The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

An idealistic tenderfoot lawyer confronts the fiercest outlaw in a small western town.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is a masterpiece. John Ford works like a master conductor leading an orchestra of stars –including Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, and Lee Marvin– through a marvelous script, and yet still manages to make a movie greater than the sum of it’s parts.

The script is outstanding. Working on one level as a classic western—noble underdog Jimmy Stewart up against mean outlaw Lee Marvin—it also works as a deconstruction of the western mythology and the inevitable end of the ‘might makes right’ mentality that pervaded frontier towns.

The ability to balance these themes and tell a multi-layered story is the mark of a great director and John Ford does it so well he actually makes it look easy. His casting of John Wayne in the crucial role of Tom Doniphon is a testament to his faith in Wayne’s acting ability, as the character must work as both a western archetype and anachronism.

For his part John Wayne elevates his supporting character to near legendary status and first coins the “Pilgrim” colloquialism that would later become so closely associated with him.