The story follows Jack Gurney, played by O’Toole, who inherits the estate of his father after a bizarre death, who was also a member of the British House of Lords. When he returns home, the Gurneys are shocked to find that he is adamant in the belief that he is the second coming of Jesus Christ, and wishes to return the world to love and charity. Unfitting of a member of the aristocracy, Jack’s family plot to take the estate from him in any way they can.

As water is wet and as the sun is hot, Peter O’Toole delivers an Oscar worthy performance (though he would lose that year to Marlon Brando for his role in The Godfather). For the first half of the film he plays a seventies infused Christlike man with grace and humorous absurdity. He was good at being dainty, flighty and scatterbrained with a dash of unsettling innocence.

After the pivot point of the movie, about halfway through when the family goes to their most extreme measure to cure Jack of his paranoid schizophrenia, O’Toole’s performance is no longer just unsettling, it becomes frightening. His actions and words in the last half of the film sit in the pit of my stomach like a rock, and it’s truly uncomfortable as much as it is unforgettable, especially in one scene that is used in so many O’Toole montages, and for good reason. All I’ll say is that it involves a scream.

The rest of the cast performs well and don’t detract from the film, in any way. Each character is particularly slimy in their own way, especially Jack’s family members played by William Mervyn, Coral Browne and James Villiers.

With a run time of two and a half hours, The Ruling Class is almost twice as long as the average comedy and it hits harder. It’s an indictment of pretty much every institution one could shake a stick at from religion to government to the aristocracy. The Ruling Class pulls no punches. It is mean spirited and relentless in the rejection of establishment.

The humor, which is sometimes important in a comedy, is more often than not a slow burn in The Ruling Class. There are a few moments that are genuinely funny, and they’re all in the first half with Jack’s hi-jinks as Jesus Christ. Much of the comedy also stems from the crafty dialogue scattered throughout.

The Ruling Class does not feature many gut busting laughs nor does it feature a great deal of musical numbers (in fact there are only a handful) for a musical comedy. As a genre movie it is a black sheep, a beast of its own, in a league of its own.

Another facet of this film which is truly standout, is its imagery. The costume and makeup artistry on O’Toole in the first half of the movie gives him a striking resemblance to most Caucasian depictions of Christ. The shock therapy scene also features tremendous direction and visuals energizing it full of suspense and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. Lastly, the ultimate scene of the film has a blunt yet effective visual to represent a certain set of the British establishment, and it resonates.

The Ruling Class deserves a spot in the pantheon of black comedy alongside Dr. Strangelove and Kind Hearts and Coronets (a film that I look forward to exploring later on). It is darkly humorous, sometimes shocking, often times uncomfortable, and altogether unforgettable.

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The story follows the successful son of Henry Frankenstein, Baron Wolf von Frankenstein and his family as they move in to a town suspicious of his family name. Although he is eager for a fresh start, Wolf can’t help but be enthralled by his father’s papers and laboratory from his life changing experiment with the Monster.

Meanwhile a misanthropic old shepherd and grave robber named Ygor knows the secrets of the Monster, and plans to use Wolf to restore the Monster back to life and take revenge on the local town for hanging him.

The technical level of the film may not be mind blowing or game changing, but it retains the impressive makeup artistry of the previous films and the Monster looks as impressively inhuman and frightening as ever. The sets are grand and stylish from the massive castle to the creepy cramped caves around the laboratory.

The score is big and booming like most horror films of the day and serves as a superb exclamation point to each rise in tension.

Son of Frankenstein features an all-star front three of Basil Rathbone, Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff, three legends of an elder age of horror and mystery cinema.

Rathbone is suave and charismatic as Wolf, although while the story continues and he starts to crack, his performance also cracks and gets awkward in an inorganic way.

Lugosi, on the other hand, rocks his role as Ygor from start to finish. Dracula himself joins the film as another sinister character of a spiteful old man with the power of a monster at his whim. He plays the role of the crackpot old coot perfectly with a touch of menace in the right places.

Last but certainly not least, Boris Karloff returns in his signature role as the Monster. All the way down to his frightening growls and uncanny movements, Karloff embodies the terrifying image of Frankenstein’s Monster once again.

Now in the context of the present day, it’s worth discussing that there are two ways to watch this movie. The first way is to watch it for the movie itself and have a silver age scare; the second way is to examine the movie to see what Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein lifted from and parodied.

