The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

John Ford’s Western The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) presents the choice for the frontier individual to either rely on the law to deal with those that break society’s rules, or to take matters into one’s own hands and pick up a gun to get justice. In this film, Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart), being a lawyer, wants to go through the legal system to deal with the criminal, Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). Tom Doniphon (John Wayne) represents the option to handle problems individually when the law offers little satisfaction. The film addresses the value of democracy and the threats to the process, which sustains the movie’s relevance.

The story begins at Tom’s funeral and the older Ransom (Rance)(does the name suggest he paid with part of his integrity to get things done?), now a U. S. Senator, and his wife, Hallie (Vera Miles), are paying their respects in the western town of Shinbone (a name that implies a hard and spare lifestyle).  Link Appleyard (Andy Devine) greets the couple at the train station. He used to be the town’s marshal. While Rance talks to the local newspapermen, Link takes Hallie on a ride to the desert. That area has stayed the same, showing how nature remains constant where cactus roses grow, but the world of people changes. They go to the dilapidated ruins of a building where Tom used to live. The locals don’t even know about Tom, which shows how recorded history leaves out the significant acts of some people.

Tom’s African America friend, Pompey (Woody Strode, who was in Spartacus) is at the funeral director’s place, mourning. Rance is angry that Tom’s body is not wearing his boots, spurs, and gun, like a true cowboy. Rance just wants to keep his grief private, but the intrusive editor of the local newspaper, Maxwell Scott (Charleton Young) insists on an explanation for the Senator’s presence for the funeral of an obscure person. Rance decides that the past should not be forgotten so he tells his story, which is presented as an extended flashback.

The camera focuses on the dusty old stagecoach that brought the young recent law school graduate Rance to Shinbone. The image is a sort of time machine that transports us into the past. Rance says he took Horace Greely’s advice to “Go west” and “seek, fame, fortune and adventure.” Just as he speaks those words gunshots go off as the stagecoach is held up by Liberty Valance’s gang, wearing masks, showing how some adventures are not positive ones. Rance voices his outrage, and the response he receives is a beating from Liberty (an ironic name showing how destructive individualism can be if not held subject to laws that protect society as a whole). Liberty laughs at Rance’s suggestion that he will go to jail. When he grabs one of Rance’s law books, he rips out pages, showing how little respect he has for the power of the legal system. He whips Rance, saying he is inflicting “Western law” which comes down to a type of Social Darwinism, where only those that can inflict the most violence survive.

Tom rescues Rance and brings him to Hallie for help (Wayne uses what becomes his signature word, calling Rance “pilgrim” often, which is a traveler with a religious connotation that suggests that Rance is on a righteous crusade, not a vengeful one). (For me Wayne’s voice and delivery of lines is often over-the-top and takes me out of the story. Sorry fans). Tom’s decency is shown by offering to pay for Rance’s food since the lawyer was robbed of everything. Tom also compliments on how pretty Hattie looks, and there is an indication that he might propose to her someday. Rance says the man used a silver-tipped whip on him. Tom recognizes it as Liberty Valance’s weapon, and says Rance better start carrying a gun, suggesting that is the way to deal with men like Liberty. Tom says, “I know those law books mean a lot to you, but not out here. Out here, a man settles his own problems.” Later, Burt Reynolds’s character in Deliverance says rhetorically in the wilderness, “Where is the law?” Ford’s film takes place at a time when there was little policing of the savagery of humans, and the NRA motto of the only way to stop a bad man with a gun is a good guy with a gun was the way of the West.

Unfortunately, law and order in Shinbone comes in the out-of-shape form of the freeloading Link Appleyard, whose cowardly attitude and soft body may indicate the lax enforcement of the authorities in these parts. Andy Divine’s high-pitched, stuttering voice adds to the lack of the character’s toughness. When he finds out that Liberty is involved in Rance’s robbery and beating, the Marshall just wants to run away. He says, “The jail ‘s only got one cell, and the lock’s broke, and I sleep in it.” It’s a funny line, but it shows the sad state the law-abiding citizens of the town are in. Tom introduces himself to Rance and says Rance doesn’t look like a person who can handle a gun, especially against Liberty, who he says is the toughest fellow around, “next to me.” We have the macho image of John Wayne in full force here.

 Rance is helping out in Hallie’s restaurant kitchen since he is getting food there. He reads his law books and thinks he has a loophole to arrest Liberty under the local jurisdiction. Hallie is embarrassed because she cannot read his book. When he offers to teach her, she counters by saying he’s there wearing an apron and washing dishes, which implies his education hasn’t helped him on the frontier. She has a point, but she realizes that reading would enrich her life as she could read the Bible.

