The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Family Review

A senator returns to a Western town for the funeral of an old friend and tells the story of his origins.When Senator Ransom Stoddard returns home to Shinbone for the funeral of Tom Doniphon, he recounts to a local newspaper editor the story behind it all. He had come to town many years before, a lawyer by profession. The stage was robbed on its way in by local ruffian Liberty Valance, and Stoddard has nothing left to his name but a few law books. He gets a job in the kitchen at the Ericsons' restaurant, where he meets his future wife Hallie. The territory is vying for Statehood and Stoddard is selected as a representative over Valance, who continues to terrorize the town. When he destroys the local newspaper office and attacks the editor, Stoddard calls him out, though the conclusion is not quite as straightforward as legend would have it.—garykmcdAs silver-haired U.S. Senator Ransom Stoddard and his lovely wife, Hallie, return to the godforsaken town of Shinbone to bury Tom Doniphon, an old friend, pressing questions arise. And cornered by the prying editor-in-chief of the local Star newspaper, the congressman, then a fledgeling lawyer, recounts the story of how he came to know Tom and contended with vicious state agitator Liberty Valance and his murderous thugs. Back then, the Western frontier was a dangerous place to live, where the law gave way to brute force. In dusty Shinbone, do the people realise how much they owe the man who shot Liberty Valance?—Nick RiganasSenator Ranse Stoddard returns to the city of Shinbone in the Wild West, to go to the funeral of his friend Tom Doniphon. To a journalist, who's wondering what the senator is doing in Shinbone, he tells how his career started as "the man who shot Liberty Valance". As a lawyer he came to Shinbone to bring law and order to the West by means of law books. When the stagecoach is held up by outlaws, he is savagely beaten by Liberty Valance. He survives the attack and is nursed by his future wife, Hallie. Hallie is being wooed by local rancher Tom Doniphon. Ranse teaches the people of Shinbone to read and write, all the while trying to find a way of bringing Valance to justice. He finally takes up a gun and faces Valance in a menacing shootout.—Tony Kessen <[email protected]>