The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (6/10): An underwhelming Western classic.

“This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is a film that is highly revered today by critics and audiences alike, although when it was released in 1962 it wasn’t met with the same enthusiasm. Ironically today it is one of John Ford’s most popular films along with The Searchers and Stagecoach. Many even consider this to be Ford’s masterpiece and the purest example of the Western genre and the transition it was heading for. The film’s greatest appeal was that it starred James Stewart and John Wayne for the first time together. Wayne always did his best work under Ford’s direction, but Stewart was the real star and had been at the height of his career for a while. I’m assuming watching the two together must have intrigued audiences at the time because I was definitely interested in catching up with this classic for that very reason. The film was shot in black and white, which I believe had a lot to do with the fact that both Wayne and Stewart were playing characters 30 years younger than their actual age, although it also gave the film a nostalgic quality to it. A nostalgia that works for this film in particular because through this character study we see a shift of power and dynamics from the traditional macho cowboy character living by the way of the gun to the literate and educated character who believes in justice and law. It also has a strong political undercurrent but it is basically a western where the power balance is shifting from one ideal to another. The black and white composition also allowed Ford to focus more on the characters and their relationship, delivering a carefully constructed character study as well. 

The film opens with Senator Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) arriving at the train station of a small local town with his wife Hallie (Vera Miles). This is the town where Hallie grew up in and where she met Ransom some 25 years earlier. When a local reporter asks the Senator what thy are doing in town he mentions they are in town for the funeral of a dear old friend named Tom. No one seems to recall who Tom was, except of course his personal ranch assistant Pompey (Woody Strode) who is mourning his friend’s death next to the casket. Wanting to know why this mysterious man’s death is so important to them, the reporter asks for an explanation. And so the flashback begins as Ransom narrates the story of how they met. He was a recently graduated lawyer at the time who was arriving from the East in search of better opportunities. Upon his arrival, his stagecoach was robbed by a bandit named Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin) and he was brutally beat. Tom Doniphon (John Wayne) came across his unconscious body and brought him to a local family restaurant where Hallie worked at. Once he recovers, Ransom wants to press charges against Liberty but he soon discovers that isn’t the way things are handled in the West. Not being able to make much use of his profession in this town, he offers his help at the restaurant and also begins educating Hallie and some local ranchers in the area. Meanwhile, Valance is still in town causing havoc everywhere he goes, and Ransom sees no other way to stop him but to face him despite his lack of expertise with guns.

I’m a huge fan of the Western genre and had high expectations for this classic, but I was underwhelmed by it. I found the pacing a bit slow and the fact that the film was shot on sound stages at the studio took away what I appreciate the most about the genre: the beautiful and vast location. The film is shot mostly in enclosed spaces focusing more on the characters, and although John Wayne and James Stewart were both great, I never felt their characters were developed naturally. The transitions they go through were merely there to serve the purpose of the story which was to expose the shift of our ideals of the western world. The facts are much more boring than the legends and that is exactly how I felt about this film. The villain in this film wasn’t menacing at all and he simply behaved like a grown-up bully so the tension there was missing as well. The twists in the story were rather predictable as well so the final revelation never did anything for me either. The fact that Wayne and Stewart are supposed to be playing such young characters was also a distraction. Overall I understand why this film is regarded as a classic, but I just wasn’t able to enjoy it as much as I had anticipated.           

My Favorite Collection: Rear Window (10/10)

“Intelligence. Nothing has caused the human race so much trouble as intelligence.”

     

Rear Window was my first Hitchcock film, and what a lasting impression it has had on me ever since. I remember watching scenes for it in a film course I was taking in college and I enjoyed it so much that I immediately decided to see it in its entirety. Alfred Hitchcock has been one of my favorite directors ever since. It helps that suspense is one of my favorite genres so leave it to the master to deliver plenty of thrills in all his films. In Rear Window the suspense was elevated to its highest potential and what a fun experience it was. The first thing that stuck out for me in this film was the voyeuristic nature that Hitchcock is exploring through the main character of the movie, played magnificently by James Stewart. Just like his character I remember spending some summers in the balcony of my apartment looking at the passing by neighbors in order to fight my boredom. In Rear Window I too felt I was alongside Stewart’s Jeff obsessing over the possibility that a horrendous crime had been committed. We also suffer with Jeff when he sends his beloved Lisa (played by the gorgeous Grace Kelly) to investigate the suspect’s apartment while we see that he is arriving, and just like Jeff there is nothing we can do about it other than hope she manages to hide before she’s caught. This film is so well made that it continues to thrill today without having to rely on impressive visual effects. There is a reason why Alfred Hitchcock is considered the Master of Suspense, and this is perhaps the greatest proof for that claim. I can’t think of another film that’s as involving as Rear Window is with its audience. We become participants in Hitchcock’s latest experimentation with voyeurism and that is its major appeal. 

"We have become a race of Peeping Toms.”

Rope (8/10): More proof of Hitchcock's innovative genius.

“I've always wished for more artistic talent. Well, murder can be an art, too. The power to kill can be just as satisfying as the power to create.”

