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John Ford was a prominent filmmaking voice during Hollywood's Golden Age. The auteur's career spanned five decades and became a staple of the Western genre. He also helped launch the careers of bona fide movie stars like John Wayne, with whom he collaborated on 14 films over 24 years (although their professional relationship spanned 50 years).
To determine Ford's best movies is, of course, a matter of preference. However, perennial favorites, such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, My Darling Clementine, and The Grapes of Wrath tend to rank highly in public esteem. 1962's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, starring the above Western icon, certainly fits that bill. Outlets like Gold Derby have included it on lists about the filmmaker's greatest hits. Films Fatale also listed The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance at No. 4 on a ranking of Ford's entire filmography, which consists of over 140 movies.
While the Western certainly resonated with critics and audiences alike—and it also starred another Hollywood heavyweight, James Stewart—it was quite volatile behind the scenes.
For starters, Ford was forced to shoot the project in black and white or not make it at all due to Paramount trimming the fat, budget-wise. Well, that's one opinion as to why the movie was shot in black and white and in a studio. For context, Ford's Westerns prior to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance were in color and on location.
Additionally, per actor Lee Van Cleef, who played Reese in the movie, Paramount insisted that Wayne be cast as Tom Doniphon. (James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck adapted their screenplay from the 1953 short story "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" by Dorothy M. Johnson.) Ford loathed the studio's incessant interference.
So, he taunted Wayne on set in retaliation, throwing out digs about the actor's football career, which had crashed and burned before it began, and his failure to enlist in the army during World War II (he was Republic Studios' only A-list actor under contract at the time). Meanwhile, Stewart served as a bomber pilot, a fact Ford would bring up in his taunts. "How rich did you get while Jimmy was risking his life?" the filmmaker asked with, presumably, derision.
While Ford's bullying incensed Wayne, the actor never fought back because he credited Ford for his successful career. Woody Strode, who played Pompey, blamed Ford for the constant tension, calling it a "miserable film to make."
However, Ford insisted that Wayne get top billing on theater marquees over Stewart, conceding that, despite all the harassment, he "was the central character, the motivation for the whole thing." On-set friction was par for the course in Ford and Wayne's deeply complex and messy relationship, as the director often berated Wayne in front of the crew to get the best performance out of him.
Where do you rank The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance among John Ford's movies?