There’s a number of scenes and elements in Son of Frankenstein ripped off in Brooks’ love letter to the classic series: the inspector with the wooden arm, the use of music to control the Monster, just to name a few.

So in a way Son of Frankenstein serves not only as a continuation of the Frankenstein series, film royalty, but as setting the stage for one of the most brilliantly executed parodies of film ever made.

While it’s not a trend setter like the original or as recognizable as Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein holds it own and with creations like Young Frankenstein, proves that it still has a satisfying amount to offer among the higher classics.

For more Basil Rathbone, check out The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventures of Robin Hood.

For more Bela Lugosi, watch another horror classic Dracula. 

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The story follows the United States as the world faces a global crisis: a rogue general has ordered an air strike on Russia while the president and all his men gather in a war room to try and stop the catastrophe from happening. The stakes are raised even higher when it’s revealed the Russians have a doomsday machine that will activate and destroy the world in the event of an attack. It’s a nail-biting race against time to plan for a potential Armageddon. It’s also a genius and dastardly funny film in almost every scene.

It’s also a genius and dastardly funny film in almost every scene.

The first narrative centers on President Merkin Muffley (played by Peter Sellers), his cabinet members, and generals, including the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Buck Turgidson (played by George C. Scott). Muffley, a milquetoast administrator, slowly loses his grip while the situation gets even dier and panics as time passes. Turgidson is a bombastic gung-ho general, never quite grasping how deadly the situation is.

About halfway into the movie, the cabinet brings out the title character, Dr. Strangelove (also played by Sellers), an ex-Nazi scientist to consult on preparing for the Doomsday Machine. The quirks of this character include, but are not limited to, an outrageous German accent, a rogue right hand that often sieg heils out of nowhere, alongside totally crackpot ideas for when humanity that just might have to burrow underground.

The second narrative is set on rogue Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper (played by Sterling Hayden), made totally paranoid by the Cold War, and has not only ordered a strike on Russia, but has turned US troops against each other on their own army base. It’s up to put-upon Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (also played by Sellers) to get the air strike cancel codes from Ripper and halt the catastrophe, and he gets a front row seat to Ripper’s insane rants about “denying his bodily essence” to the Russians and other crazy nonsense.

The third narrative is set aboard a US bomber flying over Russia captained by Major “King” Kong (played by Slim Pickens). Pickens’ Kong is a straight-up cowboy, straight up to his last scene, a clip that most people have seen involving a yeehaw and a bomb.

The movie is shot and played straight as a heart attack, like an old war film down to the use of black and white instead of colorful photography. When rogue Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper (played by Sterling Hayden) is monologuing to Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (played by Peter Sellers), the camera puts him in an imposing and dramatic angle. All while he’s talking about something completely absurd.

The performances are fantastic in this movie. Sellers juggles three different characters excellently and brings three different types of humor for each role, and while Sellers gets most of the acting attention from this movie, his costars are often just as entertaining. Scott steps out of his comfort zone and is practically bouncing off the walls for his character, and Hayden is a perfect dose of really dark humor as you can’t help but laugh at his insane but deadpan rants.

The writing is sharp at every corner regarding military culture, the uselessness of the political elite, and the mania of Cold War politics and the nuclear arms race. By the end, it feels as if the characters really deserve the ending they received in the negative perspective. And when the laughs wear off the sequence of events is jarring and uncomfortable.

Dr. Strangelove is an unforgettable film, but may require more than a single watch to catch every meaningful moment. Fortunately, it’s well worth more than one viewing. 

And now for some supplementary viewing

For more Stanley Kubrick, check out 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining

For more Peter Sellers, watch The Pink Panther

For more George C. Scott, check out Patton and The Hustler

The post The Trunk Movie Club: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The story follows an unnamed protagonist (listed as “Nada” in the credits) played by Roddy Piper, a famous WWF pro wrestler. Piper plays a drifter moving to Los Angeles from Colorado, looking for a new job. He joins a construction crew where he befriends another down on his luck man named Frank, played by Keith David. Frank takes Nada to stay at a homeless camp for some food and some rest. At the camp, Nada sees that something strange is going on with a neighboring church and a faint transmission on the camp’s television.

The transmission warns that humanity has been taken over and enslaved, lulled into complacency by hypnotic radio signals, and that rising up against their recently discovered masters is imperative. Nada investigates the church to find it’s a hideout for freedom fighters against this enemy, working on means of striking back.

