The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) review

One of the things I love about the Western genre is that it is the only genre to which America can really hold claim. There were of course, non-American efforts in this genre; I myself after all have long championed the films of Sergio Leone and several other Spaghetti Western filmmakers. But at its very core, the genre is American and therefore speaks to America and the American experience in a way no other genre really can. Such is the case with The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, a film that may rank in my estimation to be the very best American Western ever made and a film that speaks profoundly on many subjects, most notably the tendency to mythicize the American Old West, both in history, but particularly on film and also on the very nature on the rise of the liberal American order. The film is also astonishingly well-made and stands as a monument to John Ford and the Western genre he helped create, but at the same time is able to look back honestly at both and see a good deal of mythmaking. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance tells the story of Ranson Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart), a United States Senator who returns to the town of Shinbone in a unnamed Western state to attend the funeral of Tom Doniphon (John Wayne), a local rancher.

The local media is intrigued as to why such a prominent man is traveling so far to attend the funeral of what they see as an unimportant rancher. In flashback however, Ranson tells the story of back when he was a young lawyer from back east and Shinbone was a small dot of a town in a United States territory, rather than in a state. He comes to the town to discover that it is under the grip of a ruthless outlaw named Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin) and his gang. Ranson wants Liberty Valance to be arrested, but Tom reminds him that unlike in the East, in small towns in the territories, the law is useless and thus a man must learn to defend himself, and advises Ranson to bring a gun. It is an idea that Ranson balks at, seeing that law, order, and education must prevail against frontier violence, though he does eventually comply. And living up to these values, Ranson opens up a school to increase the education standards of the town and even begins to work to get statehood for the territory. While working to gain statehood, Liberty Valance and his gang begin to become even more ruthless, an event that cumulates in one night when Liberty Valance begins to threaten Ranson and Ranson shoots him in self-defense. But as it turns out, it was not Ranson, but Tom to shot Liberty. Tom though opts to tell no one, save for Ranson himself, and advises him to do the same. Ranson thus can be known as "The man who shot Liberty Valance" and using his newfound fame, is the overwhelming favorite to be shoes for the delegation for statehood, which he is eventually able to use as a jumping off point for a long career in the United States Senate. The movie then flashes forward in time, where, upon learning the truth, the local media rips up the story and refuses to publish it, because, as the newspaper man says, "This is the West sir, when legend become fact, print the legend."

As just purely an exercise in filmmaking, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is remarkable. The acting is great, from both the leads and the supporting cast. John Ford's signature directorial style is very pronounced in this, and the film just simply looks great. The film also boasts a highly intelligent script from James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck. It has all the elements therefore, of a film that is at least good on a technical level. But there is more going on here than this, and because if this, the film is able to become something more, transcending into the best Western ever made by an American and what might be not only the best statement on the nature of the Western both as a genre and the place of the Old West in American history, but it also serves as a critique of liberal naivety and of Great Man Theory.

What stands out immediately about The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is how it is shot. You see, the film is shot in black and white, something that was very rare for a major director such as Ford working with major actors to do in 1962. By shooting the film in black and white, Ford harkens back to an earlier film he made with Wayne, Stagecoach from 1939. Now in addition to being one of the great Westerns, Stagecoach is historically important as it was not only the film to put Wayne on the map as a major star, it was also the film that transformed the Western into an art, as before the genre was considered a cheap and disreputable genre made for the entertainment of the masses. With Stagecoach and his other films, Ford was able to more than any other single man, even the great Howard Hawks, to codify how Americans viewed the Old West. With The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance however, Ford takes a look at the myth he helped create and conclude that yes, it is a myth as the actual history of the Old West is far more complicated. It is also interesting to note that this film was made in 1962, just as the Western genre was going through some significant changes. After being an easy way to print money for years, the genre was beginning to decline in popularity, at least in the Unites States. And while the genre would enjoy a resurgence in popularity in the coming years, the genre would look far different. Two years later, a young Italian director named Sergio Leone would make A Fistful of Dollars, a film that would reimagine the Western hero in far more cynical amoral terms. The other Spaghetti Westerns would largely follow suit, and these films along with the homegrown Revisionist Westerns of the same period would completely uproot the genre from its John Ford/ John Wayne foundation and establish a far bleaker view of the American West. The film also, though perhaps unintentionally represents the end of the old era and beginning of the new era through its casting. On one side, the film stars Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne, two of the biggest stars of the old Hollywood, and on the other side is Lee Marvin, a major star to be in the 1960's and 1970's and would represent a new kind of Action star by eschewing the more traditional morality of Stewart and Wayne. Much like a lot of other aspects of the culture, the American film industry was at a crossroads in 1962 and this film perfectly captures that moment.

Connecting to this, the film also examines how the Old West works in the context of American culture and American history. As mentioned before, the Western is the only genre Americans can really claim as their own and as such the Old West as well plays an important role in American identity. But that version of the Old West that Americans have latched onto, a view that was even more pronounced in 1962 than in 2016 where the atrocities that were committed in the Old West are now more widely known. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance though understands this to be a myth, but it does not stop here. For many movies, the idea of the American Old West as seen in films such as Stagecoach would be conflated with the idea that the myth is false and has no value. But perhaps because it was directed by a man who helped to establish that myth, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance does not do this, instead it understands that while the myth of the American Old West is not literally true, it is profoundly true in that it gave the young American nation an identity and gave generations of people morals to which they could inspire. Just as Ranson Stoddard did not really kill Liberty Valance, so to was most of what made up the myth of the American West did not really happen, but Stoddard's supposed act inspired his neighbors to move forward towards statehood and the myth of the American Old West served to give America a firm foundation in the world. This is not to say that the atrocities against the native, American Indian population among other things should be whitewashed, far from it and recognizing this is also an important part of maturity, but it does mean that this myth, like all great myths has a value that cannot be tossed out just because it is not literally true of the heroes of this myth did not live up to the morals we would have liked them too, the myth is far too important to do that.

And connecting to this, the film also serves as a critique of liberal nativity and recognizes that as much as it does not want to admit it, the liberal order has been made by illiberal events. For Ranson Stoddard, men like Liberty Valance can be beat by law and order and education is an important tool that by itself can enact positive social change. For Tom however, the reality of life in a town such as Shinbone men like Liberty Valance must be challenged with frontier violence and education is limited in its ability to enact positive social change. In a very real way then, Ranson represents the emerging liberal order in the West with its focus on progress, law, and education while Tom represents the older value system of Spartan living and a resistance, or at very least apprehension to change. And indeed at the end of the film, Ranson's view wins out as the town becomes better educated, becomes part of a state, and also enjoys all the material and social progress associated with the emerging Western United States. But while all of these things are good, this is ultimately based on an illiberal event, the extrajudicial killing of Liberty Valance. Thus as much as liberals may not want to admit it, the world view that they have championed, has been made possible by a series of illiberal events and thus the pure focus on education will not do. But here is the rub, in many respects, it is good for people to believe in these things, it is good for the vast majority of the population to see education as a positive good and to put the punishment of criminals in the hands of the legal system rather than dish out punishment on their own.