ipl-logo

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: Film Analysis

880 Words4 Pages

John Ford’s The Man who Shot Liberty Valance is one of the greatest American films ever made, and certainly John Ford’s best, the only challenger to this title potentially being the quintessential western, The Searchers. Many would classify The Man who Shot Liberty Valance as a western, and they, at first glance, would be correct to assume so: John Wayne, a gun fight, and a setting of the western territories. At further watchings, one can clearly see that The Man who Shot Liberty Valance is an inversion upon the western genre, and also shows its demise; this is shown through the setting, the shots, and the overall plot and theme of the film.
The Man who Shot Liberty Valance is about Ransom Stoddard's move and then his challenges in the old west, the death of Liberty Valance. and the eventual inclusion of the territory into the United States, starting in the “Present” where Ransom is a senator, going to the funeral of Tom Doniphan, the man who shot liberty valance.
So, …show more content…

Social Contract Theory. “ In entering into civil society, people sacrifice the physical freedom of being able to do whatever they please, but they gain the civil freedom of being able to think and act rationally and morally.” (Sparknotes, Roussou) So the people, in order to achieve civility, must give up freedom; they must give up liberty to achieve safety. What is the ending of the film? Ransom Stoddard appears to kill Liberty Valance, and thus is voted upon to be the senator after the territories officially join the United States. This would be ideal enough, showing the death of western outlaw freedom, named Liberty Valance no less, but in reality it is shown that Liberty was in fact killed by Tom Doniphon. Tom Doniphon, the personification of the west, kills its last true bastion of true freedom, and leads to his own eventual obsoletion in the eyes of the people. The death of the

Show More
Related

The Character Of John Grady Boyd As The Western Hero In All The Pretty Horses

1881 Words | 8 Pages

Part one allows John Grady Cole to act as the often romanticized western hero incomplete in a constrained life off the open fields without horses. Part two continues perpetuating the mythic West through John Grady Cole’s ability to demonstrate his heroic skills of horse training, as the work’s true western hero. Part three’s introduction to blatant violence with Blevins’ death finally breaks the myth of the perfect west for John Grady Cole, introducing him to the inevitability of violence accompanying the western hero. Finally, part four demonstrates John Grady Cole’s rugged individualism as the western hero, estranged from his friends and family despite trying to reconcile the old aspects of his life in Texas. John Grady Cole’s evolution ultimately demonstrates the collapse of the frontier hypothesis at large, questioning if the notion of the frontier as central to American identity can take root in a modernized America.

Read More

Eye On The Film: The Bridge To Freedom

219 Words | 1 Pages

In 1987, PBS started airing a fourteen-hour documentary series on the civil rights movement called Eye on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Movement. The purpose of this series was to inform the public about the civil rights movement from 1954 -1985. In episode six, “The Bridge to Freedom” the series turns it focus onto Selma, Alabama right before the death of Lee Jackson. The documentary which is based on primary sources including both images and interviews of SLCC leaders, SNCC leaders, personal friends of Martin Luther King Jr., supporters of segregation, and television reporters give a broad over view of the events in Selma from a plethora of perspectives.

Read More

Louisiana Purchase Research Paper

1110 Words | 5 Pages

The bloody trail to the Louisiana purchase The Louisiana Purchase has its beginnings going back to a lot of bloodshed and sacrifice on both sides of the tally sheet. Let us start with the War of Jenkins’ Ear, war between Great Britain and Spain that began in October 1739 and eventually merged into the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48). It was incited by an incident that took place in 1738 when Captain Robert Jenkins appeared before a committee of the House of Commons and exhibited what he alleged to be his own amputated ear, cut off in April 1731 in the West Indies by Spanish coast guards, who had boarded his ship, pillaged it, and then set it adrift. Public opinion had already been aroused by other Spanish outrages on British ships,

Read More

Jefferson's Dilemma In The Louisiana Purchase

1057 Words | 5 Pages

France came back with the counter offer of the whole Louisiana territory for a little more than a nickle a square mile (“background”). This was an offer that would be very beneficial to capitalize on, yet it went against Thomas Jefferson’s beliefs in the

Read More

James K. Polk Book Review

1155 Words | 5 Pages

Thus in second chapter Haynes describes the matter of on-going pro-bank and contra-bank debates and collision of the interests of supporting groups that were involved in B.U.S. case. In seventh chapter, the author gives detailed account on annexation of Oregon and Texas. He explains the basis of the disagreement between England and America about Oregon territory. Haynes thoroughly analyzes the status of Texas at that time, and the claims that Mexico and the United States had over it. Further he discusses possible consequences for every country involved into conflict, if England decided to

Read More

Police Brutality In Ava Duvernay's 13th And Frederick Douglass

516 Words | 3 Pages

Both Ava DuVernay’s 13th and Frederick Douglass’s narrative draw many similar parallels between the systematic oppression of black people in modern times and in the 19th century. The scenes of police brutality in 13th especially reflects Douglass’s influence on DuVernay’s perspective. In these scenes, we see black people violently, and sometimes fatally, attacked by the police, who are meant to protect people. This random violence against the black community leads to an overwhelming sense of fear and distrust of authority. This fear mimics the fear Douglass felt when he witnessed the Captain’s cruelty during the scene of Aunt Hester’s torture in Douglass’s narrative.

Read More

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Film Analysis

976 Words | 4 Pages

Classic western films dominated the screen in the 1960s, with major productions such as The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (1966) and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) directed by Sergio Leone, The Magnificent Seven (1960) directed by John Sturges, and what is considered a well-known western produced in this area, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and James Stewart as the main characters. While The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance meets all the criteria to classify it as a classic western, that being set in a culture structured around codes of honor and personal justice and gunslingers in every scene of the movie, the film lacks many characteristics to classify it as a well-rounded film. Set in the late 1800s, a senator by the name of Ransom Stoddard visits this town in the middle of nowhere with his wife to attend the funeral of one of his old friends Tom Doniphan. Many question the reasoning for the appearance of Ransom because not many know who Tom Doniphan was. With the local newspaper harassing him for answers as to who Tom Doniphan was, Ransom gives in and tells the tale through the use of flashbacks.

Read More

Stereotypes In A Lesson Before Dying

1896 Words | 8 Pages

Jail is a place no one ever wants to go. People go to jail for many reasons: robbery, murder, hate crimes, and there are people who are sitting in jail for a crime they did not commit. People have their different views on the justice system and how it works. People’s religious beliefs and personal beliefs in stereotypes play a major part in their convictions. In A Lesson before Dying Earnest Gaines reveals how different values and racism in a small community are seen through the characters Jefferson, Grant, and Tante Lou and their experiences and reactions.

Read More

The Abolitionists Film Analysis

804 Words | 4 Pages

The Abolitionists Growing up as a Christian I never could understand how people claimed to be saved or god’s servant but yet can discriminate against skin color. I was taught God is of love regardless of skin color, size or how the person looks. Such as Caucasians with African Americans and even so how could they attend church but yet have slave servants in their home? As shown in the documentary most of the film was a conflict about slavery and the few whites that was against it. Such as “Angelina Grimké” a Caucasians female Christian who despised slavery and watch her parents live with it with no moral or self-respected.

Read More

Anton Chigurh's Moral Codes In No Country For Old Men

1354 Words | 6 Pages

The old western films’ solid black and white boundaries between good and evil characters are no longer relatable in a time where most members of society fall into the grey. The unique morality in No Country For Old Men is representative of the constant changes in modern day society and the adjustments in the moral standards of society that accompany those

Read More

Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid Essay

564 Words | 3 Pages

He is charismatic, talkative, and witty. Butch Cassidy uses his charm to try and talk his way out of difficult situations, and tends to come up with impulsive decisions to the problems that they face. The main way that this film differs from the classical Western film is that is has us cheering for the outlaws. Most Westerns follow the heroic cowboys in their pursuit to stop the outlaws, but in this film the tables turn. Butch Cassidy and Sundance’s personalities held us captive as we watched their pursuits.

Read More

Shot Analysis: Citizen Kane

1038 Words | 5 Pages

Shot Analysis: Citizen Kane Orson Welles, director of “Citizen Kane”, is well known for his unusual directing methods that defied conventional cinematic techniques. Welles provided his audience with original forms of cinematography, narrative structures, and music. The scene I chose to analyze is extremely important to the plot of the film because Kane begins to realize that he is going through some serious financial problems. During the scene, Kane maintains a sarcastic mood, until he finally decides to surrender and signs the papers that transfer the ownership of his media empire to Mr. Thatcher.

Read More

Papers On Emmett Till

1857 Words | 8 Pages

Disclosed here is the true account of the slaying in Mississippi of a Negro youth named Emmett Till. Last September in Sumner, Miss., a petit jury found the youth's admitted abductors not guilty of murder. In November, in Greenwood, a grand jury declined to indict them for kidnapping. Of the murder trial, the Memphis Commercial Appeal said: "Evidence necessary for convicting on a murder charge was lacking."

Read More

The Patriot Movie Analysis

996 Words | 4 Pages

The Patriot Sadness, hope, war and freedom The movie’s name is “The Patriot”. Mel Gibson plays the role of Benjamin Martin who is an American farmer in the 1800th century. Benjamin has the lead role in this movie. There are a lot of characters in the movie such as his son Gabriel (Heath Ledger) and his six other siblings.

Read More

12 Years A Slave Film Analysis

1731 Words | 7 Pages

In the film 12 Years a Slave the editor, Joe Walker, makes use of a couple of techniques and styles that adds to the film in its own way. Long shots – Joe kept the long shots as long as he thought was necessary to add to the subject matter and the feeling he wanted to bind with the story. At the end of the film there’s this extremely long shot where Solomon is practically staring at the camera for about a minute and a half. The timing of that shot is so perfect because it’s not too short so you don’t have enough time to think about what just happened or too much time to overthink the situation. Closer to the end of the shot he lets the sound fade slowly and rapidly gives you a wakeup call when the next shot starts off where Solomon and the rest of the slaves are busy working in the field.

Read More

More about The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: Film Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document