John Gotti's ability to avoid the long arm of the law earned him the nickname the Teflon Don. When they confront each other in the restaurant, Ford cuts directly back and forth between close shots of the two of them, establishing the direct link between them and the instinctive understanding each one has of the other. In fact, they find themselves up for election as territorial delegates to work toward that goal. Wayne was furious for allowing himself to get roped in to play such a passive character, which he found very difficult to play, and Fords behavior didnt help. Thom Donovan (born Thomas Joseph Donovan; July 24, 1974 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer.He has released five solo albums and was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Lapush.His international performance career has included concerts across the United States as well as cities around the world. John Carradine Maj. Cassius Starbuckle [Doniphon kicks Floyd in the face as he bends down to retrieve the tray] [Doniphon has just faced down Valance in the diner] In How Green Was My Valley, Ford's adaptation of Llewellyn's novel of Welsh coal miners, the story resembles a dream, seen in retrospect by a man who has had his entire life to romanticize the past: his childhood and his family. In town, he's nursed back to health by Nora and Peter Ericson, two recent Swedish immigrants who run the local chowhouse. Ford would repeatedly use Marvin (and Stewart, who also served in WWII) as a stick to beat John Wayne, who hadnt served in WWII, something that always offended Ford. The character of Tom Doniphon was supposed to be a younger man, and the filmmaker relentlessly mocked and teased Wayne during filming. John Wayne Tom Doniphon [Doniphon kicks Floyd in the face as he bends down to retrieve the tray] From thereon, he goes onto even more heights in his political career, and now he is expecting a nomination to be the vice-president of the country. Valance and his gang beat up a drunken Peabody nearly to death, and ransack his office. He always liked his films to be clean and straight, and any form of alteration to the classical structure of the film was anathema to him. The characters in Liberty Valance are the archetypal figures of all Ford westerns brought together for a last reunion, in order that they might be destroyed. In the end,The Man Who Shot Liberty Valanceis about two men: One man is humble and comes to serve the people of a frightened community and to bring law and peace, and is willing to put his life on the line for it. Three men stand at the center of the story: Stoddard, Doniphon, and Valance. Doniphon (who is courting Hallie) is the only man willing to stand up to Valance. There are few comparisons to Tom as an artist; even fewer to him as a . Marvin is magnificent as the snarling villain. Asked by the Shinbone Star editor why an important Senator should return to a small town to bury an unknown man, Stoddard tells his story; a long flashback begins. His chief victim was Woody Strode, with whom he very nearly came to blows. He is the author. The story sees James Stewart's idealistic younger lawyer Stoddard arriving in a remote town with the intention of introducing law, order and education to the townspeople. None of his recent films have been big hits, even the ones he made with John Wayne likeThe Horse Soldiers were failing to find favor with the audience. The story focuses on Ransome Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart), an American senator arriving at the town of Shinbone with his wife, Hailey (Vera Miles), to attend the funeral of Tom Doniphon (Wayne). In response to TIME making Greta Thunberg their 2019 Person of the Year, Shane Vander Hart nominates Baby Yoda and Conan the war hero dog instead. Once in the town of Shinbone, he finds allies in the form of tough Tom Doniphon (John Wayne) and his fiance, Hallie (Vera Miles). The movie becomes about making a sacrifice for the greater good, and includes an element of chance or fate. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance | News | The Harvard Crimson He makes a positive first impression when he brings Stoddard in. It's not saying too much to note that Ransom Stoddard is elected to the U. S. Senate because he is "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance." Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. But in addition to drawing on Americana, Ford created it; the characters and situations in his westerns, from The Iron Horse to Stagecoach to Ford Apache to The Searchers to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, have become as much a part of American tradition as those on which Ford originally drew. In fact, hes severely whipped by Valance after a stage holdup. There was nothing more for Ford to do with Wayne, at least in the western genre. His illiterate students include Hallie. Though we still see Stoddard shoot in the direction of Valance simultaneously, almost making the true killer ambiguous. John Wayne would never play this character for anybody else, expect for his pappy Ford. It's pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. At the