The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

I think will review a western because....I really like westerns. The more I think about it, I don't really need an excuse. So I will review The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Let's get started.

We open with a man named senator Ransom Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart) and his wife Hallie (Vere Miles) going into a small western town known as Shinbone. But being a senator, the press chases him down and asks him why he's in Shinbone. All he says is that he is attending a funeral for a man named Tom Doniphon (John Wayne), after saying that, he leaves. When he gets to the right place where Tom's coffin is. The press catches up to him and asks him about who Tom Doniphon was. So Ransom tells them his story. He was just a Lawyer going out west too seek his fortune. But he is attacked by a group of bandits led by a man named Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). Liberty Valance beats up Ransom and leaves him for dead. But Tom saves him and takes him to the house/saloon of Hallie. When Ransom comes to, he talks about how he wants someone to arrest Liberty Valance. But Tom laughs at him and says that he should just shoot him. Ransome decides to thank Hallie by working at the saloon she works at.

While working at the saloon Liberty Valance comes in and trips Ransom as he is taking food to a table. This causes Tom to get in a fight with him and Valance to leave. So after that Ransom opens up a school in the newspaper office with the help of the slightly drunk newspaper writer Mr. Peabody (Edmond O'Brien). After school is dismissed Ransom goes to Tom's house to train in using a gun just in case. Later there is a town meeting about the western territory they live in becoming a state in the United States. Liberty Valance, Mr. Peabody and Ransom are all nominated as representatives but only Mr. Peabody and Ransom are chosen. This makes Valance so angry he destroys some chairs and tells Ransom that he is going to kill him. That night Mr. Peabody is nervous about being a representative so he does the logical thing and gets drunk...wait what? So after he gets drunk he goes back to his office where he is attacked by Liberty Valance and his goons. They leave him and go to a saloon to celebrate. After that Ransom challenges Valance to a duel. Valance shoots Ransom in his arm but Ransom shoots Valance and kills him.

***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***

I love this shot

Hallie is concerned about Ransom's arm but Tom thinks Hallie is in love with Ransom. So Tom gets drunk and when he gets to his house he burns it down but he survives and sets the horses free. We cut to the convention for statehood and one of the representatives of the other side criticizes Ransom for being a murderer. This causes Ransom to leave the room. But Tom catches up to him and says that he is the one who shot Liberty Valance. He explains that Ransom's bullet missed Valance and Tom hit him from the shadows. This makes Ransom feel better and he goes back to the convention. So Ransom concludes his story of who Tom was and of how he became a senator. But the press decides not to print the story because as the editor speaking with Ransom says, "When legend becomes fact, print the legend". So the movie ends with Hallie and Ransom leaving on a train. The End.

***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is one of those John Ford westerns that are just so good. Lee Marvin's performance as Liberty Valance is probably one of the best western villains I have ever seen. Jimmy Stewart does a good job as the nervous lawyer and John Wayne does a good job as the tough rancher as well. I also think a lot of the side characters are really well developed and funny. The only problem I have is that it is bit obvious that John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart are too old to play the characters and the politics might get a bit confusing for some people. But other than that this is one of the best John Ford/John Wayne movies I have seen. See you next time when I review The Muppet Movie.

 (INSERT SILLY CAPTION HERE) (SERIOUSLY I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY)