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.

Three Obscure Films

I started having film screenings for neighbors in the new development I moved into. I thought I would provide some brief comments on three somewhat obscure movies.

Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?

This 1978 film starring George Segal, Jacqueline Bisset, and Robert Morley is a load of laughs. Segal and especially Morley are very funny. It’s a whodunit, and despite the movie being a comedy, the deaths are rather gruesome. For those who like mysteries, humor, great locales, and food, this is great entertainment. One of my favorite lines (and there are many) delivered by Morey’s Max, as he wonders about the killings: “Don’t tell me another cook has been murdered! Who is it this time, Aunt Jemima?”

The Last of Sheila

Released in 1973, here is another humorous mystery that has an even darker edge to it, but is still able to be very witty. We have a great script here, filled with so many twists and turns it will make your head spin like Linda Blair. The writers are, believe it or not, Broadway musical composer Stephen Sondheim and actor Anthony Perkins, who it turns out were lovers of puzzles. They have concocted a gem here. The movie has an all-star cast including James Mason, James Coburn, Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon, and Raquel Welch. Great locales in this movie, too. Herbert Ross is the director, who also gave us Play it Again, Sam, The Goodbye Girl, and The Turning Point.

3:10 to Yuma

The remake of this film (2007) may not be as famous as the original (both based on the Elmore Leonard story), but it is still pretty good. Christian Bale does an excellent job playing the Job-like farmer who has lost a foot due to friendly fire when he was a soldier, has a severely ill child, and is debt-ridden. In addition, his son has little respect for his non-aggressive ways. Bale’s character has a chance to make some money by transporting a notorious outlaw, played with charismatic bravado by Russell Crowe, who, ironically, likes to quote the Bible. His character is complicated, as he points out that those who want to hang him for his crimes are themselves guilty of atrocities but have hid behind the hypocrisy of those in power. The story focuses on whether Bale’s farmer, through his heroic actions, can prevent his son from losing his goodness in a world of lawlessness.

Shane

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Shane, released in 1953, directed by George Stevens (nominated for Best Director) and written by A. B. Guthrie, Jr. (also receiving an Oscar nomination) based on the novel by Jack Schaefer, is a western whose themes center on the western United States moving from a rugged frontier to a territory that is settled and domesticated. Within that context, the movie explores what constitutes a man’s role in this society.

The opening shot shows Shane (Alan Ladd) riding his horse toward the Starett house. The Oscar-winning color cinematography depicts sweeping vistas of the planes with the imposing mountains in the background that show reverence for the appearance of the Old West. Child Joey (Brandon de Wilde, in an Oscar-nominated supporting role) holds a rifle and appears ready to shoot a deer, which implies youthful innocence must soon take a back seat to surviving in the wilderness. But the deer shows alertness as both the animal and the boy see the cowboy approaching. Strangers can be an enemy or a friend since the truth is unsure. That is why the father, Joe (Van Heflin) says, “Let him come,” to see which the man will turn out to be. Shane asks to be able to ride through, saying he didn’t expect to find any fences here. His words show he would rather not encounter barriers to his freedom. The two men represent opposing lifestyles: one is a roamer who fought with his guns to survive; the other, is a reliable, peace seeking family man who would like to be allowed to put down roots, but who may seem dull in comparison. Joe’s wife, Marian (Jean Arthur) looks at Shane possibly as a curiosity, but she may feel instant attraction for the wandering strong handsome man who initially contrasts with her ordinary husband. But, she moves away from the window revealing some modesty since she doesn’t want to be caught observing Shane.

Shane shows his observation abilities by saying how he noticed how the boy, although seeming to hide saw Shane approaching. He compliments Joey by saying, “I like a man who watches things go on around. It means he’ll make his mark someday." This remark makes Joey smile, endearing him to Shane. While dismounting to drink some offered water, Joey cocks his rifle but the sound triggers a startled response from Shane who spins around, ready to draw his revolver. As the father notes, he is an excitable type, and the action hints at Shane’s stressful, gunfighter past. Joey says he just wanted Shane to see his rifle, and says he guesses Shane knows how to shoot. Shane doesn’t want to reveal anything about his past, and modestly says he does a bit.  

