The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is a classic Western film released in 1962 and directed by John Ford. The movie stars James Stewart as Ransom Stoddard, a senator who comes back to the town of Shinbone for the funeral of his friend Tom Doniphon, played by John Wayne. While there, Stoddard tells reporters the truth about how he became famous for killing the notorious outlaw Liberty Valance, played by Lee Marvin.
The film is presented in flashbacks, with Stoddard telling his story to a newspaper reporter named Maxwell Scott, played by Carleton Young. Scott is amazed to hear that Stoddard, who was just a young lawyer at the time, had shot Liberty Valance and saved the town from the outlaw's violent reign. However, when Doniphon appears in the story, we come to realize that the truth may be more complex than Stoddard initially let on.
Doniphon is a tough and independent man who is well-respected in the town of Shinbone. He becomes Stoddard's ally in his fight against Liberty Valance, but Doniphon's personal sense of justice clashes with Stoddard's belief in the rule of law. When Valance confronts Stoddard and they have a showdown in the street, it is Doniphon who has actually shot him from an alleyway, allowing Stoddard to take the credit and become a hero.
Throughout the film, there are themes of masculinity, violence, and the nature of heroism. Stoddard is portrayed as the educated man who seeks to bring civilization to the Wild West, while Doniphon is the rugged frontiersman who lives by his own code. Ultimately, the film questions whether it is better to rely on the rule of law or to take matters into your own hands. The famous line "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend" emphasizes the idea that sometimes the perceived truth is more powerful than the actual truth.