Valance gives him a choice: Leave town, or face him in a shootout on Main Street. Stoddard has none of this embarrassment. He is Tom's farmhand and seems to be his only confidant, a protective presence; he always has Tom's back. When John Ford and John Wayne set out to make this film, both of them were at a low stage in their life and career and, in their relationship with each other. 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 screenplay by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck contains one of the best-known lines of dialogue in any Ford movie, spoken to Stoddard years later by the town's new newspaper editor: "This is the West, sir. Carleton Young Maxwell Scott, Edmond OBrien as Dutton Peabody, the man who lets Stoddard set up a law office and school in his newspaper building in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Woody Strode as Pompey, backing up Tom Doniphon as Hallie (Vera Miles) looks on in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Tom Doniphon: Liberty Valance is the toughest man south of picket wire. A newspaper reporter and editor begin asking questions about why the senator is back in town; Doniphon, after all, did not die as a man of any significance. But today I saw it and came away with a different conclusion. Though the audience tends to identify with Doniphon's individualism and to feel instinctively a desire to preserve the simplicity of the old West, the social change brought about by the railroad and the need for staehood slowly make the Doniphons and Valances obsolete. 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. Shinbone is the only Western town I've seen in a movie with no prostitutes. Tom Doniphon, rancher and longtime resident of the small western town of Shinbone, has died.He was well-regarded around the region, but was by no means a man of great distinction. Collin Brendemuehl: Fake history is worthy of exploration if to correct bad history. His tragedy is his unwillingness to act. 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. But what if Doniphon is lying, what if Stoddard really is the man who shot Liberty Valance? 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. Post-Liberty Valance, John Wayne would continued to be the most dependable American movie star of his times. Next: The Barbarian And The Geisha Had John Wayne Literally Fighting His Director. 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. By killing Liberty Valance, facilitating Stoddard's rise to political prominence and the progressive modernization of the West, Doniphon destroys himself. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Now you can rate you favorite and least favorite Westerns, too. In a series of videos entitled, I had planned to leave this topic alone for awhile, but I. I really enjoyed it but felt somewhat cheated by the 'twist' ending. Stoddard becomes disgusted and leaves, but Doniphon stops him and reveals that it was he who actually shot Liberty Valance. However, when Stoddard decides to face Valance, she sends Doniphans servant Pompey to let him know because she scared of what will happen to Stoddard. 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. Even Doniphans attempts to help Stoddard had mixed motives at best. There's a lot in the film if we care to notice. In a long flashback involving most of the film, Ford recalls the events leading up to that day. Marvin is magnificent as the snarling villain. His westerns were all optimistic in nature and concentrated on building a myth, rather than showing the gritty reality. His illiterate students include Hallie. But he is a sort of reluctant hero, who minds his own business, and is roused into action only if his path crosses with the outlaws. After hearing all this, the newsmen decide not to print the story, as the mythology that propelled Stoddard has to be protected at any cost. When Hallie says to Stoddard at the end, "This country used to be a wilderness. There is a purity to the John Ford style. The entire film has been Stoddard struggling to remain devoted to law and order, while Tom berates and humiliates him for it. He was the one man who would face Liberty Valance come what may. He pays off room and board to her Swedish parents by working in their cafe. TakeFort Apache (1948) for instance, which is a strong polemic on American military intervention against the Native Americans. Three men stand at the center of the story: Stoddard, Doniphon, and Valance. One that almost seemed forced upon the story. Trying to defend a woman passenger, Stoddard is beaten by Valance, left for dead, and brought to town by Tom Doniphon. 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. Doniphan, while still doing dishwashing work, hangs. The legend of how Stoddard stood up to Valance and killed him spread wide and helped him build a career in politics. He appears to be a roguish heroic type at first blush, but when you look deeper, you find a very self-centered character. John Ford and John Wayne together created much of the mythology of the Old West we carry in our minds. I think even if Tom had lied to Stoddard about the shooting to ease Stoddard's conscience, it would strike me as more profound. As a showdown between Stoddard and Valance Ford begins to seem inevitable, Ford creates considerable tension. Your comment may take some time to appear. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. What about Tom Doniphan? He is the author. [Valance looks and sees Pompey at the door holding a rifle] Floyd : I'll get it, Liberty! Even the impact of this noble deed is lessened by Doniphan indulging himself in bitterness and self-pity. Stoddard raises no complaint when Valance seizes his fathers gold watch and robs him. Tom Doniphon: Pilgrim, hold it. 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. However, he is rescued by Doniphan. Miraculously, Stoddard kills Valance, wins Hallie (Tom's former girl), and goes to the political convention. Big studios were giving way to Independents, and a new kind of gritty, violent cinema was being made for an emerging counter-cultural audience. Liberty Valance is a film about death, about a sad but inevitable transition from an old social order to modern society as we know it today. This is all to be seen: The role of a free press, the function of a town meeting, the debate about statehood, the civilizing influence of education. In fact, hes severely whipped by Valance after a stage holdup. