman, Pompey, find Ranse and take him to Shinbone, where Tom's girlfriend, Hallie, treats his wounds. [sic Arkansas] For two years police of two states have been unable to solve five slaying at the state-line city. 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. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. It is made clear in "Liberty Valance" that segregation was the practice in the territory. Valance and his two henchmenterrorize Shinbone, while the bumbling Marshal Link Appleyard (Andy Devine ) lacks the courage and gun fighting skills to challenge him. In a final act of self-negation, he tells Stoddard the truth, absolving him of the act of killing (to which Stoddard had remained steadfastly opposed throughout his ordeal in the West), and taking the sin on himself to suffer alone. This is all to be seen: The role of a free press, the function of a town meeting, the debate about statehood, the civilizing influence of education. But Stoddard is a powerless man; powerless before Valance; and powerless before Doniphon; and Doniphon lets Stoddard have his woman, his town, and his West. [Valance looks and sees Pompey at the door holding a rifle] Floyd: I'll get it, Liberty! A * Tom Doniphon, we need to EACH BECOME Tom Doniphon, need. But, it was in direct opposition to the Western code. He then throws down a challenge to Stoddard: leave town or face him in a gunfight. The flashback itself was absurdly unrealistic, with Tom being casually tossed a rifle and firing at the last moment. Throughout the movie there is a clear message; wilderness V. civilization. Vera Miles as Hallie Stoddard, concerned about the wounded man Tom Doniphon delivers to her home in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Lee Marvin as Liberty Valance, upset over an item published in Peabodys newspaper in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Cast: Tom Doniphon : My boy, Pompey; kitchen door. His magnificent Western landscapes are always there, but as environment, not travelogue. But when Valance goes for a momento from a widows late husband. "At the heart of the Western", argues John Lenihan, was always He dies a drunkard, having lost everything in his life, unacknowledged and unknown. Lee Marvin Liberty Valance He would have rolled with Todd Beamer on Flight 93, rushed the terrorist on the French train, and helped save lives at Las Vegas just not very effectively. Tom Doniphon: My boy, Pompey; kitchen door. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend. Tom Doniphon, rancher and longtime resident of the small western town of Shinbone, has died.He was well-regarded around the region, but was by no means a man of great distinction. Stoddard believes so firmly in the law that he is willing to lose his life for his principles. What happened Tom Doniphon? John Qualen Peter Ericson However, when Stoddard decides to face Valance, she sends Doniphans servant Pompey to let him know because she scared of what will happen to Stoddard. 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. John Ford and John Wayne together created much of the mythology of the Old West we carry in our minds. When he walks into a bar to fetch Tom, the bartender won't serve him, and Tom slams hard on the bar: "Give him a drink." 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. Usually, when John Wayne fans count the number of films in which Wayne had died, they always miss out Liberty Valance, because he dies off-screen; but that only makes the character more insignificant; as opposed tofilms he died on screen, likeRide the whirlwind, The AlamoorTheCowboys, where Wayne always got a heroic death: he dies saving somebody else, or he dies for a greater cause. Marvin stole almostevery scene in which he is featured. Escena del funeral de Tom Doniphon tomada del hombre que mato a Liberty Valance. But Liberty Valance and his guns work for the cattle barons who want to keep the territory for themselves. But he hasnt. Does this make sense? After hearing all this, the newsmen decide not to print the story, as the mythology that propelled Stoddard has to be protected at any cost. The film was a direct influence on Leones own end of the west westernOnce upon a time in the West. Seeing how his act of heroism has won Hattie for Stoddard, he becomes disgusted with himself, burning his home, the symbol of his hopes for the future as well as his isolation from the community, to the ground. Regardless, it was a great movie, but perhaps could have been greater. Ford reveals Stoddard as incapable of adjusting to the life of the West: when Tom brings Hallie a "cactus rose," Stoddard, having seen real roses, cannot appreciate the beauty of the desert flower. Their opponent? Senator Stoddard (James Stewart) comes into town for his funeral, which confuses the. However, he is rescued by Doniphan. Why does this man, who has no trouble dominating a political meeting while simultaneously refusing to participate in it, skulk in the shadows like a thief, a coward? But what if Doniphon is lying, what if Stoddard really is the man who shot Liberty Valance? From thereon, he goes onto even more heights in his political career, and now he is expecting a nomination to be the vice-president of the country. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valanceis one of those classic films I hadnt gotten around to seeing other than having caught the end on TNT one day. Besides, there is a complication. Is it that the Randian half of him is ashamed of his altruistic impulses? Post-Liberty Valance, John Wayne would continued to be the most dependable American movie star of his times. He comes into conflict with Liberty Valance again when the town has to elect two representatives to the Statehood Convention; Sotddard and the townspeople want statehood--it would mean government protection of their rights, the establishment of schools and the railroad. And Miles is also effective as the young woman eager to learn under Stewarts tutelage and hoping that his vision of a West where law and order prevail comes to be. Liberty Valance, who supports cattle barons opposed to statehood. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he'd like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site. Doniphon is not a person of any importance around town, just a sorry old man on the fringes, who passed away unnoticed. Stoddard's first confrontation with Doniphon reveals absolutely no understanding between them; they eye each other as if the other were a strange animal. 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. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, made by the 67-year-old Ford in 1962, is unmistakably the director's final statement on the West. (LogOut/ Tom repeatedly helps Ransom and the two become a competitive force against Liberty Valance. His westerns were all optimistic in nature and concentrated on building a myth, rather than showing the gritty reality. Strother Martin Floyd Name the 2010 Western that featured Peter Dinklage of "Game of Thrones" and Jason Priestly of 90210 fame in supporting roles. Doniphan offers Stoddard a wagon out of town, and he considers it. Valance and his gang beat up a drunken Peabody nearly to death, and ransack his office. One night Valance demands a showdown and toys with the lawyer, shooting him in the arm and taunting him before Stoddard finally gets off a shot and Valance drops dead. Stoddard believes that hes a real man, a tough and violent character who can handle himself, and that Stoddard is a tenderfoot who is pretty much useless in the real world. All that said, its a bit of an odd film for Wayne, who got top billing but has one of the least interesting characters. Perhaps, the existence of Valance gave Doniphan a status of importance and made him an indispensable man in a lawless community. Tom is highly respected by his peers, because of the laid-back cut of his jib, and because he may be the only man willing to stand up to the violent outlaw Liberty Valance. In glorious, retro black & white! Comment moderation is enabled. Go to the bottom of each blog and youll find a ratings widget. Asked by the Shinbone Star editor why an important Senator should return to a small town to bury an unknown man, Stoddard tells his story; a long flashback begins. 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. The story sees James Stewart's idealistic younger lawyer Stoddard arriving in a remote town with the intention of introducing law, order and education to the townspeople. Waynes idea of himself always involved action and movement. "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," the New Yorker's Richard Brody writes, "is the greatest American political movie." Doniphon and Valance, then, represent the individuals of Ford's West, Doniphon standing for order, Valance for anarchy. Design a site like this with WordPress.com, Follow MANK'S MOVIE MUSINGS on WordPress.com. (One stylistic touch: In this film, he habitually calls Stoddard "Pilgrim," which expresses an insight into the lawyer's character.). Entering the then-unincorporated territory as a young lawyer, Ranse is beaten and robbed by infamous outlaw Liberty Valance and his gang. Hallie attends to Stoddards wounds and it appears to Doniphonthat she has fallen in love with Stoddard. In another film I might even think this ambiguous element was more important. The film, then, chronicles the death of the old West and of its heroes, men sacrificed to the needs of a growing society. He finds out real soon while traveling to the town of Shinbone that the West doesn't really care about law or . When the shooting ends, Valance is dead; Stoddard is hailed a hero as the man who shot Liberty Valance.. John Gotti's ability to avoid the long arm of the law earned him the nickname the Teflon Don. 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. Now with his conscious clear, Stoddard returns to the convention, accepts the nomination, and is elected to the Washington delegation. Shinbone is the only Western town I've seen in a movie with no prostitutes. 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. 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. The reputation of the film continues to grow over the years, and it was a big influence on Sergio Leone, who called this his most favorite Ford film. And so, when Doniphon sees that Stoddard killed Valance, and thus won the heart of the girl Doniphon was too afraid to propose too, he shatters in self-disgust. There seemed to be a realization. However, thematically I felt wronged by this outcome. ", 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.". His world is diffused by time, by memory and nostalgia, by folklore and myth. 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. These westerns are memory films, filled with the traditions of the past, created from the anecdotes, fables, and songs that sprang from American history. And Doniphon returns home and burns down the room he was building for the day he and Hallie would marry. Doniphon finally does kill does kill Valance. John Wayne would never play this character for anybody else, expect for his pappy Ford. 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. We watch events of long-ago happen before our eyes, and are content to take a temporary departure from the Twentieth Century. Wayne losing out to such a loser of a characterwould anger any john Wayne fan, most of all Wayne himself Wayne (and his audience) like to see Wayne triumphant, not as a tragic, moody alcoholic who dies off-screen. The legend of how Stoddard stood up to Valance and killed him spread wide and helped him build a career in politics. Valance toys with Stoddard, shooting his arm and laughing at him. Trying to defend a woman passenger, Stoddard is beaten by Valance, left for dead, and brought to town by Tom Doniphon. Despite his many abilities, he simply will not take part in the community. Harvard College Accepts 3.41% of Applicants to Class of 2027. While many people have imagined Stoddard as naively unaware that the law wouldnt be sufficient to deal with Liberty Valance, Stoddard was no fool. One of John Fords most effective later films, told flashback fashion as the senator and his wife arrive unannounced in Shinbone to pay tribute to an old friend who has passed.