The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (1962)

BACKGROUND
 
Making The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was a tension-filled experience by all accounts yet despite this Ford managed to produce another timeless classic. James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck adapted The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance for the screen from a 1953 short story by Dorothy M. Johnson. How the film wound up being shot in black and white on a Paramount’s soundstage is a source of controversy.

According to cinematographer William H. Clothier the decision was simple: “There was one reason and one reason only ... Paramount was cutting costs. Otherwise we would have been in Monument Valley or Brackettville and we would have had color stock. Ford had to accept those terms or not make the film” But according to actor Lee Van Cleef the studio had made another demand that may have played an even larger role. They insisted that Wayne play the part of Tom Doniphon and Ford apparently resented the interference. The tension between Ford and Wayne played out first in protracted negotiations which Clothier was probably not privy to and which had to have infuriated Ford even more. 

PLOT SUMMARY

A senator returns to the western town where he began his political career to attend the funeral of an old friend and reveals the story of their shared history to the press.