2017 Blind Spot Series: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Yay, me! I've managed to get my Blind Spot movie watched two months in a row. Of course, I still need to catch up on the two months I missed, but I'm saving that for another day. Right now, let's just talk about May's entry...

Why did I pick it? Westerns in general, and John Wayne in particular, occupy a weird spot in my cinematic experience. My grandfather was a huge fan of both. He wasn't a big TV or movie watcher, but it seemed every time he was watching television, there was a western on it. Many of them starred John Wayne. I saw lots of them, but I was so young, I couldn't tell you now which I saw and which I didn't. The only two John Wayne movies I can definitively say that I've seen are The Searchers and True Grit and that's because I watched both within the last few years. Because of my spotty memory, there is a decent chance I've actually watched this before. However, I couldn't tell you anything about it, so I threw it on the Blind Spot List. Another reason, perhaps a more obvious one, is that this film is hailed as a classic of the genre. On top of that, it also stars Jimmy Stewart. He's another actor I need to get more acquainted with, having only previously seen three movies from his lengthy filmography (It's a Wonderful Life, Vertigo, and Rear Window).

As the film opens, I am overcome with a feeling of familiarity. It's not because I suddenly remembered seeing this with my grandfather. It was because of what I was hearing. The score that plays while the opening credits roll sound very much like that of 1978's Superman: The Movie. I'm not saying that famed composer copied what Cyril J. Mockridge and Alfred Newman did here, but the influence is clear. When the music and credits end, we get the opening scene and set up for The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Senator Ranse Stoddard (Stewart) and his wife Hallie (Vera Miles) have returned to the town of Shinbone to attend the funeral of Tom Doniphon (Wayne). Naturally, people are curious why a U.S. senator would come all the way to this little town for the funeral of a nobody like Doniphon. To explain, the senator tells a story about what happened the first time he came to Shinbone, twenty-five years ago. At that time, Ranse is a young, bright-eyed lawyer who has his stagecoach robbed by the notorious Liberty Valance played by Lee Marvin whom I didn't even know was in this film. He gives us an excellent sweaty, snarling villain who loves to literally whip people when he isn't shooting them. Ranse makes a bit of a fuss, but is largely ignored since Valance pretty much runs things. There is one guy who pays attention to him, that's Doniphon. In fact, Doniphon won't shut up about the situation. Much to Ranse's chagrin, Doniphon isn't exactly offering any help. Doniphon is mostly just making fun of Ranse for being a pansy and tells him that Valance is a guy you have to kill, not try to take to jail. After all, Doniphon says, "Liberty Valance's the toughest man south of the Picketwire - next to me." Of course, Ranse, short for Ransom of all things, vehemently disagrees with this. A battle of ideals rages on between the two men while Liberty Valance becomes increasingly out of control. As a trio, they represent three sides of one object - us. Valance is our raging id, Doniphon our ego, and Ranse our superego, all battling for control of the same real estate.

The biggest strength of this film is how it develops the relationship between two men, Ranse and Doniphon, who don't really like each other. When they meet each other, they both have pretty strong ideas on how they things should be handled. Over the passage of time, each realizes the limitations of their views and drifts towards the other from a philosophical standpoint. Their mutual respect for one another grows from non-existent to all encompassing. This is portrayed wonderfully by our two lead actors. Each man slips comfortably into their well worn personas and use the differences between them to drive the film. Wayne is the classic tough guy exactly like every impersonation you've ever seen of him. Sure, his brand of charm is of the rugged, caveman variety, but it is effortless and leaps from the screen. Stewart gives us his best "gee willikers" outlook on life, but combines it with a spirited defiance to "the way things are." Just these two guys makes for a volatile mix. Adding Lee Marvin's Valance heightens the stakes since he likes to throw his weight around. Between the three of them, the film can be a bit repetitive. Stewart talks about the law, Wayne insults his manhood, then Marvin comes stomping onto the scene carrying the threat of violence with him. Even so, it's not something of which we tire. The situation is sufficiently amplified each time, so that every standoff is incredibly tense. This is thanks, in no small part, to the constant pissing contest being had by Wayne and Marvin along with their respective henchmen. Most notable of these guys is Wayne's sidekick Pompey played by iconic character actor Woody Strode.

As if that weren't enough, a love triangle is thrown into the mix. Our two heroes are both interested in Hallie. Again, the differences between Ranse and Doniphon is used to perfection. Hallie is a plus, here. She is clearly a strong woman, used to fending for herself. At no point does she become a mere damsel in distress. Vera Miles fits perfectly into the role, never seeming overshadowed when sharing the screen with one or both of her iconic co-stars. However, this is only the surface romance. The bigger, more important love triangle also involves Ranse and Doniphon, but the third party is the town itself. As Hallie grows to love Ranse, so too, does all of Shinbone and, by extension, all of America, as well. They are all moving away from the ways of the wild, wild west to become a more civilized society. This puts Miles squarely in the role of portraying America. Therefore, it's no small deed Ranse does by teaching her and many other townsfolk to read and write. It's an important step towards changing the world, as Ranse wants to do. Doniphon is not blind. He sees all this and realizes that even though there will always be a place for men who approach the world with an unrelenting physicality, the time for them to run things is quickly passing. Clearly, this is a microcosm of that time in American history. The parallels between Ranse's relationship with Hallie and with the town is brilliantly subtle when juxtaposed with the film's overt dialogue on the matter. This makes what should come off as heavy-handed rhetoric feel like an even-keeled examination.

Metaphors aside, a film such as The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance must still work as a simple western. It does this without relying on shootouts. In fact, there is very little action to speak of. Most of what there is involves Valance manhandling someone, usually Ranse. Instead, the film draws us to the edge of our seats through the tension created during those standoffs I mentioned earlier. As Alfred Hitchcock famously alluded to, the seeming imminence of violence is far more nerve-wracking than the actual occurrence of it. This film believes firmly in that ideology and follows through on it to the point that when we get to the penultimate moment of the film, it's only because non-violent diffusion is no longer possible.

After the eponymous shot is fired, the film doesn't just end. We walk with our heroes and see how they've been affected. I'm going to tread lightly here, because even though the movie is well over fifty years old, I still don't want to spoil it for anyone else who may not have seen it. Suffice it to say there is some cleverness at play. However, it's not just done for the sake of trickery. It serves the larger themes the film has been driving at since minute one. It may not be until then that we realize how every strand of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance ties together. Despite it doing so in such neat fashion it is still poignant without feeling preachy. It doesn't feel preachy because if you remove all the subtext I've been talking about, it works as the story of two men with different viewpoints, but occupying the same space. One does not need to think deeply about this movie to enjoy it. You can do so whether you let it wash over you, or heavily contemplate its implications.

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