MovieChat Forums > The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) Discussion > The movie's message is ruined

The movie's message is ruined

posted 13 years ago by inneroscator2
25 replies | jump to latest

The great melodramatic twist of this movie is having Hallie wind up tearing the guts out of Tom Doniphen's heart and I think that this deep but certainly unknowing betrayal, that is if you can believe that Hallie had no clue about how strongly Tom felt about her, is so powerful that it overshadows the movie's main message about the violence of the old west giving way to modern civilization. Anyway, that is how the conclusion has always come across to me. I'd love to see a comedic skit where the ghost of Tom Doniphen appears and tells Hallie Stoddard what she can do with her Cactus Rose. I just can't get past her breaking Tom's heart.

[–] move_over_fatso 10 years ago

I just can't get past her breaking Tom's heart.

You don't owe other people your life, just because they have a crush on you.

I do enjoy your notion of a comedic skit.

[–] cwente2 10 years ago

I think "crush" is a gross understatement here. He "loved" her. Probably the only thing he ever really loved.

[–] greenleafie 9 years ago

Hallie is sort of like Ilsa Lund in Casablanca. Ilsa believed she loved two men- one for his raw passion, the other for the brilliance of his mind and because he opened her eyes to a universe she never knew. But neither Ilsa nor Hallie ended up with the right man, because neither of them ever met the right man. Tom Doniphon and Ranse Stoddard were both somewhat selfish in their approach to Hallie. She deserved a man she could share life with, rather than just being an accessory to their interests.

[–] cwente2 9 years ago

Interesting parallel between Lisa Lund and Hallie. Thanks. I do wonder, however, if any woman (or any man) ever meets the "right" man (the man of her dreams, so to speak). You gotta make some compromises/adjustments in life -- no? I think Hallie would have done alright with either man . . . in different ways, of course.

[–] mammamia1216 7 years ago

Hmm.
For me the movie's message is ruined by having Stoddard NOT shoot Liberty Valance. I know that's how it is in the original story, but Jimmy Stewart's character was heavily changed to be more likable and heroic.

With the revelation that Tom actually shot him, and especially the last line about "nothing being too good for Liberty Valance," the film took on this weirdly pessimistic, mean-spirited turn that seemed more akin to Sergio Leone than to John Ford.

I would have loved it way more if Stoddard had been the one to shoot him. It would have been the reconciling of his East Coast logic and reason with the wild justice of the West. It's too bad.

There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly west

[–] KutWrite (1220) 4 months ago

I thought Tom's story of shooting Valance was to "save the day" and ensure Ranse would accept the nomination and go to DC. THAT was his sacrifice.

I have to echo Annie in "Misery:" "Have you all got amnesia?" and now paraphrasing "There weren't two cock-a-doody shots!" Also, in the original scene Tom arrived late, which I took as his real, spontaneous words of the moment.

I think Ranse did shoot Valance - he was close enough to not need much marksmanship.

Seeing it that way makes the story fit together better for me.

[–] MNRebecca (749) a year ago

Tom’s treatment of Hallie is condescending and dismissive. He has no respect for her. She would have been a fool to marry him.