Pilgrim's action is the fact that became legend

THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Westerns that have pistol-packin' cowboys fighting Indians were hundred fold during the 1930's up until the 1950's. Westerns with noble heroic cowboys who sought to right any wrongs usually by gunfire were also ubiquitous. But when director John Ford made a western, he was way ahead of the curve of most - nihilism and/or good vs. evil were not his concerns, it was skewed morality and the dubious nature of righteousness. "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" has the Duke himself, John Wayne, and he packs some heat for sure, and James Stewart as a law-abiding lawyer in the making with Lee Marvin as the deadly Liberty Valance, a gunfighter always looking for a fight. It looks like a traditional western but it is far more eloquent about the Old West - like an elegy about who your true heroes are and how they are written in the history books.

Stewart plays the main protagonist, Ransom "Ranse" Stoddard, a lawyer who becomes a Senator later in life and the film begins with Ransom visiting his old stomping grounds to pay his respects to Tom Doniphon (John Wayne, a far too underrated actor), a rancher who was adept with a gun and an attitude (he sees himself as the only one who could kill Liberty Valance). Right from the start, Ford's theme of legends is scrutinized when the local newspaper doesn't recall who Doniphon was or know much about him. As Stoddard (who is running for President) explains his story, we flash back to the days when Stoddard's carriage was robbed by Liberty Valance (Marvin) and his two cronies (one played by Lee Van Cleef). Stoddard is badly wounded and ferociously whipped and is nursed back to health by Hallie (Vera Miles, in one of her very best roles) who helps run a restaurant in the town of Shinbone. Stoddard works the kitchen by cleaning dishes and occasionally waits on customers (considered a woman's job) and opens his own law practice and teaches illiterates how to read (boy, does he have time to court Hallie too?) Naturally Tom is hesitant to react to anyone, including Liberty Valance, with anything but force - laws mean little to him. Tom has his sweet little ranch and hopes to marry Hallie. Ford slowly develops the tension between Tom and Stoddard - they respect each other but they are on opposites sides of the law. How much good can the law provide when you are dealing with a disruptive and dangerous maniac like Liberty Valance? The townspeople of Shinbone may admire Stoddard but even they know that guns are the only active solution - in a running gag, the local Marshal Link Appleyard (Andy Devine, often hysterically funny) runs away anytime Liberty appears. Yep, he's no help and he provides some welcome comic relief throughout the film.

"The Man Who Liberty Valance" eventually culminates in a scene that we all anticipate - the shooting of Liberty. Doddard decides that it is the sole solution yet he realizes later, thanks to Tom, that he was not the only one who shot the villainous gunfighter. The tension grows again between Stoddard and Tom, especially when Stoddard is appointed as a Congressional delegate in a town that is about to receive statehood. The question is can a law-abiding citizen who takes the law into his own hands stand up and practice the ethics of law where non-violence is suggested? That all changes in the last third of the film where conflicts about character and legends are put into question. Would Stoddard had half a chance in politics had he not killed Liberty Valance? Valid question when you consider he did not actually kill Liberty. Meanwhile, Tom loses Hallie, burns down his ranch and recedes from history. It is a heartbreaking coda for both men.

John Ford's "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" is tough, bleak and unsentimental with no rosy touches, no barroom brawls, no duels at the town square, just simply a rough, unvarnished Western where heroes and villains are judged not by truth but by what is perceived as truth. Violence in this film is seen as a justifiable institution, whoever has the courage to enforce it. John Ford sees the Old West as what it was, and others would rather print the legend, not the reality.