convention, Stoddard and an ally (a local newspaper and town drunk played by Golden Globe Winner Edmond OBrien) are elected, but Valance threatens to kill him. John Ford's Funeral Oration: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance It also seems that Doniphans decision to put Stoddard in as delegate and then offer him a wagon out of town when Valance threatens him is motivated by his desire to keep Hallie to himself. Now it's a garden. In a few characters and a gripping story, Ford dramatizes the debate about guns that still continues in many Western states. In a series of videos entitled, I had planned to leave this topic alone for awhile, but I. Tom Doniphon was rough-edged, but gentlemanly to all but Liberty Valance and his henchmen. Ford reveals Stoddard as incapable of adjusting to the life of the West: when Tom brings Hallie a "cactus rose," Stoddard, having seen real roses, cannot appreciate the beauty of the desert flower. Tom could stand up to Valance, but it would suit him to have Stoddard out of the way so that he could bring Hallie home to that porch with its rocking chair. He appears to be a roguish heroic type at first blush, but when you look deeper, you find a very self-centered character. A dejected Doniphon, who was hoping to marry Hallie and move into his new house, gets drunk andburns down his house. It takes place in the town of Shinbone, in an unnamed territory that is moving toward a vote on statehood. Either way, the film ends with the question of whether Doniphons nature is individualistic or cowardly (or whether theres really any difference between the two) deemed irrelevant. Doniphan offers Stoddard a wagon out of town, and he considers it. So, when Stoddard and Valance face off, Doniphan fires the shot that kills Liberty Valance from across the street, thus losing the girl he loves to give her what she wants. Add to that the fact that he kills the villain, not face to face, but pretty much shooting him from the back- something that he abhorred and always criticized Clint Eastwood for doing. Throughout the movie there is a clear message; wilderness V. civilization. The Man who Shot Liberty Valance--Doniphan is the fallen angel - Reddit The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is Ford's deeply personal farewell to a period in American history he loved, a folklore he helped create. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) - Culturedarm "At the heart of the Western", argues John Lenihan, was always In The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, the newspaper editor says, "This is the West. This will be very true for Liberty Valance; everyone except Wayne not only had the best scenes, but Ford made sure they all give the most flamboyant, over the top performances of their careers, to contrast with the sour and dour Wayne, who represented the truth and moral core of the film. In its sparseness and interplay of light and darkness, Ford evokes moments from Film Noirs- where Wayne comes out of the darkness, shoots Marvin, and then recedes back into darkness. Working in the restaurant is young Hallie. First from the subjective perspective of Stoddard, and then an objective version, depicting the fact; that it was Doniphon who killed Valance, and not Stoddard. It was exacerbated by his failing health and his drinking problem, as the cantankerous Ford became even more of a misanthrope, thus alienating the big studios from hiring him. Stoddard was wounded in the shooting. Farmers want statehood. The age factor was a bigger problem with Stewart, because he was playing aguy half his real age for most part of the film, but with Wayne, he was again playing a personality, a symbol which represents some abstract values, so it was not a problem for him. But the most important of all, the film begins with the death of his lead character, Tom Doniphon, played by none other than John Wayne. The body of Tom Doniphon is at rest in a plain, wooden casket. Tom Doniphon is a local farmer, who observes, "Liberty Valance's the toughest man south of the Picketwire--next to me." Authorities hoped to learn the answer today as they continued an investigation of the poison death of H. B. Related: True Grit: How The 2010 Movie Compares To The Book & John Wayne Version. His relationship with Wayne was a little strained at the time, mainly because of incidents involving Waynes directorial ventureTheAlamo, in which Ford worked as a second unitdirector. The character of Tom Doniphon was supposed to be a younger man, and the filmmaker relentlessly mocked and teased Wayne during filming. Liberty Valance, who supports cattle barons opposed to statehood. His films begins on an optimistic note and ends on an optimistic note; even if the they would detour into darker, pessimistic territory in between, his films always end on a note of hope and glory. James Stewart Ransom Stoddard You aint exactly the type., Liberty Valance: You lookin for trouble, Doniphon? He comes into conflict with Liberty Valance again when the town has to elect two representatives to the Statehood Convention; Sotddard and the townspeople want statehood--it would mean government protection