Men on horses ride toward the Starett house and Joe initially believes Shane is part of the Ryker group who want to run him off his land. Shane says if Joe lowers the gun he’ll leave because he wants his departure to be his decision. This exchange shows that Shane wants to be in charge of his fate and doesn’t like anyone forcing his will on him. He starts to leave. The riders approach. Rufus Ryker (Emile Meyer) says Joe is a squatter like the settlers, but Joe says he’s a legal homesteader, and the land he lives on belongs to him. Ryker wants him gone before the first snow because he signed a beef contract and needs the land for his cattle business. Ryker says he is giving a warning but could just “blast” him off. Joe says those days are past, suggesting that there has been an evolution away from violent ways, and laws have been passed to incarcerate those who violate the rules. Joe is a man caught between the old belief in the survival of the fittest and the newer, civilized social agreement that promotes peace and resolution through shared community rules and cooperation. Marian tries to calm everyone to avoid hostile behavior. A smiling Shane has not left and appears from behind the house to give support to Joe.

Here we have the old-fashioned role of the wife and mother who her husband calls “the little lady,” as she handles the domestic chores. Marian says supper will be ready soon, suggesting Joe should invite Shane to stay. Joe apologizes and says Joey’s rifle isn’t even loaded, showing how he is still fostering Joey’s childhood while also getting him ready for his adulthood. He shakes Shane’s hand and Joey is elated that he will stay. At supper, Joe goes on at length about how one can make a go of it being a homesteader. Shane seems distracted by Marian. A calf makes a noise, and again Shane is startled and goes for his gun, showing his hypervigilant lifestyle has not given him a sense of peace. When asked where Shane is going, his nomadic response is “one place or another. Someplace I’ve never been.” His life may have adventure, but it may not be deeply fulfilling because the satisfactions are transient. Joe says it’s the first real home his family has had and they will have to kill him before he would leave. Marian is upset by Joe talking about something so disturbing in front of their son. Joe says working the farm is too much labor for him and he had a hired hand once. But the Ryker brothers “knocked out his teeth” according to Joey, so the worker left. This story shows how Joe is up against not only the environment but the men who first arrived in the Old West. Joe comments how the extra plates and forks for the pie make it seem like they’re being fancy, but Marian appears to be trying to impress Shane.

Marian asks Joe to invite Shane to stay the night, pushing to keep the cowboy around. Shane, trying to show that he is worthy of their hospitality, and trying to make a transition to a farm hand, is outside taking an axe to a huge tree stump close to the house. Joe had been fighting for a long time by himself to get rid of the tree remnant. Together they chop at it into the night, and the fit, shirtless Shane and Joe finally are able to use their combined strength to unearth the stump. It’s as if Shane has brought increased manliness to Joe, empowering the man.

The next morning Joey wakes up to see a deer looking for food and water near the house. Showing his desire to grow into a frontiersman, he pretends to shoot it. He comes across the already awake Shane who slept next to the house. Joey wants Shane to teach him how to shoot, and wants him to stay, since his father has delayed showing him how to use a gun. Joey says he heard his dad say to his mother that he wanted Shane to stay to help with the work, but not fight his battles. It is interesting that the male ego is not threatened by needing help to do work, but feels undermined when the man is unable to fight alone, as if violence is a more defining male feature.

While Joey stays with his father as he does chores, Joey asks if Shane will teach him to shoot. Joe says he will do it when he has the time, which shows his desire not to be usurped in his fatherly role, but which also demonstrates how his current role of a family man and tending to the land has taken precedence over other traditional manly activities. Joe admits, however, that he probably can’t shoot as well as Shane, since he knows Shane has probably used his gun more often not being occupied by other activities, and he observed his quick reactions to any threats. Shane went into town to get supplies but didn’t wear his guns, and Joey wants to know why. Joe says he doesn’t wear one himself, but Joey says wearing guns suits Shane, as the boy is aware of the difference between his father and the cowboy. The boy then asks if his dad could beat Shane in a gunfight. Young boys want to emulate their fathers usually, so they want their hero worship to be justified. Joe maturely, though unsatisfactorily, answers by saying there’s no need to know the answer to his boy’s question since Shane is on their side. Joe may be feeling intimidated, however, by his family’s attraction to Shane.

