Exactly, you caught the essence of what I love about this story. In the beginning I want to scream at Tom holding the cactus flower, “ Tell her that you love her! She’s ready, dude!”. You have to wonder how many Toms helped to build this country.
With respect to Steven Spielberg, I don't think the movie is about Ranson Stoddard at all. I think the movie is about exactly the title; "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence". The movie is about Tom Doniphon, the code he lived by, and what was lost when we "civilized". If Tom wanted to, he could have gotten everything he wanted in life; all he had to do was just walk away from the fight. Stoddard would be dead and he would get the girl. Instead by the code he lived by, he had to act, and in doing so, destroyed his life. Watching Tom fall apart in bar, at his farm, you got an understanding that everything he lived for was gone and it was his fault. In the end, I'm not that pleased with Stoddard; giving Pompey a few dollars; what's that? Payoff for his silence? In the end, Stoddard returns to the lie his life is, and the man who shot Liberty Valence, the man who brought civilization South of the Picket wire, is forgotten.
Everyone takes a different meaning or view of any film. Yours seems to be a very literal take. It is very valid and I am not saying you are wrong. I tend to agree with Spielberg. It is about how we obfuscate reality, particularly in politics and allow the legend (false narratives) to become truth. In this movie Tom is the reality who loses everything to the phony legend Stoddard is allowed to build his fame and fortune upon.
"Stoddard returns to the lie his life is" The lie? He faced certain death in his showdown with Liberty Valance. True, he's not the man who shot Liberty Valence, but he is the man who stood up to Liberty Valance in the face of certain death. So he is hardly a fraud. As a political leader, having the courage to stand up to Liberty Valance is more important than having the fast gun to kill him. And do I have to be the one to say it? Tom did not want the girl. No straight man just lets another man have his woman, let alone a 'real man' like Tom. Tom wants to live his life with Pompey, man and man, and that is what he does. So he got exactly what he wanted in life.
@@user-iy6rm6pm4j Tom Doniphan multiple times told him Hallie was his girl. It was the life he wanted to build. If he wanted to, he could have stood out of the way and let Liberty kill him. Instead he stood up and saved his life and pulled the trigger on his own life.
It's so cool to see the great John Ford discussed by the great Steven Spielberg. Two of the greatest directors that ever lived in the history of cinema. I loved Steven Spielberg's tribute to John Ford in The Fabelmans. Two Legendary Directors in a passing of the torch moment, though they didn't know it at the time. Now both have made countless masterpieces. Knowing that the Director of The Searchers, Stagecoach, The Grapes Of Wrath, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, Tobacco Road, Sergeant Rutledge, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and so many more classics would meet the future Director of Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Schindlers's List, The Color Purple, Jaws and so many more classics and would give him advice on how to direct a film is one of the coolest crossovers that ever happened. David Lynch(a Legendary Director himself) also did an amazing job portraying John Ford. Many thanks to the great Laura Dern(an amazing actress and fan of cinema herself) for making that collaboration happen. And with that said, I'm hoping The Fabelmans wins the Best Picture Oscar.
I remember once seeing an interview with Orson Welles, in which he was asked what directors had influenced him. He responded, "I'm partial to the old masters, by which I mean John Ford, John Ford, and John Ford."
When I had an opportunity to meet and speak with a man, whom I had greatly admired as a broadcaster, communicator and college professor, he apparently was unprepared for the adulation, disappointed and foreclosed the possibility for future conversation. Never looked at him in the same way thereafter. Mr. Spielberg thankfully drew greater inspiration from his encounter with a hero.
I have watched this movie dozens of times. The acting of the peripheral characters is outstanding. Whether it's Woody Strode as Pompeii, Andy Devine as the cowardly sheriff, Liberty's henchmen with Lee van Cleef and Strother Martin and Edmund O'brien as the newspaper man Dutton. Each had their moment on screen. Yet, the major theme of this film is unsettling; and it is not that one typically stated in the quote ""when the legend becomes fact, print the legend." Instead, it is that civilization is built upon blood. That only Tom Doniphon's bushwhacking murder of Valance allowed for civilization to flourish below the Picket Wire.The paradox is that peace happens because of violence.
The 24-page short story by Dorothy M Johnson placed this film in 1910 (Tom's funeral). But the film, flashed back, took place when there were 37 states, 1867, and hopefully the 38th state would be Colorado in 1876. (notice the American flag, hand-painted, on the English class wall) The Picketwire River (often mentioned in the film, never in the book) is actually a true, historic MISpronunciation of the "Purgatoire" River in eastern Colorado. In conclusion, the book is just as good as the film. Three men hated each other AND themselves for reasons made clear.
Great movie. Great commentary. Amazing how time can age decisions made years in the past, by people born before your parents were born, But time sometimes makes those old decisions seem to be very aged. Sometimes those decesions made in the past are tarnished by conditions in the current day.
Too bad it was made in 1962 instead of 1942 when Stewart and Wayne were the right ages for their characters. Stewart is wearing so much pancake makeup he looks silly sometimes. Why it had to be in B&W.
