The Death of the Old West: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance© David Macdonald
Feb 26, 2001
The Western genre was probably on its last legs by 1962. Yes, for the next decade or so John Wayne made popular films, including his Oscar-winning True Grit, and The Wild Bunch (1969) redefined both the Western and the depiction of screen violence. But surely the decline was beginning around this time, as many of the old-fashioned styles (Westerns, musicals, etc) gave way to more daring, more realistic (and explicit), and sometimes more negative and controversial works. The old stars would be replaced with newer, more down-to-earth figures. John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance seems to know this fact. The story is dark, gritty, and resigned to the changing of the guard; from the world of the cowboy, the outlaw, the almost anarchic rules of the Old West, to the modern trappings of democracy, government, and technology. The story itself is told in flashback, cementing the truth that the past will never be recaptured.
The two sides of the historical divide are represented by James Stewart, the determined, bookish lawyer who attempts to bring law and order, and democracy, to the community of Shinbone, and John Wayne, as always, the tough guy, and a man who is the toughest guy in the town, next to Liberty Valance, that is. Valance is a vicious outlaw, played with shocking brutality by Lee Marvin, and at the film's beginning, holds up the stagecoach that Stewart and a couple of others have taken to get to Shinbone, and in the process gives Stewart a truly nasty beating. It is not until later when Stewart is picked up and taken to the town, dropped off to the local diner where he is taken care of by Wayne, and by a woman (Vera Miles) whom after awhile will be the least of the contribution to the tensions between the two men. Once Stewart has healed, he decides to set up practise in the town, and, small town that it is, also becomes a dishwasher for the diner, employee for the local paper, and a teacher, who teaches much of the population, young and old, how to read and write. As well, he obsesses about what to do about Liberty Valance, which makes him a target for future attacks. Wayne, the man of action, frequently tells Stewart that the only way he can survive in this town is if he carries a gun. At first, Stewart is appalled at this kind of law, implying that Wayne is no better than Valance. But, it turns out later that Stewart has been secretly honing his shooting skills, which leads to the supremely memorable moment when Wayne teaches him a lesson in strategy, and Stewart responds by decking Wayne right in the jaw hard enough to knock him to the ground.
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