Neighbor Ernie (Leonard Strong) rides up and says the Rykers tore down his fences and let cattle damage his wheat fields. He is ready to bolt because of the harassment. Joe convinces him to meet with others at his place to come up with a plan. Ernie wittily points out his frustration by saying the get-together better come to more than just poking “fingers in the air,” which amounts to angry talk and no action.

At the general store, Shane buys some work clothes and feels strange as he says he hadn’t bought clothes in a while. He is not used to anything resembling a domesticated life. It’s sort of like a skin graft that might be rejected. The Rykers are next store and get wind of a “sodbuster” there, which they derogatorily call “pig farmers.” The desire to settle down and be more civilized draws humiliating insults from the more savage leaning men. Shane just wants to buy “soda pop” for Joey, and the store owner, Grafton (Paul McVey), notes in a sad voice that he wishes more men would drink the harmless liquid, implying the alcohol is fueling repulsive behavior. Grafton is a man who would like to live in a civilized world but must still make a living and so must sell whiskey. When Shane goes to the bar to order the soda, Chris Calloway (Ben Johnson), who is with the Rykers, begins the to inault the Shane. When Shane asks, “You speakin’ to me?” and Calloway says, “I don’t see nobody else standin’ there,” we may have the origin of Robert de Niro’s psychotic version talking to himself in the mirror in Taxi Driver. Calloway then throws whiskey onto Shane’s new work shirt and says now he smells “like a man.” The implications here is that drinking something that submerges one’s rational ability helps to define what constitutes a male. Shane, not giving into his what drove his violent past, stoically takes their derogatory behavior and leaves.

The homesteaders meet at Joe’s place that evening. When Shane shows up, one man says he didn’t like going out at night, and another remarks he won’t move until “the shootin’ starts.” So, there is the suggestion that some of these men have left their violent ways behind them. Torrey (Elisha Cook, Jr.), a man from Alabama, shows up, and he heard about what happened at the bar. He says they can’t count on Shane if it comes to a fight against the Rykers. After they say that Calloway bragged about how he ran Shane out, Joe tries to cover for Shane by saying he told Shane to avoid trouble. Shane walks out saying they can speak more freely without him there, but he really doesn’t want to hear his manliness being questioned. Joe tells them they should go together as a show of force when they need to buy supplies in town. Torrey, who has tried to give up his fighting ways but doesn’t want his masculinity questioned, brags that he doesn’t need any bodyguards and only requires his gun with him. In response, one of them mocks Torrey, playing the rousing “Dixie” and then “Beautiful Dreamer” on the harmonica.

Joey, listening in his bedroom to what the others are saying, tells his mother he can’t believe Shane backed down, since he already has built the stranger into his macho hero. Shane is outside the room in the pouring rain, and Marian opens the window. Joey says he knows Shane wasn’t afraid. Shane says it’s a long story, and Marian has some insight into the man and says she knows, and smiles warmly as she says Shane’s name. She urges him to come in out of the rain, a sort of invitation suggesting he doesn’t have to feel like an outsider here. After Shane walks away, Marian tells Joey not to like Shane too much, because she knows he will not be staying, and then her son will be hurt when he leaves. She can see he is a troubled man and keeps moving to try to escape his past.

Joe and his family are getting ready to head out to meet up with other homesteaders and their families to go into town. Marian is slowing them down, and Joe voices the sexist attitude to Shane that one thing about marriage is a man has to get used to waiting for his wife. He says that it’s worth the wait most times, since Marian looks so pretty, and advises Shane that he should hold out for a woman worth waiting for. Joe doesn’t seem to realize that he is talking up his wife to a man who is attracted to her. But, Shane is also envious of Joe having a family and being settled, while at the same time he is incapable of living such a life.