of their rights, the establishment of schools and the railroad. Tom Doniphon came to the rescue and saved Ransom's life. The police tried to pull him over in Lake View Terrace in San Fernando Valley after he was speeding at 110 mph. Wayne always plays characters who take charge of the situation, the guy who takes the fight to the opposition and, the contrast between him and the bad guy is always well defined. Without Ransom Stoddards courage and convictions, there is no movie. Liberty Valance: Three against one, Doniphon. Marvin stole almostevery scene in which he is featured. Was Hollywood, at that time, incapable of leaving us a more complicated, conflicted ending? But in Liberty Valance (as well as in his previous filmSergeant Rutledge) I find a strong influence of Kurosawas Rashomon; especially, dealing with the exploration of a particular event (involving a crime) from multiple vantage points. Ford's westerns represent one of the most significant achievements in the history of American art. Valance and his two henchmenterrorize Shinbone, while the bumbling Marshal Link Appleyard (Andy Devine ) lacks the courage and gun fighting skills to challenge him. The rough and tough Doniphon later tries to teach Stoddard to defend himself and shoot a gun, all to little success. A man of action and few words (note his instinctive hatred of the rhetoric in the Convention speeches), Doniphon is very much an individual who minds his own business. His mood made life difficult for all the actors involved but he was especially tough on Wayne, who found himself in the direct firing line again. Four sons reunite in their Texas hometown to attend their mother's funeral. His friend & Ranch hand Pompey (Woody Strode)saves him from the fire, but is unable to save the house. Doniphon teaches Rance Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart) how to shoot and fight. Beginning with "Stagecoach" (1939), continuing from 1948 through 1950 with the Cavalry Trilogy ("Fort Apache," "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" and "Rio Grande"), and finally to 1962 and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," together in 10 features they largely formed the templates of the Hollywood Western. Has anyone else felt this way upon viewing The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance? The reputation of the film continues to grow over the years, and it was a big influence on Sergio Leone, who called this his most favorite Ford film. Stoddard decides that he cannot be entrusted with public service after killing a man in a gunfight and he decides to withdraw. He had many murders on his conscience, and much enjoyed using a leather bullwhip. Setting aside the question of why Stoddard thinks its morally acceptable to base his career on a lie, but not on the real killing (hed rather have people think he killed Valance than actually do it), rewatching the film this most recent time its Doniphon that fascinates me. On the other end of the scale, Ford portrays Liberty Valance as the archetypal villain. Its much more explicit in Sergeant Rutledge, which transposes the incident involving rape and murder in medieval Japan to the American frontier west. This famous aphorism (One of the most famous lines in Movie history) is spoken by the character of a newspaperman in Fords 1962 western,The Man who shot Liberty Valance. But the plans of statehood for the territory upset the cattle barons, who recruit Liberty Valance to sabotage the delegation. The film was a direct influence on Leones own end of the west westernOnce upon a time in the West. But the very final scene of the film had John Wayne extolling the virtues of the American soldier, and in the background, the Cavalry is seen riding out take on the Indians. Answer, Bart Allison (Randolph Scott) to rancher Morley Chase in 1957's. The other could easily bring order, but doesnt because hes so busy taking care of number one and his crowning heroic moment is shooting down a distracted man in the city streets. [Valance looks and sees Pompey at the door holding a rifle] Floyd : I'll get it, Liberty! Pompey had thrown Tom a rifle and at the exact moment of Valance's fourth and potentially-fatal shot, Doniphon killed Valance from a side angle, without anyone knowing at the moment of the blast. Hes the toughest man in town, admired by all, the only one brave enough, strong enough, fast enough to stand up to Valance, except he wont do it. Why does this man, who has no trouble dominating a political meeting while simultaneously refusing to participate in it, skulk in the shadows like a thief, a coward? TakeFort Apache (1948) for instance, which is a strong polemic on American military intervention against the Native Americans. Rodney King was beaten by the police on March 3, 1991. [Spoilers] My thoughts on the ending of The Man Who Shot - Reddit But hes conflicted: he finds himself drawn back to the community time and again, ostensibly by his love for Hattie, but also from an honest desire to help the townspeople avoid being killed by Valance and other instruments of the Northern cattle interests that are attempting to block statehood, and