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU - where Hawkeye is clearly the best character - to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle. And as they swarm around the senator for details, Stoddard starts recalling the events leading up to that day and, the film cuts to a flashback. The corpse is being held in a plain pine box, and when he views it Stoddard is angered to see the boots have been stolen. Hes mocked by Valance who trips him, causing him to spill Doniphans meal. Edmond OBrien Dutton Peabody Indeed Hallie and Nora Ericson (Jeanette Nolan) are the only two noticeable women in town; little wonder Tom's love for Hallie is intense. Tom has long considered Hallie "my girl," and is adding a room to his farmhouse that has a nice porch with a rocking chair, in preparation for the day he has no doubt she will marry him. The police tried to pull him over in Lake View Terrace in San Fernando Valley after he was speeding at 110 mph. Christ there was no place for me. Years ago Shinbone was held in a grip of terror by the sadistic Liberty Valance (played by Lee Marvin in a performance evoking savage cruelty). Predictions for the 95th Annual AcademyAwards. As played by Jimmy Stewart, Stoddard spends much of the film wearing an apron and washing dishes in the restaurant, sending a hardly ambiguous message about a man who doesn't wear a gun. His world is diffused by time, by memory and nostalgia, by folklore and myth. But his luck finally ran out on April 3, 1992 when a jury found Gotti guilty of arranging the assassination . His mental downfall afterwards still makes sense if he didn't secretly shoot Valance. Stoddard goes into the street to face Valance. 3 Stagecoach (1939) Stream now on Prime Video, Max, Roku, Tubi, and DirecTV ; In the 1930s, Wayne mostly worked as an extra or had small roles in films. This makes Doniphon a very passive character with respect to Valance, which explains why a direct confrontation never takes place between them, though at many points in the film, they come close. Doniphon: Well, take some advice, pilgrim. The Man who shot liberty valance Tom Doniphon, the outlaw hero, shot Liberty Valance To protect Hallie and Ransom Stoddard because he knew that Ransom is the right future for his town and Hallie, even though Ransom views contradict with Toms views and wishes. When someone tried to comfort him that Doniphon was full of ambiguity and his mindset may help his performance, Wayne snapped back, Screw ambiguity I dont like ambiguity. 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. On the page, Tom Doniphon was more of a mentor to Ranse Stoddard, easing him along the road from frontier lawyer to state senator. And more importantly, why does he do it in secret? And he holds the center stage in a film, with his quiet dignity and powerful, charismatic presence, where everybody else, including Stewart, is giving highly exaggerated, even cartoonish performances. /a > Oar. Now obviously this revelation makes the frame story of Old Senator Stoddard work better. He and two sidekicks (played by Lee Van Cleef and Strother Martin) wreck the newspaper office and badly beat Peabody. Doniphan takes it for granted that Hallie will be his wife and resents it when she stars having feelings for Stoddard. When Peabody and Stoddard are elected as the delegates, Valance promises vengeance. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend. The body of Tom Doniphon is at rest in a plain, wooden casket. 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. 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. Liberty Valance: Three against one, Doniphon. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance paired James Stewart and John Wayne but here's who killed the title villain, and the final twist explained. The drunken marshal won't protect him. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valancefinds Wayne playing a local man named Tom Doniphon in a small Western town. Why does Doniphon hesitate? And while most of us dont have the talent of Tom Doniphan, perhaps by Gods grace, we can be more like Ransom Stoddard in our towns and communities. Ford's westerns represent one of the most significant achievements in the history of American art. 25 Years ago, Shinbone was held in a grip of terror by the sadistic Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin), who committed many murders and enjoyed torturing his victims using a leather bullwhip. [Spoilers] My thoughts on the ending of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. John Ford died in 1973, and even though they didnt make any more films together, John Wayne would remain close to his mentor till his death. It turns out he hadn't worn a handgun in years. His own conscience clear, Stoddard goes back into the hall and accepts the nomination; Doniphon goes home alone. 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. Valance and his gang beat up a drunken Peabody nearly to death, and ransack his office. But Pompey won't drink. He films mostly on sets, but we're not particularly aware. But still he admires Stoddard immensely. Their opponent? No problem: It became a hit anyway. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Doniphon is not a person of any importance around town, just a sorry old man on the fringes, who passed away unnoticed. He had many murders on his conscience, and much enjoyed using a leather bullwhip. Waynes idea of himself always involved action and movement. There was nothing more for Ford to do with Wayne, at least in the western genre. That and the fact that few present day people in Shinbone seem to remember Tom Doniphon suggests that after the Valance shooting, Tom Doniphon went into a seculsion, probably just stayed at his little ranch and lived like a hermit.
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