THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALENCE

US, 1962, 121 minutes, Black and White.
James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O'Brien, Andy Devine.
Directed by John Ford.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence is a classic John Ford Western. Ford had a very long career in Hollywood from the 20s until the 60s. He won several Academy Awards, for The Informer, How Green was My Valley, The Quiet Man. However, he was best noted for his Westerns, especially many with John Wayne eg. Stagecoach, Fort Apache, and this particular film. The Searchers is also considered a classic.

Wayne is teamed in this film very effectively with James Stewart. Stewart appeared in Ford's Two Rode Together, and Cheyenne Autumn. Vera Miles who had appeared in The Searchers is the heroine. Lee Marvin is a snarling Liberty Valence. He also worked with Ford and Wayne in Donovan's Reef in 1963. The film takes classic themes of the West, especially the balance between truth and legend. "When there is a doubt," says the Edmond O'Brien editor character "print the legend".

1. A good Western, classic Western? From the work of John Ford? The picturing of the West, the legends of the West? Print the legend.

2. The John Ford style: black and white photography, the recreation of the West, the town, the landscapes, the characters within them, the crises? Ford's use of John Wayne and James Stewart to embody particular aspects of the West? How well? What did they represent? Their interaction? The strong man of the West, the civilized nun of the West? How interesting was this portrait of the West, as history, as legend? The building up of a State and the emerging of a State? The winners, the losers? The villainy of the West?

3. The importance of the structure for audience involvement: the flashback, the title and its irony? Truth and appearances?

4. The audience response to the opening: the train, the arrival of Ransom Stoddard and his wife? His being a celebrity, his being interviewed? The contrast with Halley and her sense of nostalgia and her visit to the old farm? What did this prepare the audience for?

5. The interview and the relationship of memory: true or not? The times, the heroes of the times, the challenge of the West?

6. James Stewart's style as Ransom Stoddard: his arrival in the West, his naivety, his knowledge of law, his hopes, his gallantry and yet his being hurt and robbed? His work at the Bar? His growth in understanding of the West and its people, of the oppression? The background of his willingness to fight?

7. The portrayal of law and order in the West, the administration of justice, the need for elections and Statehood? The build-up to the elections, the humour of the way in which Ransom Stoddard and Tom were elected? Halley and her response? The editor of the paper and his support of them both? Trying to build on those elections?

8. The contrast with John Wayne and his portrayal of Tom? What did he stand for, his tough attitudes, support for Ransom? His home, his disappointing Halley, his role in the elections?

9. The significance of the newspaper editor and what he stood for, his place in the West, influence, support of Tom and Ranse? The violence that he suffered?

10. The symbolism and realism of Liberty Valence as a villain? The irony of his name? The portraying of his evil, whipping, robbing, flaunting himself, rigging elections? His whipping of the editor and the challenge to Ranse and Tom? The build up to the shoot-out, his challenge to Ranse, drawing, his death?

11. The build-up to the gun fight as the symbol of law and order and lack of justice in the West? The irony of Ranse in his apron and yet his belief in himself and the effect of the shooting of Liberty Valence on him? His going forward and becoming a hero, his achievement for Statehood?

12. The irony of Tom and the truth, the challenge at the elections?

13. The bond between the tow, the building of the future, memories?

14. The final train ride, Halley and her memories and regrets, the career, their achievement both in America and overseas, the need to settle down? A nostalgic Western?