There's nothing like the wild west where the only thing that mattered was the color of your hat and the speed of your draw. There are few genres more American than that of the Western and there are only a few directors that can pull them off with the right amount of gusto. Perhaps the king of all of these western directors is the legendary John Ford today I watched one of his classic films which stared the cowboy himself John Wayne and a man we have seen before on this list James Stewart. The movie is of course The Man who Shot Liberty Valence. The story follows a senator (James Stewart) as he tells the newspapers a story about his old friend Tom Doniphon (John Wayne) a local tough guy who he met many years ago when he was robbed by Liberty Valence. The story goes on from here much like Citizen Kane did.
The sets and costumes are the first thing one must talk about while discussing a western film (unless it does not take place during the olden days). This is obviously because if it is set in the wild west it better look like it. This film does superb with all the sets and costumes everything looks as if your watching a reel from the wagon days. The acting is great and that goes without saying when you have two powerhouses working together as well as they did. The story is also paced well and there are no lags so to speak In fact I find little at fault with this film at all. The only thing that I would have changed would be to take out the comedic relief although in all of Ford's movies he has to have one.
This movie is great and one of the best westerns I have ever seen it's on Instant stream so I would say watch it. This film isn't very adult like some of the other westerns of today and I would say a good family movie as it is fun and funny at times. I thing that this one is one I'll watch again soon.
Ebert's score 4 stars
Tyler's score 4 stars
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