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Wednesday, September 21. 2011

MoDo misunderstands Liberty Valance

From NYM's post:



Jimmy Stewart tries telling the whole story of the shooting of Liberty Valance to a young reporter, and revealing that his whole career has been built on another man’s deed, and the newspaper’s editor declines to print it. “When the legend becomes fact,” the editor says, “print the legend.”


There is no expiation in confession for Stewart. His life has been built upon a lie, and he supplanted a better man in his wife’s affections, and he knows it.



MoDo misunderstands most things, but humility and self-scrutiny are rare commodities at the NYT. Movie tells a great story with one heck of a cast.


Here's the tune (1963). Gene Pitney. Never forget Gene Pitney - or John Wayne.

Posted by Bird Dog at 13:24 | Comments (10) | Trackbacks (0)

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BD, you know your Westerns alright. This is a great one. from concept onward. Lee Marvin is so good in it, he made a great comedy (Cat Ballou) lampooning the character.

More kudo on picking up on the song. Gene Pitney is in Roy Orbison territory as a balladeer with three octaves in his toolkit. "Town Without Pity" is another unforgettable of his.
#1 buddy larsen on 2011-09-21 17:22 (Reply)
haha. already had that in the pipeline for tomorrow
#1.1 Bird Dog on 2011-09-21 17:36 (Reply)
"Pity" is a great song.

Gene definitely had the range of Orbison.

Check out "I'm Gonna Be Strong" on youtube.
#1.2 lordsomber (Link) on 2011-09-21 18:28 (Reply)
--thanks --it IS a good 'un. GP is using it all, the half-yodel 'break' which probably has a name somewhere, the back-throat groan/growl --the whole style in the song. Then the Orbison -style finish, reminiscent of the 'did he really DO that?' finish to "Crying". Ah, great pop music from those times!

Here's "Liberty Valence" for anyone wanting a refresh --good production --i didn't remember the backup girl(s), nor the snare-drum hit of the gun going off --

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDN4L7cAQf0&feature=related

===

Merc, the hyperlink brackets --and i be usin' 'em correkly, too --just flat do not work anymore. They bring up the dread red lettered comment assassin.
#1.2.1 buddy larsen on 2011-09-22 03:25 (Reply)
FYI, Gene Pitney's song was not used in the movie.
Also, John Wayne's character was the true star of the movie. It was he who acted at the plot points. It was he who sacrificed. A truly tragic character. I consider it Wayne's best role, precisely because he underacted.
#2 PacRim Jim (Link) on 2011-09-21 20:25 (Reply)
Yes, it's all about the Wayne character. American hero.
#2.1 Bird Dog on 2011-09-21 20:38 (Reply)
Any word you put after "Modo misunderstands" will work; combinations of words, too..
#3 Sam L. on 2011-09-21 22:01 (Reply)
James Taylor does a good version of "LV" as well.
#4 Jersey Jim on 2011-09-21 22:15 (Reply)
I will gainsay the common wisdom that Thom Donophon was a better man than Ransom Stoddard. Donophon defied evil from a position of strength. Anyone can do that. Ransom defied evil from a position of weakness. That is rare courage.
#5 John on 2011-09-22 09:09 (Reply)
It gets tricky --look at the name 'Liberty Valence': if 'liberty' would be seen as an element, and valance is seen as the noun describing the capacity of an element or radical to combine with another to form a molecule, then we see the two protagonists not as individuals but as a binary system, like the earth and the moon insofar as the space the relationship occupies. So, if the liberty valance is the individual under the Constitution (Wayne & his spirit + Stewart & his law books) --who shot Liberty Valance?

Maybe he shot himself --maybe that's the way the liberty valance can be destroyed.

Oh, he used someone else to pull the trigger, but Liberty Valance committed suicide.
#5.1 buddy larsen on 2011-09-22 11:20 (Reply)

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