The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Tom Doniphon	John Wayne	½
Ranse Stoddard	James Stewart
Hallie Stoddard	Vera Miles
Liberty Valance	Lee Marvin
Dutton Peabody	Edmond O'Brien	½
Marshal Link Appleyard	Andy Devine
Doc Willoughby	Ken Murray
Maj. Cassius Starbuckle	John Carradine
Nora Ericson	Jeanette Nolan
Peter Ericson	John Qualen
Pompey	Woody Strode	½
Amos Carruthers	Denver Pyle
Floyd	Strother Martin
Reese	Lee Van Cleef

Review

In The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, John Ford brought intellectualism, bureaucracy and free press (represented by James Stewart) to the west, and yes, it turned out just as unsexy as it sounds as it clashed with the old-fashioned loner-hero (represented by John Wayne) and his set of tougher and more masculine values. The film's discussion is both important and relevant, however, and Ford demonstrated his understanding of both the mechanisms at play and how the Wayne character was eventually doomed in his encounter with a modern, discussion-based world. Ford's depiction of this is unquestionably the film's strongest point – it's where he shows his versatility and progressive side. And were it not for some very obvious and destructive shortcomings, it could have played out as Ford would have wanted. Unfortunately, the task of lifting the drama up from the fact that James Stewart is too old and torpid as the "young" idealistic lawyer is insurmountable. Despite efforts to make him look young, Stewart is nowhere near the unbound, youthful actor he once was in films such as The Philadelphia Story and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. His acting mars almost every dramatic, and hence thematic, segment surrounding his character – which incidentally are the majority of the film's pivotal scenes. John Wayne is also too old, of course, but in his case, it only affects his appearance, not his acting.

John Ford is said to have been in a grumpier and more imperious mood than usual on the set of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. This may well have been because the film's script mirrored the situation he experienced in Hollywood with the transition from the at this point faltering studio system and the glory days of the western genre into the more auteuristic and independent era of filmmaking in the 1960s and 70s. Liberty Valance has an overtone of disillusion and dejection that makes it attractive from a retrospective point of view. In that perspective, it may be fitting that Ford made this flawed film just as the western genre was about to lose its relevance. Dramatically and thematically, it had a potential that could have made it into one of his best films. It has layers and an interpersonal level which few westerns from this or earlier eras could boast. Some of these stand out as remarkably effective, such as the clash between Lee Marvin's interesting villain and a wonderfully unhinged newspaper publisher played by Edmond O'Brien. But unfortunately, too many of them rely too heavily on Jimmy Stewart's character – which simply doesn't work. I'm sure John Wayne's character couldn't have agreed more.