In town, the families plan an anniversary party for Joe and his wife, and one of the wives says Shane is invited. He is now surrounded by a domestic group of people trying to live decent lives, asking him to join them. However, next to the general store, which represents this settled life, is the underbelly of this world, the bar, where the Rykers and Calloway hang out. Joey gets some candy for returning his soda pop bottle, but Shane deliberately goes into the lion’s den in the bar to return the bottle, trying to redeem his earlier behavior. Calloway starts in on him, reminding him that he should stay out of the bar, and be with the “women and kids, where it’s safe.” Calloway’s words are meant to emasculate. Shane tells him not to “push it,” but of course the man does. Shane orders two whiskeys and says he has to return the favor, so he throws both drinks at Calloway. Shane proceeds to punch him literally and symbolically out of the testosterone laden bar into the “women and kids” area of the store, reversing the castrating image. Some of the farmers tell the others to stay out of it, since it’s not “their fight,” and they don’t want to suffer the ramifications of it. The scene, temporarily, reminds one of Gary Cooper in High Noon, not getting the support of others and having to fight alone. (Although High Noon was released earlier, this movie was completed first, but delayed because of editing).

Shane and Calloway trade punches, but Shane beats him. Joey secretly entered the bar and witnesses the fight. He is eating his candy, showing his youthful innocence, but when Shane lands a hard punch, Joey chomps hard down on his treat, as if his potential for adult brutality is overpowering his childhood. Rufus Ryker sees that Shane would be an asset, and tries to recruit him, but Shane will have nothing to do with him. Rufus, who doesn’t understand honor or loyalty, implies that Shane is sticking around Joe because of his pretty wife. Shane is outraged at the comment. Rufus then says he’ll make Shane pay dearly for his actions. Joey comes up to Shane and says there are too many to fight and he should leave. It is a wise bit of advice, but Shane does not want to show that he will back down again, so he takes on a whole bunch of men. He does well until they finally get a hold of him and Rufus begins to pummel him. Joey tells the others and his dad enters with a club )A phallic symbol?). Together he and Shane beat the others away. Grafton, who continues to represent an evolved male, tries to stop the fighting, and convinces Joe and Shane to leave. Joe seems invigorated as he lets his savage nature surface, spurred on by Shane’s willingness to fight the villains. But Rufus promises the next time they meet up there will be lethal force used.

Marian tends to the men’s wounds, and says they were “wonderful,” which reflects the expected traditional reaction by women who sought protection from men in a hostile situation. The men also show prescribed modest attitudes, with Joe saying Shane did most of the fighting. When Joey says he thought Shane was a “goner” when hit with a chair, Shane says humorously, “It was an easy chair.” Even though Marian says medicating Shane’s head wound will hurt, Joey says Shane won’t complain. The boy is already subscribing to the code of the western hero. Shane can hear Joey telling his mother in the boy’s bedroom that he loves Shane, “almost as much as I love Pa.” Shane looks concerned, because he knows, just as Marian predicted, that he will eventually be moving on. He walks out so as not to embarrass Marian when she comes out of Joey’s bedroom. When she does leave Joey, Joe comes out of their bedroom and Marian asks Joe to hold her tight, almost to reassure herself that she is with the right man.

Ryker sent for Jack Wilson (Jack Palance), a gunfighter, who arrives at Grafton’s store. Torrey visits Ernie, who is ready to leave after the Rykers killed his sow and scared the family. While Torrey is there, the Rykers drive a herd of cattle onto Ernie’s land to damage his property. Torrey still wants to stay, but the fierceness is not as strong in his voice. Shane and Joey see the Rykers as they shout insults across the fields. Joey says that they have cut other farmers’ fences. Shane tells Joey that he would ask them to come through the gate instead if they tried to cut their fences. Shane is trying to model for Joey what peaceful men should do, although he knows that the present world won’t accommodate that behavior. Joey had previously wrapped up Shane’s guns in a blanket, as if putting the violence in Shane’s past to sleep. But the boy now admits that he would like Shane to show him how to shoot. Shane then unwraps the guns, as if awakening the need to use deadly weapons.

