John Wayne is an actor so iconic that as a symbol for machismo even today he is matched by no other. He also represented a conservative view point, not only in his staunch anti-communist real-life position, but as the cowboy resistant to change but still determined to do the right thing. Nowhere did he more make himself more inextricable from these ideals than in John Ford’s legendary western, “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence”.

Now, I’ve got a terrible confession to make. This is only the third John Wayne picture I’ve seen all the way through. I know, I know, I even live in Texas; I’m surprised I haven’t been lynched. It’s those qualities that Wayne stood for that are the reasons I’ve avoided most of his movies over the years. Oh, and the fact he was about as one-note as an actor could get. Yet, it was a note that resonated with audiences and directors alike, a powerful and almost intimidating representation of a manly ideal. So, after being vaguely disappointed way back in film school (at the dawn of time) when we watched “Stagecoach” and more recently with “The Searchers” (really, you guys love this movie THAT much?) I finally found a Wayne film that had something in it I could identify with…Jimmy Stewart.

Stewart plays Rance Stoddard, a fresh-faced young lawyer who has come out to anywheres-ville Wild West in order to…um…do something lawyerly. Unfortunately, no one back east informed him that the west is called wild for a good reason. On the way, his stagecoach is beset upon by a band of rogues led by the infamous Liberty Valence (Lee Marvin). When Stoddard stands up for a widow on the stagecoach, Valence takes it all personal-like and beats Stoddard within an inch of his life. In a bad way, he is found by the more hero-ish Tom Doniphon (John Wayne) who brings him back to the small town of Shinbone where his wounds are cared to by Hallie (Vera Miles) the young lady who Tom has laid an eye upon as his future wife, an open secret respected by pretty much everybody except Hallie who seems to remain virtually oblivious to the whole thing.

Stoddard is left with nothing but his knowledge and he is determined that Valence be brought to justice, not by shooting, but by the law. I will note that Stoddard seems to not be able to recognize that most criminals are brought TO the law at the point of a weapon, but that’s neither here nor there (and is ultimately the reluctant point of the film). He’s got a mission to edumacate the simple townsfolk on government, teach them how to read and write, and motivate the town and their cowardly and useless marshall (Andy Devine) to arrest Liberty Valence for his repeated offenses against the townspeople. When the local newspaper man (Edmond O’Brian) is moved enough by Stoddard’s pleas and growing popularity with the townsfolk to start printing the truth about the outlaw in his paper, it stirs up a nest of bees. With Valence and his crew determined to keep living their wild ways, Stoddard trying to introduce progress, and Doniphon merely hoping to win the hand of Hallie by keeping everyone she cares about from being killed, things are bound to get all shooty.

That’s about as much as I can say about the plot without spoiling the film for you. Believe me, you don’t want me to do that. I know there are fifty gadjillion black and white westerns to choose from, but if you only had to pick five or so out of them all to be the representatives of the best of the best, “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence” would be one of them. As with many of the better ones, “Valence” deals with the reluctant progress towards civilization in the west and the replacing of the ‘might makes right’ moral code with a legal one. What makes these characters so interesting is that both Liberty Valence and Tom Doniphon hold true to the same ideals, just one adheres to moral principles and the other doesn’t. In his own way, Tom resents Stoddard as much as Valence does. His West is just fine the way it is. He’s spent his life being a force to be reckoned with and Stoddard wants to make brains more valued over brawn, something that in the beginning of the film (which takes place many years after the rest of the story) we can see takes away everything from Tom, even his girl.

There’s a distinct sadness here and yet a begrudging acceptance of the inevitability of change. Let’s face it folks, I’m glad that the law prevents the bully from taking over towns after high school. It’s worth the sacrifice of freedom without bounds in order to be safe…to an extent. It’s that fear of the unknown and unfamiliar that even today leads many to willingly give up yet more of their freedoms, but it’s a fear exaggerated and manipulated by the government in tandem with certain parts of the media in order to sidestep many of the most important principles our country was founded on. While John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart might have believed in the sort of fear-mongering used for such things, I can’t help but think that Rance Stoddard, champion of the principles of the United States that he was, would have been the first to cry foul.

Okay, so I used this review as an excuse to espouse my political leanings. Forgive me while I step down from my soapbox long enough to tell you that “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence” is essential viewing whether you’re a casual film viewer or a serious student of the cinema. This new edition of the film, cleaned up to perfection by Paramount, just like the rest of their ‘Centennial Collection’ has enough extras tacked on to its two discs to make you feel studious just by virtue of owning it:

-Commentary by Peter Bogdanovich along with archival recordings of John Ford and Jimmy Stewart
-Selected scene commentaries with an intro by John Ford’s son, Dan Ford, using archival recordings of John Ford, Jimmy Stewart and Lee Marvin
-“The Size of Legends, The Soul of Myth”: Fifty minute featurette about the film.
-Theatrical trailer
-Gallery

“The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence” was a risky and troubled production. Not only was the director getting old and irascible but the cynical story and cowboy heroes who weren’t always heroic went against the grain for these sorts of films. To me, the westerns that held my interest weren’t so much the black and white (in theme) hero stories, they were the deconstructions like this one. Much later the multiple academy award winning “Unforgiven” (also, much beloved by Cyrus) would cover these themes again, exposing the West as far as our Hollywood and very American conception of it as legends built on half-truths and colorful exaggerations. “Valence” reminds us that no matter when or who, life was always complicated and people were always layered, despite our yearnings to believe in a simpler time once existing. Now, before I go off on a rant about people who spend all their time waiting for the next Ren fest, I’ll go ride my high horse off into the sunset…

Click Here to Buy The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Paramount Centennial Collection)