The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - Centennial Collection DVD Review
Posted by George H. Sirois on 05.19.2009
“Many a man would face his gun, and many a man would fall...”
In 1962, famed Western director John Ford released an instant hit with audiences, one of those wonderful films that brings two Hollywood icons together and thusly attracts their fanbases to the theater as well. In this case, fans of John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart were given a film that would not only please them all, but become a genuine cinema classic, the 1962 John Ford film, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. And this Tuesday, we'll be getting a fitting DVD release as part of Paramount Pictures' Centennial Collection.
The story is about an attorney coming to town from the east, Ransom “Rance” Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart), and immediately becoming a target for the outlaw Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). He is beaten, whipped and left for dead on the street near town. The only man who comes to his rescue is a rancher named Tom Doniphon (John Wayne), and once Rance is nursed back to health, we see that he has a much different philosophy in life than Tom does. While Rance is a pacifist and believes that a gun has nothing to do with law and order, Tom believes that rules of civilization don't apply in the west and everyone should have to carry a gun for their own protection.
Once Liberty is made aware that Rance is in town and setting up a school to help the uneducated people there, he constantly terrorizes him and everyone else who would dare say or do anything against him. Throughout the film, Rance is trying to hold on to his non-violent ways while Tom – the only man Liberty concedes to - makes for a worthy protector who keeps reminding him of how things are rather than how they should be. And it's in this film where John Wayne's most famous name for someone makes its debut. He calls Rance “pilgrim” over a dozen times here.
Stoddard becomes a major fixture in this town, even becoming elected as one of the delegates to go to the capital city. This enrages Liberty, who attempted to bully the people into electing him, and in retaliation, he challenges Stoddard to a gunfight. And on “that fateful night,” as Gene Pitney sang in his hit song, “Everyone heard two shots ring out, a shot made Liberty fall.” Considering the title of the film, that's not much of a spoiler.
This film works on so many levels. All three actors – Stewart, Wayne and Marvin – perfectly capture their characters and keep them all from being two-dimensional. Especially Wayne as Doniphon, who could have easily become a stereotypical Western hero, and Marvin, who could have just phoned it in as the “bad guy.” John Ford shows once again why he was one of the great American directors of his time by keeping everything moving and telling a fascinating story. Also the screenplay by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck – based on the short story by Dorothy M. Johnson – is filled with so many great moments and so much delicious dialogue. It's ironic how one of the most famous lines - “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend” - is not spoken by any of the three main actors, but it's just more proof that everyone in town (among them character actors such as Edmond O'Brien, Woody Strode, Andy Devine and actress Vera Miles) has their moment in the spotlight.
If there was anything that I could be unhappy about with this film, it's that the Gene Pitney song isn't anywhere to be found. But if that's the only gripe I have, then it's safe to say I have a lot of fondness for The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Fortunately, Paramount holds this movie in just as high regard since they have made this a part of their Centennial Collection. This two-disc release makes it look and sound better than it ever has. Since I don't have a stereo hooked up to my DVD player, I can't go into too much detail about the sound, but I can say that the picture's incredibly sharp on our HD television.
But I can definitely comment on the special features on this set. Disc 2 includes the theatrical trailer (which wasn't very special, but at least got the movie across), some pictures of the lobby cards put together for the film and a 7-part featurette called “The Size of Legends, The Soul of Myth.” The featurette is a little over an hour long and becomes more interesting as it goes on. Unfortunately, the first two parts are only five minutes long and only skim the surface on their subjects.
The real treat of the DVD, however, is the full-length audio commentary with writer/director Peter Bogdanovich. Peter has been a fan of the golden age of Hollywood all his life, and he's had extensive interviews with John Ford and Jimmy Stewart that he shares with us via audio recordings. Since this is an era that Bogdanovich is clearly passionate about, he sounds vibrant, he's filled with information, he's not droning on and on about nothing like a lot of other commentary tracks, and it's his passion that brings about one of the most entertaining commentaries I've heard in a long time. I'd recommend listening to this one and Roger Ebert's commentary on Citizen Kane and you'll hear two of the best recordings from people not involved with the film they're discussing.
There is also a selected scene commentary by John Ford's grandson Dan, who wrote a biography on the director. He includes archival recordings of John Ford, Lee Marvin and Jimmy Stewart. This was also very informative and entertaining, and I wish there were more of this.
The 411: It's a great thing to see a film getting the DVD presentation it deserves, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is a terrific film that deserves to be a part of your collection. One of the greatest westerns ever produced, John Ford's 1962 classic has never looked better. There are two excellent commentary tracks and a full-length featurette that covers the legends of Ford and Wayne. You'd be doing yourself a disservice by passing up this DVD when it's released this Tuesday.
