My wife and I were married 12 years ago today in Las Vegas. We made our way to a dude ranch in Wickenburg, Arizona, for our honeymoon.
While we were there, the weekly Movie Night featured The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) — because I picked it. It’s become a special film around our house — and not just because it’s hands-down one of the finest Westerns ever made. (My daughter really likes Wayne kicking Strother Martin.)
Today seemed like a good day to put it up here, even if it’s not from the 50s. Fittingly, we’re going out for steaks tonight — smaller cuts than those at Peter’s Place.
I posted this last night, or early this morning, and Colin at Riding The High Country sent a well-wishing comment. (Thanks Colin!) That somehow got me thinking about people’s relationships with certain films — and prompted me to revisit this.
It’s a great thing for a couple or family or group of friends to have a connection to a film, much in the way couples have Their Song. Since I grew up in a house full of movies, my family has lots of pictures that feel like old friends. Of course, for my wife and I, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is the cream of the crop.
So, I’d love to hear about other folks’ connections to a particular film — especially if it’s a Western. You can do it through the comments thing. (Colin, I’d really like one from you.)
Congratulations and best wishes Toby. Hope you enjoy your night out and may you have many more in the years to come.
My dad and I throw lines back and forth from FORT APACHE on a semi-regular basis, have probably propped up in front of the TV and watched that one more than any other film together. “Better than no whisky t’all!” He never fails to throw that one out whenever he gets the aforementioned for Father’s Day.
BARQUERO, which I reviewed on my blog a while back, is a favorite among a circle of friends of mine. Loved it as a kid among those friends whenever it aired on regular TV (about once a year on Ch. 11) and like it much more as an adult.
LIBERTY VALANCE is a great film to have an excuse to watch.
I’m probably more connected to episodic TV westerns from the golden era, in particular, classic MAVERICKS.
Never saw BARQUERO. Another one to seek out.
FORT APACHE is a terrific film. I don’t know it as well as SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON and RIO GRANDE. Fonda’s character is so unlikable I find him a little hard to watch. Of course, that only means he was doing a good job.
It’s amazing how a great movie, especially a quotable one, really connects disconnected people. I see it a lot with A CHRISTMAS STORY — you can draw a crowd talking about Darren McGavin and that lamp. “Fre-jee-lee!”
With so many movies around the house growing up, I’m not as well-versed on TV as I’d like to be. MAVERICK is great — so is ROCKFORD FILES.
Thanks for weighing in on this. I find this subject fascinating.
Hmm, I had to think about that one for a bit Toby. In the end I settled on three quite different movies, and all for quite different reasons.
1. RIO BRAVO – This is a movie that I grew up with and I’ve seen it so many times I can quote chunks of dialogue effortlessly. Back when I was living at home, my Dad and I sat watching this one together on countless occasions. Every time I see it now I still get transported back to those days, and I even get the urge to call him up and reminisce.
2. ODD MAN OUT – Carol Reed’s unsung masterpiece in my opinion. Maybe the fact that I grew up in Northern Ireland in the bad old days means that this movie has added resonance for me. James Mason’s dead man walking sums up the the kind of fatalistic romanticism that I associate with my homeland. And it also features an old Belfast bar (still there BTW) that I drank in too many times to mention.
3. VERTIGO – Another film that I know inside out and one that’s rich on so many levels. I took my girlfriend to see a screening of it last summer as she’d never seen it before. To be honest, it was with some trepidation since there’s nothing worse than having one of your favourites go unappreciated by those close to you. However, there was nothing to worry about – she told me afterwards that it was one of the most beautiful and haunting things she’d ever seen. I’m going to have to try RIO BRAVO out on her!
Well, that’s my lot. I know there’s only one western in there but they’re all movies that connect to me in a way that makes them more than just images on the screen. Anyway, I hope I haven’t bored the pants off you with my ramblings.
Colin
ODD MAN OUT is great. I agree, it’s Reed’s best. A bleak one that I really love is William Friedkin’s SORCERER. My best friend and I have a real thing about that film.
VERTIGO is another incredible film. Your word, “rich,” is perfect for it. But while others find it “beautiful and haunting,” it makes me uncomfortable. Sort of like when you find out some dark secret about a friend, and you feel awkward around them. The fact that it bothers me so much might be yet another sign of how great it is.
RIO BRAVO is my favorite Western — and Westerns are my favorite kind of movies. Watching it feels like visiting old friends you haven’t seen in a while. It’s endlessly quotable, in the same way THE BIG LEBOWSKI is — you store away lines and hope life gives you a chance to use them someday. A friend at work and I throw lines from it around all the time. My favorite: “Sorry don’t get it done, Dude.” And we critique each other’s work with Stumpy’s “That’s a good un!” High praise.
I understand your trepidation about showing a favorite to someone. To have them dislike it makes you doubt their taste — and your own, since you respect them and they say one of your faves stinks.
Thanks for taking the time to write these up. Very interesting.
I was gearing up to write a piece on Liberty Valance for True West, when the DVD package was about to be released, and I remembered an interview I’d had with Kevin Costner when he was drumming up PR for Open Range. The interview was held at a resort here in AZ, and in no time he and I were talking about Liberty Valance, which is a film I’ve taken apart and rethought for decades. It’s just one of those movies that shifts in meaning for me from year to year.
So I took a long shot and decided to call Costner’s office to see if he might be willing to address the film again, and in no time he and I were on the phone, going over the picture. It’s interesting that some people who are otherwise hard to reach are sometimes willing to come forward when they’re asked to talk about something they care about.
Costner’s an interesting interview because he’s got an agile and curious mind, which means he may not land where you expect at any given moment. But what I thought at the time was an unfocused interview I see now as somewhat more interesting. I think the piece is still on the True West website, and the last time I looked people had commented on it, so I think that some readers enjoyed it.
There’s a book due in May from Robert B. Pippin called:
Hollywood Westerns and American Myth: The Importance of Howard Hawks and John Ford for Political Philosophy.
Pippin is, well, I’ll let Wikipedia describe him:
“Robert B. Pippin (born 1948) is an American philosopher. He is the Evelyn Stefansson Nef Distinguished Service Professor in the John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought, the Department of Philosophy, and the College at the University of Chicago. Pippin has published articles and books on Kant, Nietzsche, Proust, Hannah Arendt, Leo Strauss and Henry James. He is, however, best known for his work on Hegel.”
I have an advance of the book but I haven’t had time to crack it. I’m interested in the entire thing, but one chapter that has me particularly intrigued is : “Who Cares Who Shot Liberty Valance?”
I’ll let you know more when I’ve read the thing.
Cheers