The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is an 1862 western starring John Wayne and James Stewart.

The plot is Senator Stoddard (James Stewart) attends the funeral of a local man named Tom Doniphon (John Wayne) 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 (Lee Marvin). 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.

Words cannot describes how much I love this movie. The movies feels like the endgame of westerns in general and the death of the John Ford Western. (This was John Ford's next to last movie, with his last movie Cheyenne Autumn, but was unnoticeable). James Stewart and John Wayne give great Performances as Ramson Stoddard and Tom Doniphon, and Lee Marvin gives a magnificent performance as Liberty Valance.

Tom Doniphon I think, is one of John Wayne's best performances (other than The Searchers). Tom Doniphon to the Certain Lense is seen as a loser, He loses the woman he loves, his ranch, his place as community leader, and dies alone, broke and forgotten. However, to us the Audience, the character is pitiful, but selfless. he's a tragic figure who, in plot terms, does lose out to historical forces. The West becomes civilized, and Tom -- and what Tom represents-- is discarded.

One of the things I like in the movie is the feeling that this movie the endgame of the central myth of the Western -- the man skilled in violence who ensures his own obsolescence by making the West safe for settlers. The new West that he helps bring about will have no place in it for such men as Tom.

What are your thoughts on The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance?

What do you think of John Wayne as Tom Doniphon?