Review of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) by Dan J — 02 Oct 2008

Lee Marvin's Liberty Valance is evil personified. He's a drunk, a braggart, a bully, a thief and a cold-blooded murderer who strikes fear into the hearts of "decent" people everywhere. He is the embodiment of lawlessness.

James Stewart's Ransom is goodness personified. He's educated. He has courage. He's stubborn in his belief in justice and law and democracy. He thinks he's bringing "civilization" to the lawless west. He is brave but not fearless.

John Wayne's Tom is a brave man when facing other men but he drinks too much and is nostalgic for the way things were, not for what they are becoming. He's a man of direct action but has a long fuse. He is the only man in town who Liberty Valance is afraid of but Tom doesn't care. He ignores Liberty, letting him be the town miscreant when he could easily put a stop to it. He is a loner and he claims to like it that way.

It is the interaction between these three principles that makes the story. Things happen. Civilization comes to the west. Ransom goes on to fame and fortune. Tom dies a bitter man. The truth is finally told and it matters to no one. What happened happened and what matters is the official version, not the truth. So is history written......

This movie is not as popular as Ford's other classic westerns and has always met with more hostility because of its messages. For me, only Ford's "Stagecoach" and "The Searchers" are as good. Those movies are opposite sides of the same coin. Ford's early westerns helped create the "western myth." "The Searchers" showed the dark side of that myth. "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" explained it.