Review of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) by Joshua R — 06 Oct 2011

What a great movie this is. It's a real Hollywood classic, with two of the biggest actors ever both giving excellent performances, directed by one of the most well-respected directors ever. It's got memorable characters, a strong story, and worthwhile themes about law and order versus rugged individualism. I like going back to these older American movies every now and then to remember just how great that classical storytelling could be.

The frame narrative opens with a gray-haired senator (Jimmy Stewart) returning after many years to the small Western town where his political career started. He's in town for the funeral of his friend, an old gunslinger (John Wayne). He tells the story of how his friendship with the gunslinger started after a conflict with a local desperado and bully named Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin).

What does one even say about John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart, honestly? They are two of the greatest, most iconic movie stars. Stewart is excellent here as the lawyer new to the rough Western town, who is determined to bring Eastern law and order to a town unaccustomed to it. Wayne is as swagger-y and tough as ever as the local gunman who is cynical and skeptical of Stewart's idealism, believing that only individual violence can provide a reliable source of justice out there. But Wayne's performance isn't simply machismo, though - his character does get to reveal some vulnerability and depth. Wayne was an actor typecast all his life, and he knew it, but he was just so good at that type. Lee Marvin makes for a thoroughly despicable villain, one of those movie bad guys you just love to hate. Vera Miles is fine as the obligatory female lead, but her character does still have some dramatic interest, given how torn she is between the Wayne and Stewart characters. Andy Devine, a wonderful character actor whose voice you may remember as Friar Tuck in the old Disney Robin Hood, is hilarious as the completely ineffectual, gluttonous local sheriff.

The story is unhurried in its development, and takes the time to really flesh out the two main characters and the clash of their philosophies. The movie doesn't judge either one, but makes a point of the necessity of both their approaches. The cinematography (very nicely preserved on the DVD I saw) is beautiful black-and-white, with very effective but not overdone usage of shadows and lighting. John Ford's direction is sure-handed and unobtrusive. Despite being a Ford film, there aren't a lot of sweeping Western vistas here; the focus is mostly within buildings and town streets. The film is a wonderful elegy for the Old West and the sort of man John Wayne always portrayed in movies. It's also the source of the line, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend!" This movie should well dispel the possible prejudice that John Wayne and John Ford made movies without nuance or thoughtfulness.