My education in the great westerns continues.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance stars Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne and Lee Marvin. Look at that list. That's the kind of cast that the phrase "all star cast" was invented for. It also has Lee Van Cleef in a nearly-non-speaking role that presaged a long career of playing unshaven scumbags, here playing one of Marvin's cronies. So he learned at the feet of a master.
I won't get into plot specifics here, as they're better discovered. What really works is the tone of sadness and melancholy hanging over the entire film. The story opens by showing us exactly how everything turns out, then flashes back to how it all turned out that way.
In a change of pace, Wayne is not the hero here, and in fact, is a figure of tragedy. He's a good man who doesn't get what he wants. What happens to him is completely unfair and nobody's fault, and his performance is quite good as his frustration with life builds. Stewart plays another in his long line of principled, decent men facing a crisis. It might seem repetetive, but when the man is that good at it, why stop? Lee Marvin, to employ a modern cliche, is a force of nature. His loudmouthed, sadistic, obnoxious gunslinger is utterly believable as a man who could hold an entire community in helpless fear.
This is a movie that seems to have a fair amount of rewatch value, largely because of the structure. The palpable sense of sadness over the opening scenes is done well enough on first viewing, but I'm guessing that it packs a bit more punch on repeat viewings, with the full story hanging over it.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance stars Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne and Lee Marvin. Look at that list. That's the kind of cast that the phrase "all star cast" was invented for. It also has Lee Van Cleef in a nearly-non-speaking role that presaged a long career of playing unshaven scumbags, here playing one of Marvin's cronies. So he learned at the feet of a master.
I won't get into plot specifics here, as they're better discovered. What really works is the tone of sadness and melancholy hanging over the entire film. The story opens by showing us exactly how everything turns out, then flashes back to how it all turned out that way.
In a change of pace, Wayne is not the hero here, and in fact, is a figure of tragedy. He's a good man who doesn't get what he wants. What happens to him is completely unfair and nobody's fault, and his performance is quite good as his frustration with life builds. Stewart plays another in his long line of principled, decent men facing a crisis. It might seem repetetive, but when the man is that good at it, why stop? Lee Marvin, to employ a modern cliche, is a force of nature. His loudmouthed, sadistic, obnoxious gunslinger is utterly believable as a man who could hold an entire community in helpless fear.
This is a movie that seems to have a fair amount of rewatch value, largely because of the structure. The palpable sense of sadness over the opening scenes is done well enough on first viewing, but I'm guessing that it packs a bit more punch on repeat viewings, with the full story hanging over it.
