THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962)

THE FILM

FILM DIRECTOR: John Ford

SCREENWRITER: James Warner Bellah, Willis Goldbeck

FILM STARS: John Wayne, James Stewart, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Woody Strode, Edmond O’Brien, Andy Devine, Ken Murray, John Carradine, Jeanette Nolan, John Qualen, Willis Bouchey, Carleton Young, Denver Pyle, Strother Martin, Lee Van Cleef

COUNTRY: USA

THIS BOOK

AUTHOR: James Warner Bellah

TYPE: Novelization

PUBLISHER: Pocket Books

THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1962

COUNTRY: USA

COVER: Paperback

THE ORIGINAL BOOK

ORIGINAL AUTHOR: Dorothy M. Johnson

YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1953

ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title

NOTES

GENRE: Western

WORDS: One of my favourite three films of all time (the other two – The Searchers, Rio Bravo). The short story by Dorothy M. Johnson is excellent but, errrr, short, with little of the subplots in the film and many different character names. The film fleshes out all the ideas and puts a level of “John Ford” over the top through the scriptwriters Golbeck and Bellah, both who worked with Ford before. The movement of time, the fluidity of history, and people that come and go, make this a wonderful film. And, what a cast! The novelisation (inevitable as the original short story is quite different in characters) follows the original script. The completed film is a little different to the novelisation … not so much in plot or tone though in some of the lines delivered. Ford wasn’t adverse to playing around with the written script. I have seen this film many times and, like all good films, even though you know where the film is going, the ride is the reward. And, even so, I still get emotional at the start, even if I have seen it a dozen times before. A beautiful, haunting, and occasionally dark film.

Interestingly, there was a stage play (!) from 2014 by British writer, director and theatre producer, Jethro Compton, which is more closely based on the Dorothy Johnson story. See, the internet is useful.

LINKS

TRAILER

MUSIC

Contrary too popular belief the hit song by Gene Pitney was not used in the film (it was based on the title and story and released after the film’s release).

The Cyril J. Mockridge title music