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The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
22 April 1962 (USA) moreTagline:
Together For The First Time - James Stewart - John Wayne - in the masterpiece of four-time Academy Award winner John FordPlot:
A senator, who became famous for killing a notorious outlaw, returns for the funeral of an old friend and tells the truth about his deed. full summary | full synopsisAwards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(13 articles)
DVD: Review: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (From The AV Club. 2 June 2009, 10:00 PM, PDT)
Triple Feature: Gunfight at the Ok Corral
(From Cinematical. 30 May 2009, 7:02 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
The passing of the old ways moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only) more
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
123 min | Brazil:124 min | West Germany:113 min (cut version)Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)Certification:
Spain:T | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:PG | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved | Netherlands:12 | Brazil:12 | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | South Korea:12 | UK:U | West Germany:12 (w)Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Several reasons have been put forward for the film being in black and white. John Ford once claimed it added to the tension, however others involved with production said Paramount was cutting costs and so they had to make the movie on sound stages at the studio. Without the budget restraints, Ford would have been in Monument Valley using Technicolor stock. It has also been suggested that since both John Wayne and James Stewart were playing characters thirty years younger than they actually were (Wayne was 54 when the movie was filmed in the autumn of 1961 and Stewart was 53), the movie needed to be in black and white because they would never have got away with it in color. The age difference was particularly noticeable in Stewart's case, since he was playing a young lawyer who had only just graduated from law school and had moved West without even practicing law back East. moreGoofs:
Continuity: Toward the end when the Stoddards are back to pay respects to Tom Doniphon, Rance snaps his watch cover shut and puts it in his vest pocket. He then enters the room and is snapping it shut and putting it in his vest pocket again. moreQuotes:
[first lines]Ransom Stoddard: [descending from railway carriage and consulting pocket watch] Thanks, Jason. On time.
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Movie Connections:
Featured in "SexTV: Legacy of the Cowboy/Blazing Saddles/Pony Play (#7.5)" (2004) moreFAQ
A Note Regarding SpoilersIs this movie based on a novel?
Is this movie a musical?
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Other reviewers, aside from seeing this as the end of the classic western, saw the plot as myth granting to one man that which was rightfully another's. I disagree. I see TMWSLV as a tale of a man stepping aside for the sake of a better man and a better world, at great personal cost.
I view Tom as someone who has lived a cynical life--kill it before it kills you. With the advent of Ransom he recognizes that there is a better way, and that Ransom, by defying evil from a position of weakness, is far braver than Tom, who has merely defied evil from a position of strength. Additionally, Ransom brings about an answer to the question "must the sword rule forever?" with a resounding "no," a denial that at first seems foolish to Tom, but who then realizes that things really should be Ransom's way.
And so Tom, knowing that one of them is the better man, allows that better man to receive the fame attendant to heroism; and in fact Ransom, for daring what Tom never did dare, is the true hero of the tale. Like all honest men must, Tom steps aside for the better man, knowing what it will cost him to do what is right.
An earlier reviewer said that the depiction of the politics was a parody; in fact, the politics of the early portion of the republics was even more lively (read: pugnacious) than is depicted in the film.