After he discovers the true purpose of the church, the camp is raided by the police, and everyone is scattered, leaving behind only hidden boxes of sunglasses. Nada tries the sunglasses on, and through the lenses he sees an alien race in disguise among humans and the hidden messages they spread through advertisements and magazines and the like.

From then on, the film becomes a fun, exciting action-packed romp. The gunfights are entertaining, every punch and kick has weight to it, and all the action is kicked off by one of the best lines in movie history. 

Roddy Piper is so entertaining as Nada. At first he plays it quiet and soft like a gentle giant, but when the plot picks up he hits the ground running, turning into the epitome of the 80s-90s pulpy action hero. He has the grit and intensity punctuated by schlock-filled one liners and moments of human heart and charm.

His costar Keith David does an excellent job as a hardworking down on his luck every-man. His reactions to the absurdity of their situation are really grounded and relatable. He’s really the heart and soul of the movie. Some of his actions may be frustrating to the audience because the plot stalls, but it’s all part of an earned character development that pays off so well the audience is rooting for him again.

These moments are not only a testament to Piper’s and David’s talent, but to Carpenter’s writing and direction as well. Carpenter put a human heart in his macho juggernaut and this really helps the movie thrive. He puts Nada and Frank through the wildest of situations and really makes the audience care about their well being.

It’s a punk rock opera with a lot of heart. The story is blatantly anti-establishment, anti-bourgeois consumer culture and places the responsibility for these societal ills on the shoulders of humanity. Sure, the aliens are the masterminds behind the humans’ captivity but they do it with the help of willing participants.

Underneath the shining paint of a fun action movie, Carpenter does instill a moral story of solidarity, particularly in the lower levels of society to work for what really matters. To stand up together, even in defying authority, to survive and thrive. Maybe consumer culture isn’t the right direction for humankind to truly thrive.

Elements like strong character and a provocative story make for a really memorable action movie, putting it head and shoulders above the other action films of its time. They Live is a hallmark of 80s action, and is a full on classic. 

For more John Carpenter, check out The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, and of course Halloween.

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Fantasia is not like the average animated film, let alone Disney film. Its structure is made up of a series of 10+ minute segments punctuated by introductions to their follow up segments. There is no overarching story to Fantasia, as the segments are mostly linked together by theme.

Fantasia is not for everyone. Well, at least not all of it at once. To watch it all requires a patient audience who is either open minded, or is totally fine with sitting through a 2 hour orchestral performance with visual accompaniment. But that is not to say it is too mature for its own good. It has moments of excitement and charm to reward the audience for sticking along (the scene wherein Mickey Mouse talks to renowned orchestra conductor Leopold Stokowsky is a perfect example of that classic Disney charm).

Visually speaking, Fantasia is totally diverse. It features picturesque vistas of nature, adorable ponies and pegasuses with big eyes, majestic and detailed imaginations of the ancient dinosaurs, menacing conjurings of the devil and his demons, ostriches and hippos in ballet costume, and of course, Mickey Mouse and an army of living broomsticks.

While there aren’t really dips in quality of the movie as it’s remarkably consistent throughout, I did come from the movie with some favorite segments.

The first favorite is obviously the one everyone knows and loves, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, based on the German poem of the same name. The story centers around a mighty old wizard and his apprentice, characterized as Mickey Mouse. Fed up with carrying buckets of water to a cauldron, the Apprentice steals the wizard’s hat and casts a spell on a broomstick to do the job for him. But things quickly get out of hand when the Apprentice realizes he can’t get the broom to stop.

The visuals in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice are quaint and charming as well as grand and fantastical. From one moment the audience is treated to seeing Mickey and the broom dance around in a cute way, and the next they see the luminous stars in the sky clash together in fireworks.

It’s a fairly accessible segment. It has a good message of the importance of patience, it’s nice and concise, and everyone loves Mickey Mouse.

My other favorite is the final segment, Night on Bald Mountain, centering around the Devil and his minions celebrating their special night. It’s an incredible animated short through and through in just about every way.

The visuals are on another level. The Devil is huge and imposing and really worthy of the name. He creates his minions from fire in his hands and casts shadows over the neighboring town to summon even more of his creatures. All sorts of crazy things appear on screen when the ball gets rolling with skeletons, pig men, bats, and harpies swirling around to a swelling score that gets more and more intense. And at the end is the sweet release from all the tension and excitement that makes a really beautiful ending to both the short and the entire movie.

Fantasia is truly one of a kind, one of the best animated films ever made. It’s elegant, thoughtful, and an evening watching it would not be an evening wasted.