Tom shows up and has a cactus rose for Hallie, so we now know why she wanted one at the opening of the story. Rance has his hands on Hallie’s shoulders when Tom walks in as Hallie was announcing the news that Rance was going to teach her to read and write. Tom shows some jealousy by using slight sarcasm about how Rance is now protecting the ladies at the restaurant. Hallie’s affections seem to become divided between the rugged individualism of Tom and the scholarly morality of Rance. Tom sees Rance’s attorney sign he painted and tellingly says that if he hangs it up, he will have to defend it with a gun, and he’s not the type. Again, there is the idealism of Rance countered by the harsh practicality of Tom.

Tom sits down with the dining Dutton Peabody (Edmond O’ Brien), the newspaper editor at that time, who is also a drunk. He’s as hungry for a story as he is for steak and potatoes. He wants to know if Tom has popped the question to Hallie. Tom is not about to be rushed. Meanwhile, Pompey planted the cactus rose, and Rance asks if Hallie has seen a real rose. She says no, but she hopes that she will someday. Their remarks show how she has aspirations beyond the boundaries of this town, and Rance may be the man to help her on her way.

Liberty bursts in with two of his gang, and, as expected, Link rushes out. Liberty goes to a table and sees that the steak is “just right” for him, and wants those men seated to vacate the table, pulling the chair out from under one cowboy. He’s like a bullying Goldilocks. Rance volunteered to wait on tables because the place is so busy, and men did not perform that task back then. Liberty plops his whip on the table, so Rance knows for sure that it is Liberty who whipped him. Liberty laughs at Rance as he enters the room with plates of food and calls him the new “waitress.” There are a number of these emasculation scenes. If one tries to use one’s brains instead of fists, and if a man is trying to be helpful and courteous, he is considered weak. The cliche being invoked here is the one of a man being whipped by a woman, which is supposed to illustrate how weak he is.

As Rance walks past Liberty, the man trips him and the food spills to the floor. Rance is ready to rush Liberty, which would be a suicide move. Tom comes to the rescue, because at this moment, in this place, the law and civilized action can’t win. Tom tells Liberty that it was his steak on the floor and Liberty must pick it up. There looks like there is going to be a shootout, with Pompey pointing a rifle from the kitchen. The outraged Rance yells why is everybody so “kill crazy” there. He picks up the meat to diffuse the situation. Liberty takes a drink of whiskey outside, then smashes the restaurant window with it while he and his men start to fire off their weapons as they ride out of town.

Tom rhetorically asks, “Well now, I wonder what scared them off?” Dutton adds to Tom’s sarcasm, saying, “You know what sacred ‘em? The spectacle of law and order – here, risin’ up out of the gravy and mashed potatoes.” More emasculation. Rance admits that it was a gun that was needed to drive Liberty away. However, he points out the stupidity of getting killed over a piece of steak. He tries to assert his individual strength by saying that he fights his own battles. Despite his gruff manner, Tom was trying to prevent Rance from getting killed. Editor Dutton sees Rance as newsworthy and wants to exploit him. He offers to let him hang his attorney-at-law shingle in front of the newspaper office, which can draw Liberty’s fire, literally. Rance rejects Tom’s advice on two counts: he’s neither leaving nor picking up a gun to fight Liberty. The film suggests that at this point putting one’s faith in the law seems like idealism.

The cattle barons are trying to push small homesteaders out of their business. Statehood would protect the less powerful and the barons are fighting against it. Here we have the theme of using democracy to fight those that use their power to destroy the lives of others. Rance reads about what is going on in the newspaper, which stresses the importance of freedom of the press. Rance now is teaching the townspeople, with Hallie helping him out, how to read and write (including Latino children, which points to how immigrants are an important part of the democratic process). They are learning American history, too, and Nora Ericson (Jeanette Nolan), a German immigrant, says the United States is a republic, which means the people are the “bosses,” and if there is a dislike for what the “big shots” in Washington are doing, the people can vote them out. The disdain for elitism is evident here and promotes a type of populism. It’s appropriate that the Black man, Pompey, responds to a question about how Thomas Jefferson wrote that “all men are created equal.” He apologizes for forgetting some of the words, and Rance’s remark that many people forget the equality part allows the film to take a shot at racism.

