The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Director: John Ford

Overview

Eastern attorney Ranson Stoddard (James Stewart) heads to the wild West in search of a new life. He settles in the small town of Shinbone where he meets up with Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). Valance is as bad a villain as there ever was, and his dastardly deeds are financed by an evil conglomerate resolute on stopping the territory from gaining statehood. When Valance beats Stoddard to a bloody pulp, Stoddard is rescued by rancher Tom Doniphon (John Wayne). Tom helps Ranson to a nearby restaurant where owner Hallie (Vera Miles) who patches him up and gives him a job as table server. Valance and his sadistic sidekicks delight in berating the hapless waiter, branding him as "yellow." Once again, Tom comes to the rescue when Ranson is tripped by Valance and spills his food. Ranson's only allies appear to be Hallie, Tom, and a dipsomaniac newspaper publisher named Dutton Peabody (Edmund O'Brien. When Peabody prints an article which advocates statehood, he is beaten by Valance and his vermin and his printing office is wrecked. Having stood by and watched the action long enough, Stoddard places his lawyer's shingle in front of the newspaper office. This sets the stage for a showdown between the lawless Valance and the lawful Stoddard, while Tom waits in the wings and watches. Film is directed by John Ford.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/26/2017
UPC:	0032429283665
Original Release:	1962
Rating:	NR
Source:	PARAMOUNT
Presentation:	[B&W, Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	2:03:00
Sales rank:	10,355

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

John Wayne	Tom Doniphon
James Stewart	Ransom Stoddard
Vera Miles	Hallie Stoddard
Lee Marvin	Liberty Valance
Edmond O'Brien	Dutton Peabody
Andy Devine	Link Appleyard
Ken Murray	Doc Willoughby
John Carradine	Maj. Cassius Starbuckle
Jeanette Nolan	Nora Ericson
John Qualen	Peter Ericson
Willis Bouchey	Jason Tully,Jason Tully
Carleton Young	Maxwell Scott
Woody Strode	Pompey
Denver Pyle	Amos Carruthers
O.Z. Whitehead	Ben Carruthers
Paul Birch	Mayor Winder
Joseph Hoover	Hasbrouck
Anna Lee	Passenger
Charles Seel	President, Election Council
Leonard Baker	Man
Larry Finley	Bar X Man
Dan Borzage	Townsman,Townsman
Ralph Volkie	Townsman
Charles Morton	Drummer
Edward Jaurequi	Drummer
Brian 'Slim' Hightower	Shotgun
Jack Williams	Henchman
Chuck Hayward	Henchman
Chuck Roberson	Henchman
Mario Arteaga	Henchman
George Fisher	Kaintuck the Drunk
Ted Mapes	Highpockets
Jack Pennick	Jack the Bartender
Bob Morgan	Roughrider
Earle Hodgins	Clue Dumfries,Clue Dumfries
Montie Montana	Politician on Horseback
Strother Martin	Floyd
Lee Van Cleef	Reese
Robert F. Simon	Handy Strong
Stuart Holmes	Actor
Dorothy Phillips	Actor
Buddy Roosevelt	Actor
Gertrude Astor	Actor
Eva Novak	Actor
Slim Talbot	Actor
William Henry	Actor
Blackie Whiteford	Actor
Helen Gibson	Actor
Major Sam Harris	Actor,Convention Committee Member
Jack Kenney	Actor
James Steward	Actor
Charles Akins	Townsman
Robert Donner	Actor
Duke Fishman	Townsman
Ben Frommer	Cantina Bartender
Herman Hack	Townsman
Chuck Hamilton	Statehood Audience Member
Edmond O?Brien	Actor
Robert Simon	Handy Strong
Cyril J. Mockridge	Composer,Composer
Alfred Newman	Composer

Technical Credits

Willis Goldbeck

James Warner Bellah

Dorothy M. Johnson

Willis Goldbeck	Producer,Screenwriter
James Warner Bellah	Screenwriter
Farciot Edouart	Special Effects
John Epper	Stunts
Charles Grenzbach	Sound Effects
Dorothy M. Johnson	Screenwriter
John Ford	Producer
Jack Williams	Stunts
Philip Mitchell	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

In his elegy to the Western hero, John Ford reveals the facts while printing the western legend. To examine what was at stake in transforming the western wilderness into a civilized garden, Ford sets up the opposition between James Stewart's Eastern lawyer Ranse Stoddard and Lee Marvin's brutal outlaw Liberty Valance, with John Wayne's archetypal hero Tom Doniphon forced to intervene. While Tom takes Stoddard's side in favor of the greater good, the spread of civilization comes at his own expense. Stoddard has to come to terms with the fact that the legendary words that fuel his success erase the truth of the genuine charismatic heroes; as a place of literary and cinematic legend, the West has no room for such veracity. Shot in black-and-white with few exteriors, Liberty Valance's melancholy nocturnal atmosphere matches the story's suggestion that the West's glory days have passed. Though not as highly regarded when it was released, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance has since come to be seen as one of Ford's greatest Westerns, and a key predecessor to such late '60s-'70s Western eulogies as The Wild Bunch (1969) and The Shootist (1976).