As for supplementary content… it’s Disney. There’s so much to choose from over generations of movies. But to get an experience closer to Fantasia, it would be best to start with films released around the same time.

Start from the very beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves…

Try Pinocchio, which came out from the same year as Fantasia…

Or Dumbo, which has its own fair share of unique visuals

The post The Trunk Movie Club: “Fantasia” appeared first on KRUI Radio.

I had not heard of the opening performers before the show, but they put on an act to remember. The Tripp Brothers, an EDM/Glitch Hop duo armed with computers and jazzy instruments, ruled the stage from start to finish. Moving and grooving came easy with their awesome EDM beats and funky fresh saxophone accompaniment. The electronic sounds and the jazzy sax blended perfectly together and was a remarkable, unique spin on the EDM genre. A couple of my favorite moments of that act were the revealing of the trombone to play with the sax for a remix of “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got that Swing)”, and the back to back remixes of “War” by Edwin Starr and “Get Schwifty” from Rick and Morty. The performers themselves were lively too, bouncing back and forth to their own beats in between vaping breaks.

After that wildly fun first act and a short break, it was time for the main event. Future Rock, with a keyboardist, bassist, and drummer to blend with some fresh EDM to bring some electronic rocky goodness. The inventive nature of their act was astonishing. The EDM and rock worked together beautifully, like they were meant for each other. This show was absolutely wild, and had the room shaking and pumping from the get go. Future Rock, like the Tripp Brothers, had plenty of flashing lights to compliment their music, but Future Rock had the visuals cranked to eleven with bright purples and yellows and flashing whites. The show was a nonstop party for both the eyes and ears. And I have to say the coolest segment of their act was their transition into a remarkably well done trio of Daft Punk covers from “Aerodynamic” to “One More Time” to “Harder Better Faster Stronger.” And the performers were having as much fun as you would expect from a good night of just rocking out. They put on a great show and worked the crowd excellently.

I left the venue that night at one in the morning with ringing ears and sore eyes, but it was a good kind of soreness, at least in retrospect. That night was the most fun I’ve had at a concert in a very long time, and I’m lucky to have seen such talented performers live. I could not recommend Future Rock and the Tripp Brothers any more highly.

Check out Future Rock at their website here

Check out the Tripp brothers on their Facebook page

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Ian Macmillan at his station of sound and Brendan Spengler with his organ and synthesizers delivered strange electronic sounds strung together to form a mood of odd journey while trippy black and white animations and visuals played behind them. I had no earthly idea where their set would go next from B movie science fiction sound effects to bass heavy rattlers up until the drippy end. Blue and red and orange lights danced about the stage to add another dimension to the performance. It was clear after the first five minutes that grooving was not in the agenda for Macmillan and Spengler, but rather something deep and moving. And when the lights dimmed and the bumper music came back on, I felt like I could finally relax.

While I waited for the next set, I wondered if this rabbit hole of electronic weird went deeper. And my question was answered in the form of Lawrence English. He started in the midst of the crowd and prefaced by explaining his performance would be about the problems we all face will be solved by unity. He also invited us to all lay down on the floor to experience his music. So I, along with the other curious members of the crowd, took our positions on the cool floor.

The performance that ensued was loud and abrasive, thunderous and overbearing. The sheer volume and level of bass rattled the whole floor, and I could feel the shockwave in my back and bones. I looked to the stage and saw English, at his table, illuminated by pulsing red light before it faded, shrouding him in darkness, before slowly returning to brightness. It was a totally unforgettable sight. As the performance went on my ears grew weary of the onslaught of noise, but luckily before it outlived its welcome, English brought his set to a close with a minute of soothing ambiance before the lights went out and the bumper music played.

I picked myself up and carried myself back to a table, where I waited for the third act to begin. At that point I had become totally frazzled and resigned to the unpredictability of the show, and any dream of predicting where it could go would be foolish.

And last, but certainly not least, Elysia Crampton took the stage with a big key-tar and a tiny synth set. Right off the bat she establishes her deviance from the first two acts by playing a rhythm and beat to her music that I even found myself toe-tapping along to.  These familiar sounds were punctuated and often interrupted by electronic booms and recording rips of laughter, strange noise, and garbled speaking. Her music morphed from something ancient and primal to stormlike, and even to the loud rattling of what sounded like gunfire until she settled down her act to end the show. It was a knockout performance of odd creativity.

