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John Ford Productions

Paramount Pictures

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The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Name: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Released: 1962-04-13T00:00:00.000000Z
Rating: 7.8

Together for the first time

1962 • 123 min • ★ 7.8 (1,334) • Released

Western

Questions arise when Senator Stoddard attends the funeral of a local man named Tom Doniphon in a small Western town. Flashing back, we learn Doniphon saved Stoddard, then a lawyer, when he was roughed up by a crew of outlaws terrorizing the town, led by Liberty Valance. As the territory's safety hung in the balance, Doniphon and Stoddard, two of the only people standing up to him, proved to be very important, but different, foes to Valance.

IMDb ↗

Original title: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Language: EN
Country: US
Budget: $3,200,000
Revenue: $8,000,000

Reviews & Ratings 1

badelf

May 3, 2026 · via TMDB

★ 9.0

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) Directed by John Ford Well, it is an old Western, so it's all about bullies, and how they invariably lose to a more powerful bully. Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin) terrorizes the town with violence; he's replaced by lawyers, politicians, and the machinery of government. Same power dynamics, more sophisticated weapons. The famous line "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend" isn't inspiring, it's cynical. The film is about how America built its mythology on lies, how the people who write history aren't necessarily the heroes they claim to be. This is probably the best screenplay of the John Ford Westerns. It's quite different in that it depends totally on the narrative and not action alone. Ford stripped away the vibrant landscapes, the Monument Valley vistas, the horseback chases, and gave us a claustrophobic black-and-white melodrama built on words, memory, and moral compromise. For that reason, James Stewart with his trademark self-effacing style was absolutely the perfect actor for this film. He plays Ransom Stoddard as a man who has benefited from a lie his entire life and can't quite reconcile what that cost him, or what it cost Tom Doniphon (John Wayne). The black-and-white cinematography, the direction, and the acting were all fantastic. Ford made a Western about the death of the West, shot it like a funeral, and gave us one of the finest examinations of American myth-making ever put on screen. It's a film about how we tell ourselves stories to justify power, how the victors write history, and—well, Pilgrim, how uncomfortable it is when someone finally tells the truth.

User reviews courtesy of TMDB.

Keywords 10

black and white cowboy funeral gunslinger lawyer legend outlaw ranch showdown stagecoach

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Cast 57

John Wayne

Tom Doniphon

James Stewart

Ransom Stoddard

Vera Miles

Hallie Stoddard

Lee Marvin

Liberty Valance

Edmond O'Brien

Dutton Peabody

Andy Devine

Link Appleyard

Ken Murray

Doc Willoughby

John Carradine

Cassius Starbuckle

Jeanette Nolan

Nora Ericson

John Qualen

Peter Ericson

Willis Bouchey

Jason Tully

Carleton Young

Maxwell Scott

Woody Strode

Pompey

Denver Pyle

Amos Carruthers

Strother Martin

Floyd

Lee Van Cleef

Reese

Robert F. Simon

Handy Strong

O.Z. Whitehead

Herbert Carruthers

Paul Birch

Mayor Winder

Rudy Bowman

Townsman (uncredited)

Chet Brandenburg

Townsman (uncredited)

Noble 'Kid' Chissell

Townsman (uncredited)

Fritz Ford

Townsman (uncredited)

Herman Hack

Townsman (uncredited)

Jack Kenny

Townsman (uncredited)

Buddy Roosevelt

Townsman (uncredited)

Jack Tornek

Townsman (uncredited)

Ralph Volkie

Townsman (uncredited)

Max Wagner

Townsman (uncredited)

Blackie Whiteford

Townsman (uncredited)

Gertrude Astor

Townswoman (uncredited)

Helen Gibson

Townswoman (uncredited)

Eva Novak

Townswoman (uncredited)

Dorothy Phillips

Townswoman (uncredited)

Chuck Hayward

Henchman (uncredited)

Chuck Roberson

Henchman (uncredited)

Frank Baker

Gambler (uncredited)

William Henry

Gambler (uncredited)