The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

5/3/2026

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) Directed by John Ford Well, it is an old Western, so it's all about bullies, and how they invariably lose to a more powerful bully. Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin) terrorizes the town with violence; he's replaced by lawyers, politicians, and the machinery of government. Same power dynamics, more sophisticated weapons. The famous line "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend" isn't inspiring, it's cynical. The film is about how America built its mythology on lies, how the people who write history aren't necessarily the heroes they claim to be. This is probably the best screenplay of the John Ford Westerns. It's quite different in that it depends totally on the narrative and not action alone. Ford stripped away the vibrant landscapes, the