I left Gabe’s that night with my ears ringing and my mind stunned. I had never seen anything like that before, nor had I listened to anything like it. With Macmillan and Spengler I was along for their ride, and with English and Crampton I felt their themes and messages resonate in me. It was a mood I totally did not expect. These types of shows are not for everyone, and require a deal of patience and open mindedness to appreciate. But I can say that these artists are remarkably unique, creative, and well worth your time.

The post Mission Creek: MacMillan and Spengler @ Gabe’s 4/5/17 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

We begin with a man named Francois (played by Vincent Price), who receives a phone call from his sister-in-law Helene (played by Patricia Owens), claiming that she killed her husband Andre (played by David Hedison) with a hydraulic press. A confused and distraught Francois gets the police involved whom confine the bizarrely behaving Helene to bed. When she becomes hysterical over a simple house fly, Francois and the police inspector start to question her further, and she tells her full side of the story, and the mystery behind Andre’s death unravels.

The Fly boasts superb performances out of its leads, particularly from Hedison and Owens. Hedison is bold and charismatic as Andre, giving the character life from his flights of fancy to his deep love for his wife and child. His wide eyed idealism and his warm presence around his family makes his descent into his experiments sting more and fill the audience with dread. Owens plays the role of the bedeviled housewife witnessing the birth of the terrifying Fly monster. She plays the emotions of complacent, hysterical, and grieving all very well and certainly does not bring down Hedison and Price. Speaking of Price, this time the horror icon plays a more straight and narrow man who cares deeply for his family. His shock and grief is believable and potent, and he once again delivers a memorable performance.

Where the movie does falter in a few areas is in its script. There are times where the lines are not concise enough to be really believable and feel awkward and take away from the film. For example, at the end of the film the police inspector says “I will not forget what I saw for the rest of my life.” Lines like that would be an easy fix by just trimming a couple of words and restructuring the sentence. On the surface it’s a nitpick but the uncanny valley of human dialogue requires that kind of specific attention to detail to work properly and keep the viewer engrossed.

At the present, The Fly functions best as a tragic science fiction drama rather than horror. While the concept of this feature’s creature is certainly grotesque and even chilling, it has been remade and lampooned left and right that it unfortunately loses its punch, with the exception of one truly unnerving scene at the very end. However, The Fly is more than serviceable for what it was in its time.

Interestingly it shares a key concept in common with The Day the Earth Stood Still, that of bewaring dangerous technology, a legitimate fear of the Cold War years. It’s a remarkably unorthodox cautionary tale against science going too far without being too on the nose like The Day The Earth Stood Still was. In fact, I would say it was among the fleet of films to cleverly modernize the “creature feature” to the frightening nuclear age like Godzilla did four years prior (without the deep societal subtext that Godzilla had beyond the arms race). The film is unforgettable, and frankly deserves its spot in the creature feature hall of fame.

And now, some supplementary content.

For more Vincent Price, check out House of Wax and House on Haunted Hill.

For more David Hedison, check out Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Live and Let Die.

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The film follows Peter Sellers as Chance, an older man with a childlike mind and affinity for gardening and watching television on an wholly bizarre journey. Chance worked most of his life as a gardener and tenant in a rich man’s manor, and is put out on the street when the rich man dies and lawyers close down the house, leaving him to wander around Washington D.C. aimlessly. Chance is given purpose once more when he’s taken in by another dying, wealthy and powerful man named Ben Rand after Chance is struck by one of Rand’s cars.

Rand and his wife Eve take a liking to Chance and his simplicity, mistaking it for some deeper level of thought, even to the point of Rand taking Chance to meet the President of the United States, who is also taken in by his simple words of gardening and gives them deeper political meaning. As a result, the political class in Washington starts tripping over themselves trying to figure out what kind of motives Chance has and who he really is. And they all fail to understand that Chance is as simple as his words.

Being There is an incredibly tight satire, clearly mocking the Washington environment of intrigue from the politicians to the press. Everything and everyone in politics have some kind of motive to the point where no one understands it when the come across a man with no real motive at all. Another impressive facet of the movie is how Chance’s mentally handicapped mind is not the punchline of every joke, as the punchline is instead every other person’s reaction to him.

But overall, Being There is a movie about listening and dissonance. No one seems to listen to Chance in the film, save for a couple of characters at the beginning and end, and that is the core of each of their interactions with him. The other characters seem to only listen for what they want out of Chance, and so they miss what he’s really about. For example, Rand wants an intellectual confidant to ease his nerves as he comes closer to his deathbed, and so he places his own meanings in the interactions between him and Chance to get what he wants.

