I was surprised by the emotional reaction I had to this film. My expectations were so low going in - I'd seen clips with Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne far too old to play young things in the old west, heard that the film's heart apparently laid with Wayne's gunslinger as opposed to lawyer Stewart.
But it got me in the gut. It's very sympathetic to Stewart, who wants to bring law and education to the West - he's got book learnin', teaches at the school. He's brave but gets bullied by Lee Marvin's Liberty Valance, the sort of thug who always threatens the world (for instance he brutally attacks Edmond O'Brien). The film is about the conflict between Marvin and Stewart, with Wayne looking on... he understands Marvin and can deal with him; can see that Stewart can't, knows that Stewart stands for a better future. Both love the same woman (Vera Miles).
It's not a perfect film - there are all these sequences which don't feel needed, like the final election sequence (included to give John Carradine the chance to barnstorm?) which went on forever. The bit where Marvin confronts Stewart and his cronies at an election meeting didn't feel true - Marvin was scarier operating out of the shadows and in the dark. And Stewart and Wayne are too old.
But age aside they are well cast. The themes of bullying still have resonance. Its about being brave and the importance of myth and about realising the world is going to pass you by and it's sad and quite lovely.
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