Rance tells those at the lesson that having a strong representative to fight for their interests is important, so getting out the vote is vital. Tom has been away doing horse trading and he bursts in telling Pompey he needs him working. Tom is the pragmatist who knows that Liberty is working with the cattle barons and hiring guns to ensure the rich men’s interests. Tom acknowledges the nobility of what the newspaper and Rance believe in, but he says that promoting it will bring about bloodshed. Tom says the hired gunmen tried to ambush him, but he killed one of them. Dutton goes off to write the story, and Tom warns that if he prints that information he’ll get himself killed. Here we have the dilemma of the responsibility of the press versus whether news sometimes helps create trouble. While they talk, the camera shot shows the U. S. flag in the background and a portrait of George Washington. The images stress how the history of the nation and democracy are on the line. Tom warns that the gunmen will be there on election day to intimidate the voters. Tom tells Hallie to get out of a school that can turn into “a shooting gallery.” But Hallie strongly asserts her independence by telling him he can’t tell her what to do because he doesn’t “own” her.

Rance dismisses the school and when he erases what he has written on the blackboard, “Education is the basis for law and order,” it’s as if ignorance of what holds civilization together is winning. He is becoming cynical as he tells the protesting Hallie that “when force threatens, talk’s no good anymore.” Rance leaves and Dutton confesses to Hallie that a while back he lent Rance a gun and the lawyer has been going outside town and practicing how to shoot. He is compromising his ideals for Tom’s view of reality.

Hallie asks for Tom’s help, and he catches up with Rance and takes him to his house under construction. Tom says that he plans on marrying Hallie once he has his house fixed up for her. But, because Hallie shows so much worry for Rance, Tom believes that she and Rance have feelings for each other. Tom engages in more humiliation as a way of showing Rance how his being in a shootout is futile. He tells the lawyer to hang up some paint cans to be shot at, but instead Tom fires at them, spilling paint on Rance. He is trying to show how fast a gunslinger can be and that, although he says he doesn’t like “tricks,” Liberty indulges in them. Rance is angry about this further attack on his manhood and punches Tom so hard he knocks him down, saying he doesn’t like tricks, either. The look on Tom’s face reveals some admiration for Rance’s toughness.

Election day comes, as Rance explains to the crowd of men at the bar, to elect two delegates to a state convention to determine whether the territory south of the Picketline River should become a state. (Dutton says humorously that declaring booze off-limits on this day “is carrying democracy too far.”). Only white men can vote at this time, as the film stresses by having the women and Pompey stay outside. Rance emphasizes that statehood means that their ranches will be protected from an open range policy where the rich interests have no legal constraints from taking over the smaller lands of the farmers. Rance nominates Tom, despite their differences. In a way, Rance is trying to draw Tom into the legal framework of democracy. But, Tom refuses, saying he has other plans. We know he means marrying and settling down with Hallie, which shows his focus is on his individual wants, not social ones.

Then Liberty shows up, who, unlike Tom, whose intentions are honorable, is an agent of chaos. He doesn’t live in the area but says wherever he wants to live is his address. He sees a newspaper headline that says he killed two homesteaders, which shows Dutton has showed a great deal of courage to publicly indict Liberty. The men nominate Rance to be a delegate, with Tom seconding the motion, showing he has gained some respect for the man, acknowledging Rance’s legal background and that he can throw a “punch.” Liberty gets a member of his gang to nominate him. One of the townspeople nominates Dutton, who wants no part of it. He says he must stay outside of politics so he can “build” up politicians, and “tear” them down. He says he is the people’s “conscience,” and “the watchdog that howls against the wolves.” Dutton might be overdramatizing his role in society, and he’ll do almost anything for a drink. However, he does state the purpose of the free press, which, if silenced, allows liars and bullies to escape being held in check. Liberty, not wanting to confront Tom, tells Rance that he has to stop hiding behind Tom’s gun, and Liberty will be waiting for him in the street for a gunfight. Tom offers to get Rance out of town, but at this point we’re not sure if Rance will leave.

The drunk Dutton, laughingly blowing on his whiskey jug mistaking it for a candle, is trying to find the courage to continue his work at the bottom of a bottle of booze. He alters Horace Greeley’s quotation, saying to his shadow (of himself?), “Old Man: go west. And grow young with the country.” His version stresses the newness of the frontier, its uncorrupted nature which brought about it being dubbed the New Eden. The West here is a type of Fountain of Youth to rejuvenate the jaded. When Dutton returns to the newspaper office, Liberty and his men are there. They beat Dutton almost to death and destroy the premises. Liberty also shoots Rance’s lawyer sign. The scene symbolizes how lawlessness can destroy the fair rules that rein in destructive behavior so that the average citizen can live a life without fear.

