The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is a 1962 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and James Stewart. The screenplay by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck was adapted from a 1953 short story written by Dorothy M. Johnson. The supporting cast features Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O'Brien, Andy Devine, John Carradine, Woody Strode, Strother Martin and Lee Van Cleef. In 2007, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Plot Around the turn of the 20th century, U.S. Senator Ransom "Ranse" Stoddard and his wife Hallie arrive in Shinbone, a frontier town in an unnamed western state, to attend the funeral of Tom Doniphon. When asked by the local newspaper editor why a senator would attend the funeral of a poor rancher, Stoddard answers with a story that flashes back 25 years. Entering the then-unincorporated territory as a young lawyer, Ranse is beaten and robbed by infamous outlaw Liberty Valance and his gang. Tom Doniphon and his handyman, Pompey, find Ranse and take him to Shinbone, where Tom's girlfriend, Hallie, treats his wounds. Ranse learns Valance frequently terrorizes Shinbone and the surrounding country since the local marshal, Link Appleyard, is too cowardly to stop him. Tom says Valance only understands force, but Ranse is determined to bring Valance to justice through the law.