Shane agrees to show Joey how to shoot, and demonstrates that he knows quite a bit about being a gunslinger, mentioning the different ways men draw from various holster positions. After Joey asks him to shoot something, Shane fires quickly and hits a target. The sound of the gun is exaggerated, almost sounding like a cannon going off, startling Joey, and Marian, as she approaches. It is the first time a gun is fired in the movie and director Stevens wanted to jolt the audience with the noise. Joey is impressed, but Marian is concerned, and ends the lesson, telling Joey to get ready for the Independence Day celebration. Marian tells Shane that guns won’t be part of Joey’s life. Shane, almost sounding like a representative for the NRA, says that a gun is a tool just like a shovel (not the best analogy, since shovels aren’t meant for killing), and says, “A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it.” Of course the problem lies in the fact that there are many bad men who have access to guns, then and now. Marian, offers the counter argument, saying that they would all be better off, “if there wasn’t a single gun left in this valley,” including Shane’s gun, which shows she is worried about his safety, too. Joe comes riding in and is excited by seeing Marian wearing her wedding dress, and he tells Shane to get ready to celebrate the Fourth of July, which is also the day of Joe and Marian’s anniversary. His entrance stresses Joe is wedded not only to his wife, but to his country’s founding principles of freedom from outside tyranny.

While the celebration takes place, Grafton tries to dissuade Rufus from initiating violence. Rufus says he hasn’t used guns sooner, but he considers the homesteaders to be squatters, and he now must escalate. Wilson has a malicious smile on his face as Rufus speaks. Grafton says he upsets Rufus because, in a way, Rufus is hearing his own conscience bothering him. But Rufus sneers at the word “conscience,” because unlike Grafton, he has no evolved sense of right and wrong. Torrey enters the saloon, and Grafton asks what he wants. Torrey summons up his courage and asks for a drink. He makes a sarcastic toast to Rufus for having run Ernie off of his land. Torrey says that Ernie was a coward, but he is not, and he’s staying. Rufus quietly says that Wilson could easily get Torrey to draw which would give Wilson a reason to gun him down. But, instead they decide that Joe is the one they want, being the leader of the resistance to the Rykers. Torrey, emboldened by getting away with his angry words, breaks the saloon door as he marches out, adding to the atmosphere of violence.

The party has dancing, contests, and fireworks. To emphasize that the United States is a land that welcomes immigrants, Axel (Douglas Spencer), a Swedish farmer, is a friend of the Staretts, and introduces them to the crowd as they have a double reason to celebrate. Joe, demonstrating his domestic bliss, says he wouldn’t trade places with anyone, and gives Marian a kiss. Shane looks downward, showing his envy for what Joe has. Shane does get to dance with Marian, and he is all smiles while doing so. Torrey comes by and describes the gunfighter, whom Shane recognizes as Wilson, noting he’s a fast draw. Torrey suspiciously says that Shane seems to know a lot about the gunslinger business. Torrey says he doesn’t want any part of it, saying the men in that profession are involved in murder. His response seems to be noting it’s one thing to defend your land, but it’s another to make a living out of killing others.

Joe and his family return home from the celebration to find Rufus and Wilson at Joe’s place. Rufus proposes that Joe work for him, and he’ll pay him a good price for his land. Joe refuses, and Rufus says that men like himself “Made this country … with blood and empty bellies.” He says he was wounded fighting Native Americans and fought cattle rustlers. He represents that first wave of tough frontiersmen and is reluctant to give way to the new generation of settlers who benefited from his sacrifices to make the land safe. Rufus says the farmers drain off the water that hurts his cattle. Joe says traders and trappers came before Rufus’s people and tamed the land. He says that Rufus doesn’t have the authority to say nobody else has rights under the law. Joe is making the argument that the settlement of the territory must progress, and the ranchers who came before can’t stop others from settling there.