thus the establishment of law and order in the territory (statehood means the end of the so-called open range the literal and symbolic manifestation of the raw capitalist power of the cattle barons: the land belongs to them because they have the power to take it). Valance toys with Stoddard, shooting his arm and laughing at him. Hallie attends to Stoddards wounds and it appears to Doniphonthat she has fallen in love with Stoddard. Now that's out of the way, a brief introduction. A * Tom Doniphon, we need to EACH BECOME Tom Doniphon, need. Look instead at a debate that continues between the lawyer and the farmer about guns. He's super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. When he walks into a bar to fetch Tom, the bartender won't serve him, and Tom slams hard on the bar: "Give him a drink." Without ever seeming to hurry, he doesn't include a single gratuitous shot. Stoddard picked up with his least favored hand. Even Doniphans attempts to help Stoddard had mixed motives at best. Valance and his two sidekicks hold up a stagecoach on the way to town, and when one of the passengers, Ransom, stands up to him Liberty nearly whips him to death. He always wanted to play heroes and he always looked at cinema as a medium for the audience to believe in heroes; there is the famous story where he chastised Kirk Douglas for playing a mad and tragic Van Gogh inLust for Life. Wayne is seen by many as the hero because he realized the only way you could deal with someone like Liberty Valance was through force and he did the deed that had to be done. But, it was in direct opposition to the Western code. Tom Doniphon and Ransom Stoddard are the two key characters in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, directed by John Ford and filmed in 1962. When movies depict the past, that past generally becomes the immediate present of the audience. Here, he is practically rendered motionless. Design a site like this with WordPress.com, Follow MANK'S MOVIE MUSINGS on WordPress.com. At the end of the film, we learn that Tom Doniphan (John Wayne) really had shot Liberty Valance while the public had given credit to Ransom Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart) who went on to have a successful political career. Stoddard believes so firmly in the law that he is willing to lose his life for his principles. Virginia Mayo and Joel McCrea meet a tragic end in this 1949 Western directed by Raoul Walsh and based on his 1941 film, "High Sierra." In a film with Lee Marvin's snarl, Andy Devine's squeaky voice and the accent of the Swedes, John Wayne as usual provides the calm center, never trying for an effect. I dont trust ambiguity. Wayne became surly and aggressive during the shoot and he started taking out his anger on everybody else on the set, except Ford. Tom Doniphon: Pilgrim, hold it. From my perspective, its not even close here as to who the hero is. Stoddard recounts the whole tale to a local newspaper reporter - and plans to come clean about that night. > did Tom Macdonald was born on November 22, 1900 and on! Tom is highly respected by his peers, because of the laid-back cut of his jib, and because he may be the only man willing to stand up to the violent outlaw Liberty Valance. However, he was nowhere near good enough as Doniphan proved in ahumiliating display. But the fact is that Wayne is really good as Tom Doniphon; Both he and Stewart, who were 54 and 53 respectability, were too old for the parts, but the film could not have been made without them. And Miles is also effective as the young woman eager to learn under Stewarts tutelage and hoping that his vision of a West where law and order prevail comes to be. Perhaps, the existence of Valance gave Doniphan a status of importance and made him an indispensable man in a lawless community. Stoddard and Hallie then sit in silence as the politician reflects on the life he built on a myth and John Wayne's Doniphon sacrificing his own happiness for him and Hallie. Despite his many abilities, he simply will not take part in the community. Stoddard believes that hes a real man, a tough and violent character who can handle himself, and that Stoddard is a tenderfoot who is pretty much useless in the real world. Doniphon takes Stoddard aside, and in a flashback within a flashback, confides that he, Doniphon, actually killed Valance from an alley across the street, firing at the same time as Stoddard. Flashing back, we learn Doniphon saved. Tom Doniphon is played by John Wayne, while Ransom Stoddard is played by Jimmie Stewart. What about Tom Doniphan? Did Hallie love Tom Doniphon? Tom Doniphon tells him that without a gun in his hand and the experience to use it, he will sooner or later certainly be killed by Valance. He strides around as the quickest gun on the side of right, calling Stoddard pilgrim, standing up to Valance when the need arises. This would make him a tragic figure, even if he lived the rest of his days honorably under the 'law and order' creed. Everyone similarly assumes he and Hallie will get married, but he never asks her. When Doniphan and Valance prepare to have a shootout over who will pick up the food, Stoddard