After seeing what happened to Dutton, Rance tells Marshall Appleyard to let Liberty know that he will meet him outside for a showdown. He is giving into the violent practicality of the times. Hallie tells Pompey to get Tom, while Link calls for the doctor to help Dutton. At the saloon, individuals are now starting to voice their anger at the card-playing Liberty. Even the cowardly Link says that if Liberty shoots the inexperienced Rance, it will be murder (Rance’s lack of gun shooting skills is stressed by his still wearing a restaurant apron).

Outside, Liberty toys with Rance, shooting near him, but then wounding him in his right hand, sending the gun to the ground. He picks it up with his left hand, and when Liberty threatens to shoot him “right between the eyes,” Rance gets a shot off. Liberty is hit and dies. Rance looks at his gun and drops it, looking defeated morally despite surviving.

Tom shows up at the kitchen where Hallie is tending to Rance’s wound. He witnesses Hallie comforting Rance, holding him, kissing his forehead, and sobbing over what could have happened to him. Tom says he is sorry he didn’t arrive in time, and after seeing the affection between the other two, leaves slamming the door. When Liberty’s gang members say Rance murdered Liberty, Tom disarms them and knocks them down. Tom yells at Link to do his job and arrest the two outlaws. Lance then wants to take credit for the apprehensions. It is a foreshadowing of who should really be getting credit for an action. As the town celebrates the demise of Liberty, Tom stands up for Pompey at the saloon when the bartender doesn’t want to serve his Black farmhand. Pompey doesn’t drink and says they have work to do back at home. Tom is now drunk, upset by losing the affection of Hallie, and the business he has in mind back at his ranch is anything but constructive. He sets fire to his house, the one he was adding onto in anticipation of living in it with Hallie. Pompey rescues him from the fire.

After recovering from their ordeal sufficiently both Rance and Dutton attend the statehood convention. Major Cassius Starbuckle (John Carradine), who has become a politician, says he had a speech but does not want to indulge in “oratory.” So, he crumples a piece of paper that is supposed to contain his prepared words. But, a delegate unravels it and it is blank. Thus, the Major is a deceptive character, who puts into a nomination another politician to represent them in Washington. After he speaks, a cowboy on a horse rides in supporting the nominee and does rope tricks. The whole scene satirizes the political process which is seen as a theatrical display with little substance.

Dutton calls the Major “the cattleman’s mouthpiece,” so he is representing the big business interests. He extols the average working person and places in nomination a surprised Rance, who he says is a model for the proper legal way to bring law and order to the frontier. The manipulative Major asks what kind of lawyer is he who killed “an honest citizen,” which is a ludicrous statement considering Liberty’s evil nature. But he indicts Rance for taking “the law into his own hands” and that he “has blood on his hands.” He continues by saying that Rance has, “the mark of Cain” on him. It is an ironic accusation, since Rance wanted nothing to do with killing a fellow brother of the human race when he set out to bring Liberty to justice in a civilized manner.

Tom shows up at the convention and follows the exiting Rance, who says he is going back east because he can’t build a reputation on killing a man. Tom then reveals what really happened and we get a flashback which shows that he is the man who shot Liberty Valance. He’s willing to keep that secret so that Rance can be elected and usher in a righteous change in the way the law is practiced in the territory. The movie suggests that the birth of a decent nation entails undergoing some painful events. Tom says that Hallie is now Rance’s girl, and since he taught her how to read and write Rance has the responsibility to give her something to read and write about. He puts the responsibility of creating decency on Rance’s shoulders.

The story returns to the present. Rance went to Washington and went on to become the governor of the new state and its senator. Nobody remembers Tom now, as his ways faded away. He knew it was time for change and he accepted that inevitability since we are told at the beginning of the movie that in recent times he no longer carried a gun. Rance has told the truth about Tom now to the new editor, Scott, who rips up the notes he was taking and throws them into a stove. He says he is not going to print the story Rance related. Scott says, “This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” The implication is that it is detrimental to people to invalidate the myths they needed to believe in.

Back on the train, Hallie admits that she placed the cactus roses on Tom’s coffin. The plant symbolizes the kind of man Tom was – thorny with an appealing side. Now Rance feels his time has come to give up politics after achieving what he wanted, and he wishes to return to Shinbone and maybe open up a law office, which was his original plan. She says he should be “proud,” because he helped in changing the territory from a “wilderness” into a “garden,” a sort of hybrid that combines what is natural with cultivation. Hallie says her “roots” and her “heart” are still in this place in the West, which suggests that a person should stay grounded by keeping connected to one’s origins.

The train conductor lets Rance know that they have made accommodations for him because nothing is too good for the “man who shot Liberty Valance.” Sometimes the legend is mightier than the truth.

The next film is My Darling Clementine.