Director : John Ford
Cast : John Wayne, James Stewart, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O'Brien

Yet another John Ford/John Wayne western (Their last best work combined). Add to that James Stewart and Vera Miles (Post Psycho) and a very determined Lee Marvin. The result is a very impressive adventure western with a touch of politics and American Legislation. As the title suggests, there is a guy by the name Liberty Valance who has been shot and since none of lead heroes respond to that name, Valance must be the villain and he truly is. Apart from that James Stewart plays a honest lawyer who thinks that all criminals should be treated as per the American Laws and violence is not the way to deal with them. John Wayne plays what he plays best - A tough guy from the west who is a genius with the gun and has a golden heart too. Lee Marvin is Liberty Valance - The Bad Guy, who is the most feared and dreadful mobster and who loots and kills innocent civilians, mocks the law and has a gang of just two people. Both Stewart and Wayne have their different takes on Liberty and how he should be punished for his deeds. But the movie just does not end at punishing Liberty, it moves a bit forward and ventures into politics going as far as the American Congress at Washington.
What separates an ordinary western from a special one is the handling of the genre itself. John Ford is the master of the genre and he has excelled with this particular movie as well.
As far as the acting is concerned, it is a cakewalk for John Wayne to play the tough guy from the west, he does a fine job. James Stewart also plays the frail, non-violent yet determined law abider who becomes a Senator convincingly. Vera Miles plays the love interest of both the leads and has done a good job at that. Lee Marvin is exceptional in the few scenes he has got in the movie. He was truly one of the plus points of the movie. The hallmark of a great director is how he deals with the supporting cast along with the leads of the movie. John Ford is known to extract the best from his supporting cast and this movie shows that. Overall, 'Watch it Pilgrim'.

Rating : 7/10

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