The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
 | Directed by John Ford Starring: James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O'Brien Paramount, 1962, DVD Customer Rating: 120 reviews Recommend |
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A tenderfoot lawyer and a powerful rancher are rivals in lovet who stand together against a ruthless killer who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 04/11/2006 Starring: James Stewart Vera Miles Run time: 123 minutes Rating: Nr Director: John Ford
"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." That's more than the code of a newspaperman in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance; it's practically the operating credo of director John Ford, the most honored of American filmmakers. In this late film from a long career, Ford looks at the civilizing of an Old West town, Shinbone, through the sad memories of settlers looking back. In the town's wide-open youth, two-fisted Westerner John Wayne and tenderfoot newcomer James Stewart clash over a woman (Vera Miles) but ultimately unite against the notorious outlaw Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). Ford's nostalgia for the past is tempered by his stark approach, unusual for the visual poet of Stagecoach and The Searchers. The two heavyweights, Wayne and Stewart, are good together, with Wayne the embodiment of rugged individualism and Stewart the idealistic prophet of the civilization that will eventually tame the Wild West. This may be the saddest Western ever made, closer to an elegy than an action movie, and as cleanly beautiful as its central symbol, the cactus rose. — Robert Horton
Title: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Sales Rank: 2796 in DVD
Actor: James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O'Brien
Director: John Ford
Studio: Paramount, 2001-06-05, Theatrical Release: 1962-04-22
Format: Anamorphic, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC, Acpect Ratio 1.66:1
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region Code: 1
Running Time: 123 minutes
Package Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches, 0.2 pounds
- Another John Ford masterpiece
- This is perhaps second only to The Searchers in the many great films John Ford directed. Again starring John Wayne as well as the always excellent James Stewart, Vera Miles and Lee Marvin. Essentially its a western which shows the beginning of the end for the old west.
If you watch this you need to remember that… More reviews
- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
- What a great western. You can't get much better than this one. John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart together for get about it! More reviews
- A Film for American Studies Departments
- There is good reason to believe that the reviewer M. S. Anderson is as right as right can be. Having just edited an encyclopedia concerned with the Old West, I can confirm that the professorial class is keeping this movie alive. After several months of reading seemingly hundreds of worshipful citations of this routine film and especially of its signature cliché--the meaningless line about… More reviews
- Print The Legend
- Stylistically, this is a very interesting film from director John Ford. The film begins with alot of colorful characterizations familiar to audiences with films as diverse as "Stagecoach" and "The Searchers". There's also alot of brutal realism which would anticipate the work of Sam Peckinpah. It's also interesting that Ford contrasts the traditional western as represented by John Wayne with… More reviews
- A parody
- This is an unintentional parody of the Western movie. The cliches, stereotypes, corny lines, and macho nonsense are present in abundance. There are signs of trouble from the beginning, when we learn immediately that there will be a flashback: Jimmy Stewart is shouting his lines. Later, John Wayne swaggers and sniggers, Andy Devine whimpers and attempts to be amusing, Edmund O'Brien… More reviews