The writing of Being There is so fascinating with so much to unpack, but it’s time to look at the biggest marvel of the film: Peter Sellers as Chance. The supporting cast turn in good performances as well, like Shirley MacLaine as the fragile bourgeois socialite Eve and Melvyn Douglas as the brash Ben Rand, but Sellers’ performance is truly something special.

Sellers has a remarkable talent of becoming the characters he portrays, each one so different from the others. His performance as Chance is no exception, a far cry from his characters in The Pink Panther and Dr. Strangelove, his two other most popular roles. Every expression, mannerism and simple sentence strung together feel so believable. His attention to detail is incredible as the audience can see him struggle to put his thoughts into words and how he curiously looks at his surroundings without stealing the attention from the other actors in a scene.

While not entirely accessible due to its quiet nature and slow pace, Being There rewards the patient viewer with excellent writing and one of the best performances by a comedic actor they’ll ever see.

Some supplementary content:

For more Peter Sellers, check out The Pink Panther and Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

For more Shirley MacLaine, watch The Apartment and Terms of Endearment.

The post The Trunk Movie Club: Being There appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The story begins with an aging politician named Ransom Stoddard (played by Stewart) returning to the tamed western town of Shinbone to attend the funeral of an old friend of his, a man named Tom Doniphon (played by John Wayne). After some prodding from the local newspapers, Stoddard tells the tale of his relationship with Doniphon and Shinbone, and how he came to be a politician, the tale of how he became a local legend by killing the vicious outlaw Liberty Valance (played by Lee Marvin).

Many years prior, Stoddard was on his way to Shinbone as an attorney until he was robbed and left for dead by Valance and his gang. Stoddard was recovered and taken to Shinbone by Doniphon, and was nursed back to health by a local Swedish family. After Stoddard gets back on his feet, he resolves to help rid the town of Valance and his gang but by law and not by gun. He also resolves to act as a teacher of reading and writing, much to the chagrin of Doniphon.

James Stewart is an absolute powerhouse in this film. The way he pulls off boiling frustration and anger is just perfect. He’s borderline frightening when he loses his patience and composure. He puts everything into the emotions as a put-upon attorney pushed to his very limit to go against his moral code. He shakes when he shouts and clenches his fists and when poised and dignified he has complete control over the stillness of his body. Stewart is mostly known for his humble idealist characters and his unmistakable voice, but what’s glossed over is how physical of an actor he is, and how that might be his strongest tool. It’s certainly his strongest tool here. (He punches John Wayne and makes it believable, which sounds insane on paper!)

Once again John Ford gets an excellent performance out of John Wayne after collaborating in the The Quiet Man and the western classic called The Searchers. Wayne plays the part of the hardened cynic, wary of the ways of the wild west. He values the gun over the word when it comes down to business. Underneath the hardened exterior is a great level of care for the town of Shinbone and everyone in it, including Stoddard. This brings excellent nuance to Wayne’s role as a grumpy mentor figure and is a great foil to Stewart’s idealism.

Lee Marvin is as imposing and terrifying as Liberty Valance. While he doesn’t get as much screen time as Stewart or Wayne, he makes the most out of every onscreen appearance. He is everything you fear in a criminal: arrogant, sinister, a total psychopath. All characteristics that are illustrated by how he laughs when he’s in control and by his bouts of violent anger when things don’t go his way. And even when he is not onscreen he’s still imposing just by how the people of Shinbone speak of him with fear in their voices.

The supporting cast is excellent as well from the bold love interest Hallie (played by Vera Miles), to the goof of a marshal (played by Andy Devine) to an especially entertaining performance out of the local newspaperman/town drunk Dutton Peabody (played by Edmond O’Brien). The town of Shinbone feels so alive with these colorful characters, and their interactions are so believable and fulfilling.

(The Quiet Man is another prime example of how John Ford makes a community within a film feel alive, and that’s perhaps my favorite aspect of his work)

While the skeleton of the story is one we’ve seen in so many Westerns, “save the town from the outlaws,” it’s in the way The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance approaches the solution to that ordeal, as well as the strength of the characters and the actors that make this film an unforgettable classic from beginning to end.

And some supplementary content:

For more James Stewart, check out It’s a Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

For more John Ford movies starring John Wayne, check out The Searchers and The Quiet Man.

For more Lee Marvin, watch The Dirty Dozen and a television program called M Squad.

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