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List Price: $16.99 | | Label: Paramount
Salesrank: 10381
Released: May 19, 2009 |
| Our Price: $11.45 |
| Used Price: $22.58 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Genre: Westerns
Rating: NR
Release Date: 19-MAY-2009
Media Type: DVD
Description of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Paramount Centennial Collection):
"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." That's more than the code of a newspaperman in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance; it's practically the operating credo of director John Ford, the most honored of American filmmakers. In this late film from a long career, Ford looks at the civilizing of an Old West town, Shinbone, through the sad memories of settlers looking back. In the town's wide-open youth, two-fisted Westerner John Wayne and tenderfoot newcomer James Stewart clash over a woman (Vera Miles) but ultimately unite against the notorious outlaw Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). Ford's nostalgia for the past is tempered by his stark approach, unusual for the visual poet of Stagecoach and The Searchers. The two heavyweights, Wayne and Stewart, are good together, with Wayne the embodiment of rugged individualism and Stewart the idealistic prophet of the civilization that will eventually tame the Wild West. This may be the saddest Western ever made, closer to an elegy than an action movie, and as cleanly beautiful as its central symbol, the cactus rose. --Robert Horton
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Paramount Centennial Collection) Reviews:
A Stark Elegy To The Wild West 
2009-12-14 - John Ford and John Wayne, after building a career glorifying the Old West, hereupon set about to dismantle the myths and legends, in a deeply symbolic send-off shot in black-and-white in a small, violent frontier town.
Jimmy Stewart plays an Easterner young lawyer, who comes to Shinbone with a strong belief in the rule of law. Unfortunately, he is the only one in town with this belief. He seeks to improve the lives of the townsfolk, providing reading lessons, setting up the framework for a democracy, and even teaching civics and government.
Lee Marvin and John Wayne, both of whom embody the lawless, violent old ways of the West, are old enemies who share mutual respect for each other, even as Marvin is a sadistic killer and Wayne a tough frontiersman who has built a life for himself.
Land wars and territorial battles form the backdrop, but the film is really about how Marvin and Wayne are increasingly anachronistic in a changing West where violence gives way to law and civilization.
Wayne recognizes this, and ultimately sacrifices himself and his love for a good woman to Stewart, who Wayne rightly sees as representing the future.
One significant scene that clearly resonated with the civil rights struggles of the times involves Wayne's assistant, played by college and NFL great Woody Strode, who forgets the "all men are created equal" part of Declaration of Independence, at which point Stewart as his teacher notes that it's ok because lots of other people have forgotten that part too.
Classic.
A Deeper-Theme Western: The New Old-West vs. the Old Old-West
2009-11-29 - This John Wayne western is unusual in that it goes beyond individuals and its conflict captures the changes that were taking place at that time. The old Old-West was a world of settling disputes by oneself through violence, of huge tracts of land owned by cattle barons, of territorial status, and of minimal imprint by civilization. The new Old-West became a world of settling disputes nonviolently through law, of small tracts of land owned by farmers, of popular democracy and statehood, and of "modern" amenities such as literacy, schooling, and railroads.
Liberty Valance is no simple bandit: He is a hired gun (representing the old Old-West) fighting on behalf of the cattle barons who want to prevent statehood. Ransom Stoddart, the lawyer (representing the new Old-West), had been robbed, beaten, and repeatedly humiliated by Valance. Tom Donovan (John Wayne), the skilled-shooting citizen, held off Valance at one point, but otherwise was not directly involved in actions against Valance.
Lawyer Stoddart wants vengeance, and learns how to shoot a gun. Donovan coaches him. Stoddart and Valance have an appointed duel. Does the inexperienced Stoddart have a chance? The outcome is unexpected and surprising.
Great classic Western Movie
2009-11-18 - All I need to say is, this is one of the many great classic westerns. Jimmy Stewart has always been a great actor, I especially loved him in westerns, his slow drawl when speaking is what drew me to him in the first place. There are no more actors like him. He and so many others of his time have gone to another place and time. Thank goodness we have their movies to remind us, that they still live on in our hearts and in our movies.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
2009-11-05 - This is an excellent movie and a classic. Everyone should see it at least once. It is a great asset to my movie collection.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
2009-09-20 - John Wayne and James Stewart made a very interesting pairing in films. Their last appearance was in "The Shootist." James Stewart was a World War II hero in the real sense. John Wayne, despite all of his war movies, was not a veteran. Likewise Lee Marvin was also a military veteran.
In this movie John Ford did to westerns what Alfred Hitchcock did to horror. The audience is not simply spoon-fed a typical movie with a simple plot. At the end of the show, there are many points to contemplate. Too bad it was not produced in color.