intervenes, humbles himself, and picks up the food. What happened Tom Doniphon? Liberty Valance, his masterpiece, is one of the greatest films of all time. Meanwhile, John Wayne was reeling from the financial setbacks caused by his dream projectThe Alamo (1960), which he directed, produced and starred in. Earlier, we have seen Doniphon training Stoddard in the use of guns, but findingStoddard not up to the task, Doniphon had humiliated him. Doniphon and Liberty Valance are two sides of the same coin, so when Tom shoots him - he's symbolically killing himself, his future with Hallie, and destroying the way of life in which he can thrive (and creating a legend out of Stoddard that helps usher in Democracy). The drunken marshal won't protect him. Subscribe to our email newsletter. When Stoddard found the town marshal was a coward, he began to take an old gun out and practice. When Stoddard is wracked with guilt thinking he killed Valance, Doniphon relieves his conscience, leaving him free to pursue his political career, founded on his false heroism. Valance can be countered only by Doniphon, but Doniphon is a man too busy with his own affairs to want power or to impose his own beliefs on anybody else. Learn how your comment data is processed. When Liberty Valance was finally released, it met with mixed critical reaction, the American critics didnt think much of it, but the European critics called it one of Fords masterworks. All that said, its a bit of an odd film for Wayne, who got top billing but has one of the least interesting characters. Questions arise when Senator Stoddard (James Stewart) attends the funeral of a local man named Tom Doniphon (John Wayne) in a small Western town. On the page, Tom Doniphon was more of a mentor to Ranse Stoddard, easing him along the road from frontier lawyer to state senator. Doniphon returns drunken to his place where he torches it and would be content to die if Pompy did not rescue him from the burning house. He had married Hallie in the interim, and now, they have come to pay their final respects to The real Man who shot Liberty Valance. Fords westerns portrayed truth, honor, courage, family and community as the chief weapons by which the American West was won. But Wayne continued to bristle about the bad experience on making the picture, years later he recollected on his experience: It was a tough assignment for me because dammit, Ford had Jimmy for the shit-kicking humor, OBrien playing the sophisticated humor, and he had the heavy, Marvin. He forbids Stoddards to teach Hallie to read. He has chronicled every conceivable part of the West, and his personal heroes are among the most fully realized characters in motion picture history: Doc Boone (Thomas Mitchell) in Stagecoach, Wyatt Earp (Henry Fonda) in My Darling Clementine, and the men that John Wayne played in She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. He is putting to death all that Wayne represented in his westerns up until that time and for the rest of the film, he is going to painfully reconstruct the mythology of the west and Wayne through some cold hard facts. When Doniphan and Valance prepare to have a shootout over who will pick up the food, Stoddard intervenes, humbles himself, and picks up the food. John Wayne Western Collection (dvd) : Target They were playing dual archetypes of the myth: the grizzled veteran cowboy and the idealistic, young, city-slicker lawyer. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: Who Fired The Shot & Final Twist Watching the film, we see that Ransom Stoddard is indeed the story true hero and protagonist, and at times, almost a Christ-like figure. The film, also starring James Stewart, Lee Marvin and Vera Miles, is Fords most political film that subverts a lot of myths about the American West as well as the John Wayne persona that Ford himself created, This is the West, sir. In a long flashback involving most of the film, Ford recalls the events leading up to that day. He then asks about a cactus rose that was placed on Doniphon's coffin, and she reveals she placed it there; Tom had earlier given Hallie a cactus rose, with the strong implication being that she never stopped loving him. Stoddard grabs a six-gun he can barely use and offers to meet Valance in the street while Hallie summons Doniphon for help. Another turn off was the fact that James Stewarts Ransom Stoddard is the fulcrum of the plot and, for 99 percent of the picture, is also the man who shot Liberty Valance. By the end of Liberty Valance, it was more than obvious that Ford and Wayne had come to the end of their long association, which started when Ford cast Wayne as an Odysseus like courageous hero in his western odysseyStagecoach. This is why he can make a scene at the town meeting, mocking the participants and the rules (the Law says the bar is closed!) while turning down appointment to the delegation: if appointed, he might embarrass himself, perhaps showing himself to be ignorant of the rules or other social expectations. Collin Brendemuehl: Fake history is worthy of exploration if to correct bad history.
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