In town, Wilson sees Axel and Torrey riding up and is ready to gun Torrey down. Rufus doesn’t want any brush with the law, so he wants Wilson to do his dirty work, making it look like a legitimate self-defense if there’s violence. Torrey wants to get a drink, but is confronted by Wilson, sneering as usual, who goads him about the Southern Rebels being trash. Torrey starts to draw, but stops. However, Wilson shoots him, and it justifies the shooting to Grafton after Axel confirmed that Torrey drew his gun.

After Axel tells Joe about Torrey, Joe says he will go into town to confront the Rykers and Wilson. Axel thinks the other homesteaders will leave, so Joe first visits the other settlers, telling them they must stay to attend Torrey’s funeral. After the funeral the others are ready to depart, but Joe says they can have a “settlement” which implies putting down roots. He says they can honor Torrey’s memory by having churches and a school. But one of them notes that also includes graveyards, adding a sense of doom to the talk. Shane says they have a right to stay there and grow, and not give up. Joe says that this land is for more than just people like Rufus, suggesting that things must be allowed to change. After one of their homes has been burned down, the others say they will help as a community to rebuild, stressing the desire to create a place where the preservation of individuality must allow for social responsibility.

Rufus sees Joe as the cement holding the farmers together and vows that he has to go. Joe wants to confront Rufus, which is what Rufus wants. Marian pleads to Shane to convince her husband not to go. But Shane says he can’t tell Joe what’s the right thing to do, since it’s a complicated situation where doing nothing means surrendering his land and his rights. The Rykers invite Joe to a meeting at Grafton’s, saying Rufus is a reasonable man so as to lure Joe into a trap. Calloway, having gained admiration for Shane, doesn’t like an ambush, and admits to feeling a change come over him, and he quits Ryker’s gang. Shane and Calloway shake hands as Shane thanks him for the warning, demonstrating an evolutionary movement away from anger and violence to one of mutual respect.

Joe says to Mariane that he can’t show cowardice that would disgrace his wife and son. It appears, given the circumstances, he feels forced to abandon civilized behavior. Mariane tries to stop him. But if anything happens to him, Joe says that he knows she’ll be taken care of. His words suggest that she will have Shane there for her. Shane shows up wearing his guns and he tells Joe he is no match for Wilson. Marian tries to stop them, saying that the little land and their shack of a house isn’t worth losing life over. But there is a dignity in the code of men that makes it difficult to back down from bullying and injustice. Shane fights Joe to save him. Animals squeal, reflecting the animal instinct in men to fight. Joey is angry about Shane knocking out Joe with a gun, but apologizes when he realizes he was trying to save his dad. Marian asks if Shane is doing this for her, sensing his affection. But, Shane says he is doing it for the family, reflecting a need to use violence in the short term to preserve the peace in the future.

Joey follows Shane to Grafton’s store. Shane tells Rufus his days are over, but Rufus asks what about Shane’s life as a gunfighter? Shane says at least he knows his time is done, illustrating that he has insight into the need to progress away from brutality. Wilson squares off, ready to fight, and Shane calls him “a low-down Yankee liar,” echoing the dead Torrey’s words in a bit of reckoning for how Wilson had killed the man from Alabama. Shane kills Wilson and then shoots Rufus who draws on him. Joey warns Shane about a man with a rifle from the balcony, and Shane takes him out, too.

He tells Joey that he has to ride on because “A man has to be what he is.” By staying with Joey’s family, he tried to “break the mold” but “it didn’t work” for him. But Shane says whether it’s right or wrong, “there’s no going back” from a killing. It brands one, and Shane does not belong in this place where they are trying a way of life that omits that kind of violence. He tells Joey to let his mother know there are no more guns in the valley, like she wanted. In a way Shane was cleaning up that part of land so civilized life could be built upon it. But Joey sees blood on Shane and knows he was wounded. He says the famous line, “Shane! Come back!” but Shane rides away. Will he die? If his time is over, it is a possibility, possibly because sacrifice is needed for a peaceful world to exist.

The next film is Cool Hand Luke.