“The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” is a western drama, based on the story by Dorothy M. Johnson and Directed by John Ford.
While Senator Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) returns home to Shinbone
for the funeral of Tom Doniphon (John Wayne), he tells the story behind his
sojourn to a local newspaper editor, about how he had arrives in the town many
years before, as a young lawyer, and how he first met local outlaw Liberty Valance
(Lee Marvin) when the stage he was on was robbed.
After the holdup Stoddard was left with nothing more than a few law
books to his name so he had to get a job in the kitchen at the Ericson's
restaurant and there he met his future wife, Hallie (Vera Miles) but he has both
a friend and a love rival in Tom Doniphon.
All this is against the backdrop of the territory vying for Statehood.
Eventually Stoddard is selected by the townspeople as a representative,
with his main rival being Valance, who does not take defeat well and terrorizes
the town, but when he destroys the local newspaper office and attacks the
editor, Stoddard calls him out, though the conclusion is not quite as
straightforward as legend would have it.
Other notable cast members in this classic western are Edmond O'Brien,
Andy Devine, Ken Murray, John Carradine and Jeanette Nolan.