With the aftermaths of the effects of World War II, Patrick Hamilton’s play seemed like the perfect choice for Alfred Hitchcock’s next film. A plot which centers on two highly intellectual men that decide to commit the perfect murder. The victim being one of their classmates who they consider to be inferior to them. This concept of superiority is handled pretty heavily as there are several discussions about it through the film, and it is easy to compare it to Hitler’s ideal of the superior Nazi race. Rope isn’t subtle at all, but the film is still engaging and perfectly executed as a criticism for such a dangerous concept at the time. Brandon (John Dall) and Phillip (Farley Granger) aren’t satisfied with having murdered their friend, David. They want to celebrate their perfectly executed plan by having a dinner party with David’s father (Cedric Hardwicke), his Aunt (Constance Collier), his girlfriend, Janet (Joan Chandler), Janet’s ex, Kenneth (Douglas Dick), and their former tutor, Rupert Cadell (James Stewart) as their guests. Brandon is convinced that no one will suspect that they murdered David for the sake of experimenting, and it would be great to have his body hidden there while his relatives and close friends dine next to it. Phillip on the other hand is a nervous wreck and thinks that inviting Rupert is a terrible idea and that they are going a bit too far with everything.     

Of course the first thing that comes up when talking about Rope is the way that Hitchcock decided to film it as if it were one continuos take. The film is actually shot in 10 long takes, and the audience can easily spot those moments (it isn’t subtle as in Birdman) but for a film made in 1948 it was a feat to pull off. This is by far Hitchcock’s most theatrical film and shooting the scenes as if they were taking place in real time was a way for him to approach the material in a different way. He had to build the suspense without relying on the score or parallel action scenes. Rope has a very exciting climax, but it is very predictable for audiences today. It is also a very wordy film, but Hitchcock never misses an opportunity to include his morbid sense of humor. I love James Stewart, but in this film his character has several flaws, one being the way he rationalizes murder at first during a conversation with the rest of the guests and later the character seems to take a 180 degree turn. I still have to give Hitchcock a lot of credit for trying something new with Rope and continuing to innovate in his films. 

Beside the experimental element of Rope there is a strong underlying homosexual vibe between the two murderers although it is never referenced directly by anyone. They are going to travel together to the country and they use that as an excuse to invite their friends for a farewell party. The performances are all strong in this film and it is by far the most stagey film in Hitchcock’s career. He may have just been playing with the concept, but there is no doubt that he also inspired future filmmakers to do the same. Rope is another rich legacy from Hitchcock. The performances in the film are solid and Farley Granger plays a very different character from the one he went on to play in Strangers on a Train. James Stewart was obviously the star at the moment, but he doesn’t appear until almost thirty minutes into the film. His screen presence does elevate the film once he arrives at the home. John Dall plays the main villain very well, but it was his only collaboration with Hitchcock. I’d probably rank Rope around the middle of Hitchcock’s filmography, but it sure was ahead of its time.

My Review: Vertigo (9/10)

“Only one is a wanderer; two together are always going somewhere.”

Hitchcock’s Vertigo is considered by many critics as the best film ever, although this wasn’t always the case considering that when it was released in 1958 it was poorly received by audiences and critics alike. So much so that it marked the last time that Hitchcock worked with James Stewart who he blamed for not attracting audiences any more due to his age. Unfortunately it was the last collaboration between the two, but they left us a rich legacy. Hitchcock also blamed Kim Novak’s performance, but if he were alive today he would realize what a mistake those two claims were. First of all, I believe Kim Novak was enchanting in this film, she was the perfect femme fatale in this sort of film noir suspense thriller. She was attractive and hard to decipher. James Stewart was also great and once again is believable as this obsessed man who is following this mysterious women all over San Francisco. His fear of heights, which is a key part of this film, is also believable and thanks to Hitchcock’s technique (now known as the Vertigo shot) those scenes worked extremely well. However, the best thing about Vertigo is the strange twists it takes and how it surprises us with the direction it takes half way through the film. It is hard to classify this film and it goes places you never imagine. This is what Hitchcock does best in his films and that is why he is considered as the Master of Suspense. The psychological elements are always present and everything is so masterfully crafted in this film that it is hard to break out of the enchanted atmosphere created here. 

The film’s theme of obsession is probably why it is called a masterpiece considering no other film has explored this subject as well as Vertigo does. I personally prefer Rear Window, another collaboration between Stewart and Hitchcock, as his masterpiece although that film is more generic and easier to classify. In Rear Window Hitchcock explores voyeurism, in Vertigo a man’s obsession over a mysterious woman who he feels attracted to. Actually there are two women who Stewart’s character relates to in this film. Other than Madeleine (Kim Novak) who is the woman he is assigned to follow around the city he also shares a close friendship with Midge (played by Barbara Bel Geddes) his former love interest from his college days. Midge is an intelligent women and the perfect one for Scottie (James Stewart), but as he becomes more and more obsessed with Madeleine she begins to be sidelined. The only issue I had with this film involved some of the dialogue scenes between Scottie and Midge during the beginning of the film which served to set up the story and their background. It never felt authentic but it accomplished its purpose. Once Kim Novak enters in the picture and the theme of obsession kicks in the film really picks up and seduces the audience into its mysterious and eerie atmosphere. It’s unpredictable, but I wouldn’t say this thriller is as scary as Psycho, another Hitchcock film I would rank above Vertigo. I really loved this film despite some pacing issues during the beginning and midway through the story, but other than that I agree with the claims that this is a masterpiece and a must see for film lovers everywhere. Just like Citizen Kane this is a film that was ahead of its time and one who the contemporary audience wasn’t ready to embrace.