The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, based on a story by Dorothy Johnson

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, based on a story by Dorothy Johnson

If John Ford is the director, James Stewart and John Wayne have leading roles, this film is necessarily a must see fare.

Indeed, one could wonder why it is not better known and it was only nominated for an Academy Award, in a technical category.

James Stewart is Ransom Stoddard, who returns at the beginning of the film to the small town of Shinbone, where he is asked for an interview that would reveal an intriguing story that might dispel the myth.

Ransom Stoddard recalls his arrival in the town, decades before, with his law books, travelling on a stagecoach.

He is a young idealist who has very little, if anything in common with the archetypal image of the present-day solicitor, the object of so many defamatory jokes.

Yong Ransom Stoddard is the epitome of so many Character Strengths as to seem, if not perfect, at least an Ubermensch- Bravery, Creativity, Citizenship, Love of Learning, Perspective, Humility, Curiosity, Persistence, Humor, Integrity, Kindness, Self- regulation and almost any other quality we can think of.

The coach is attacked by robbers, a woman is pushed when Stoddard stands up to the armed scoundrels, asking them what kind of men are they and affirming that he will see that they face the punishment of the law, when the leader starts beating the brave, but reckless traveler, who has to be cared for in a serious condition after the attack.

The perpetrator is well known and the sheriff, all the men and women are afraid of Liberty Valance, with the exception of Tom Doniphon aka The Duke aka John Wayne, the most popular and loved actor in America for decades.

Tom refers to the injured stranger as Pilgrim and a complicated relationship will be established between the two men, who would both seek the attention and affection of Vera, a strong woman working in her parents’ restaurant, where Ransom works to pay for the medical care he had received.

In this restaurant walks the infamous Valance, with his two hatchet men, causing like is his way a disturbance and then sending the waiter Stoppard to the floor, with his plate of steak and potatoes.

Tom Doniphon steps in with his gun and tells the villain to get down and pick up the food from the floor, explaining that he is not alone against the three hoodlums, for he has his assistant, Pompey, holding a shotgun at the door.

The confrontation ends when The Pilgrim kneels to the floor and gets the stake and shouts that it is preposterous to kill or be killed over a piece of meat, a philosophy which is strongly embraced by this hero, who believes in the law and not the use of force, which everybody in Shinbone declares is the only way to impose and face people like Liberty, his gang and the rich people up north, who seem to be in cahoots with the criminals.

Dutton Peabody is another hero in the story and he represents the prestige, importance, role of the press in writing about the truth, even or especially when it is so dangerous to publish stories about killers and their crimes, and he is the one to invite Ransom to use his newspapers office as premises for his activities as lawyer.

The Pilgrim also works as a teacher, with a full class of people that do not know how to write and who also learn about the constitution, the Bill of Rights and the works of democracy from this Angel of Justice.

In secret, Ransom is also trying to learn the ways of this wild territory, taking a gun out, twice a week, trying to become a reasonable shooter, only to be taught a lesson by Tom, who emphasizes how dangerous, deadly Valance is.

Ransom Stoddard acts beyond giving lessons and teaching reading, English and the rules of democracy, but he is essential to the organizing of elections for representatives that would promote and defend the rights of the population south of the barbed wire and when he proposes that Tom Doniphon is elected, the latter refuses and suggests The Pilgrim in his place, a nomination that is unanimously accepted, together with that of Dutton Peabody.

The newspaper man, editor and superhero publishes the news about the most recent killings committed by Valance and his thugs, only to be ambushed in his office and then tortured nearly to death by the monsters.

This new atrocity provokes the wrath of the promoter of peace and lawful, serene methods and he is out on the street with his pistol to confront and hopefully kill the Devil that threatens the safety and lives of the people.

Ransom Stoddard walks the main street and faces Liberty Valance, who shoots the unskilled lawyer in his arm, then throws the gun away and is on the verge of making a new killing, targeting “right between the eyes” , when, pure magic and incredible reversal of fortune has Ransom on top and famous as…The Man Who Killed Liberty Valance.

This is not the epilogue in this fascinating western, which takes the audience to more elections, where Ransom is accused by a political adversary of avoiding the law and being a hypocrite for saying that the law must be abided and then taking a life, in cold blood, shooting down Main Street.

This has an immense impact on the lawyer, who leaves the election room and is evidently bent on abandoning this democratic project, when he is turned back by his romantic competitor, who explains what happened in the now famous killing of the vicious Valance and helps the hero become the senator we have met in the beginning of this masterful work of art.