The John Ford classic returns to DVD as part of the Paramount Centennial Collection sporting new special features. Saddle up Pilgrim and mosey on back to the old west in this fine, classic film starring John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart and directed by old master John Ford.
When a United States Senator returns to the small burg of Shinbone to be present at the funeral of a seemingly unimportant person, the local press is gathered by the arrival of the famous and important face and when one of them asks why he would attend this funeral he beings his tale.
Rance Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart), our Senator in his youth, was an idealistic young attorney on the stage to Shinbone. The stagecoach is held up by the well known outlaw Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin).
Stoddard is at heart a pacifist and refuses to carry a gun. This annoys the devilish Valance and when Stoddard refuses to take up arms, so Valance can justify killing him, Valance beats him with his silver handled whip.
Rancher Tom Doniphon (John Wayne) finds Stoddard and brings him into town and to the local restaurant run by Nora (Jeanette Nolan) and Peter (John Qualen) Ericson. Stoddard is nursed back to health by the Ericson’s and their daughter Hallie (Vera Miles). The town’s law is the spineless Link Appleyard (Andy Devine) and he is useless against the more connected Valance.
Doniphon is in love with Hallie and more of a man of action and thinks that problems can be solved with a firearm, in some ways the opposite of Stoddard. When Hallie tells Rance that she can’t read he sets about to teach her, as well as Doniphon’s hired hand Pompey (Woody Strode), and Rance starts to have feelings for Hallie.
When a convention is held to select two delegates to represent the territory, Dutton Peabody (Edmund O’Brien), the drunkard publisher of the Shinbone Star, and Stoddard are selected.
Valance was hoping for one of the positions to appease his cattle baron bosses, but failed to get selected. He nearly beats Peabody to death for writing an article about him in the newspaper. This makes up Stoddard’s mind that the novice gunfighter is going to challenge Valance and have done with it.
When the shootout occurs Stoddard miraculously emerges as the victor. His fame is bolstered by being “the man who shot Liberty Valance,” but is that really the case?
“When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” My Swiss-cheese memory can’t recall if this is fact or self-invented legend, but I recall that The Man who Shot Liberty Valance was the first film by John Ford I ever saw. It made me a Ford fan for life and I eagerly chomped at the bit for this new release.
Valance had been on DVD before, but in a plain vanilla release. This new edition is part of the Centennial Collection and adds some longed for special features. The cast is full of classic actors. What more can be said about The Duke and Jimmy Stewart?
This film is another where we realize that John Wayne can act and is not just the subject of parody, though he uses the term Pilgrim enough to Stewart that it would stick in everyone’s impersonations.
As with Ford’s habit, the cast is filled with faces from his “stock company” and includes the likes of the already mentioned Strode, Devine, Qualen, but also Strother Martin, Lee Van Cleef, Denver Pyle, Ford regular Jack Pennick tending bar, and a blustery turn by John Carradine as a pompous orator.
Marvin is particularly menacing as Valance and this film would lead to bigger and better things for the actor. The film has a pessimistic tone and a “print the legend attitude” regarding past heroes. In an odd connection there was an episode of a television show where the contention was that great works of art should be judged on their creators and not their beauty.
The example given was that Picasso was a misogamist and that the viewer of his work should be made aware of that fact and it should affect their appreciation of the work. Well, I thought that was a load of hooey as our heroes have feet of clay and are broke easily. Ford also seems to think along those lines (or does he?) as he shows us the shortcomings of a popular, influential Senator whose feet are also made of clay.
Instead of disseminating the truth about him in the world of the film, the press allows the legend to flourish. I guess you can argue that this probably isn’t the right thing to do, but it would sully Senator Stoddard’s good works to find out that he’s been living the life that should’ve been afforded to the better man, Doniphon.
I guess I could argue with myself about the need to reveal the truth about Stoddard, but let’s just print the legend. The film is a classic in all sense of the word and is one of Ford’s greatest westerns.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Disc one sports a full-length audio commentary by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich with archival recordings from his collection of Ford, Wayne and Stewart. There’s also a select scene commentary (22 minutes) with an introduction by grandson Dan Ford and archival recordings of Ford, Stewart, and Lee Marvin from his collection.
Disc two features the 50 minute “The Size of Legends, the Soul of Myth” where several historians/filmmakers dissect the making of the film. You also get the 2 minute theatrical trailer and four photo galleries.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is one of my favorite Ford films (being one of the first I recall seeing) and is give some nice features this go around. If you’re a fan then you can’t go wrong picking up this release.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Centennial Collection) is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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