Review of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) by Tim H — 30 Jun 2008

My favorite Western.

This isn't something I'm saying because "I grew up with the movie" or "it's timeless." I just watched this movie for the first time (thanks 501!) and I was blown away. I got this as a double feature with Shane at Walmart for $9.00. (Don't judge me on the Walmart shopping. It's crazy cheap and there are worse things on the planet.) But this is one of those movies that really deserves to be a classic and I'm glad it gets some recognition.

Let's go superficial before getting to bare bones. I love all of the actors here. I've never been a fan, but always liked John Wayne. He does Westerns and he does them well. He delivers what he needs to and that always satisfies me. One of my other favorite westerns is The Searchers and to get the main guy from The Searchers to do this movie is just a fantastic relief to me because he can hold the film. Also, with John Ford's message in this movie (I'll get more into that later), you really need an old war horse like Wayne in the lead. But the thing that I most appreciate about this movie is James Stewart. James Stewart has always been one of my favorite actors. I've seen a ton of his movies. (I think it is impossible to see all of his movies just because he's done so damned many). Having him as a foil to Wayne is just perfect. He's, in many ways, always Mr. Smith to me. He's almost always a character that stands for justice above all. Casting him in this part brought Mr. Smith to the old West and I really appreciate that. I'm not saying it's the same movie for me, but there are instant associations with that character for me so it made it easier to see this moral character stand for the greater good only to be broken and built up again.

The themes of this story are just perfect. This movie is described as the last classic western. Ford is an older man by this time and you can feel the swan song in this movie. He's always been this rough-and-tumble director. His films don't take any sh*t and neither did the man. But the West was a lawless place that eventually evolved into a civilized society. While it's great to hear the glory days war stories of the man with the gun, there was that period that evolved that anarchy into a real place. The best part of the entire situation was that it wasn't changed by one man who believed in absolutes. It came about by cooperation, perhaps unwillingly, by multiple people who disagreed about everything at their very core. It's about those people realizing that the world doesn't exist in black and white, but rather in shades of grey. Sometimes the law doesn't answer for all of the world's problems and sometimes politics can bring about a peaceful change. It's not one or the other, but rather going moment by moment and reevaluating yourself. That's what this movie is about.

I already talked about casting, but I have to talk about the titular character, who gets secondary billing. Well, technically he isn't the titular character, but he's referred to in the title. That's probably why he gets second billing. That's probably pretty accurate because while he is a strong presence as a supporting cast, that's exactly what he is: supporting cast. But Lee Marvin is a hell of an actor. He's one of my all time favorites and putting him as the antagonist against John Wayne and James Stewart is just a genius move. He's a powerhouse and a scary, tough individual. While Wayne may be an obilisk, Marvin is a runaway train, smashing everything in his way. What a performance. A little goofy on the outfit, but he's absolutely terrifying in this part.

Finally, I'd like to address one moment from the movie. I can imagine this working like gangbusters on the page, but having a little problem with the excution. (It actually looks pretty good for what it is.) James Stewart is beaten up and left for dead by Lee Marvin at the beginning of the film. He is carried inside by someone. Too bad James Stewart is a tall, lanky beast. This tiny man just had a piece of him and the rest of him spilled over. I commend that man for lifting him.