MovieChat Forums > The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) Discussion > Liberty's partners

Liberty's partners

posted 8 years ago by joannabaroncelli
4 replies | jump to latest

After Liberty is killed his partners vow vengeance against Ranse and Tom throws them out of the bar and we never see them again, the point being that now that Liberty was gone his boys were not considered credible threats. However they could have recruited hired guns to come after Ranse. At the beginning at the stage robbery there are at least 2 or 3 other men besides Liberty and his 2 main boys participating in the hold up. The point is that all these men had been loyal to Liberty and I don't see them giving up the idea of retribution against who everyone believed had gunned down Liberty. I suppose before long Ranse married Hallie and goes off to Washington so he's out of reach and then most of Liberty's partners were either killed or jailed or got old enough where they didn't care or have the energy any more to pursue.

[–] vestdennis 8 years ago

They were basically blowhards without Liberty's leadership.

[–] jcosyn-1 7 years ago

It's a comic book movie. The bad guy might have henchmen, but they don't matter. All the roles in the script are merely two-dimensional caricatures, and the henchmen are not even really two-dimensional, they're just stick figures. Think of a Batman movie: does anybody care about all the dozens or hundreds of henchmen the Joker has? Does anybody really even notice them? Nope. They aren't important: what matters is the Good Guy winning against the Bad Guy. That's the Big Message of all comic books (and comic book movies). What matters is that the children see it and get the Big Message: Good always wins over Evil. It's pointless to look for realism or reason or depth here; it's about as deep as the inside of a macaroni noodle. Might as well try to pick out plot holes or logical flaws in a Winnie The Pooh cartoon.

[–] cfwente 7 years ago

There's a great deal more here than Superman. I'm amazed you didn't notice. But noting that you didn't, it would make little sense to try and explain why you should have. One either appreciates a drama on viewing, or one simply does not.

[–] vinidici 7 years ago

jcosyn-1:

This movie isn't everyone's cup of tea, obviously, but you are the first person I've ever encountered anywhere who dismisses it as a "comic book movie" with no "realism or depth." You saw no "realism" in the story's resolution ("Print the legend")?

Surely the end scene on the train isn't exactly what any thinking person would call a happy ending! Or were you somehow unable to ascertain that Ranse Stoddard went on to become a cynical, blowhard politician (in stark contrast to his earlier idealism as a young lawyer, crusading for law and order and education?) That his marriage to Hallie had grown lukewarm at best? That Tom Doniphon lost his only reason to live a respectable life when he gave up Hallie, ekeing out his days as a virtual hermit? How on earth do such undesirable consequences as were visited on Tom, Ranse and Hallie (stemming from Liberty Valance's death and its aftermath) in any way constitute a "comic book movie with no realism or depth?"

At first I would have guessed you to be quite young, not yet out of your teens, perhaps, based on whatever thinking process it is that's prompted everything you just said -- until I noted that you've been an IMDb user for the last TWELVE YEARS, making it apparent that you're no "callow youth" and must be well into your twenties or older! So, love it or hate it, why does someone who's at least as old as you must be, make the kind of statements that equate TMWSLV with the kiddie matinee fare that classify the kind of oaters made by Gene Autry and Roy Rogers?

Please enlighten me, if I am to shed my impression that your observations and remarks are FAR more "shallow" than anything to be found in THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE!

Secret Message, HERE!--->CONGRATULATIONS!!! You've discovered the Secret Message!