# The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [July 31, 2021, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-who-shot-liberty-valance/947722 "2021-07-31T20:03:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Somethingwitty1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/somethingwitty1/32/8899_2.png) [@Somethingwitty1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Somethingwitty1)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-who-shot-liberty-valance/947722/1 "2021-07-31T20:03:11Z")
Does Hallie know Tom killed Liberty Valance not Ranse? ---
**Author:** ![Somethingwitty1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/somethingwitty1/32/8899_2.png) [@Somethingwitty1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Somethingwitty1)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-who-shot-liberty-valance/947722/2 "2021-07-31T20:54:55Z")
I can’t find the final scene on the train. Which gets more directly to my question. But this is my favorite . [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/mejzuQ9kVbs/maxresdefault.jpg "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance "Steak" Scene") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mejzuQ9kVbs) ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-who-shot-liberty-valance/947722/3 "2021-07-31T21:44:04Z")
I don’t know, but it gives me an excuse to post this. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7MTWbjTtZqY/hqdefault.jpg "John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett - the man who shot liberty valance") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MTWbjTtZqY) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-who-shot-liberty-valance/947722/4 "2021-08-01T00:42:27Z")
Jimmy Stewart tells _the press_ the true story. Of course he’s already told his wife, before he got married: Jimmy Stewart doesn’t play the kind of characters who lie to their fiance about a thing like that. There’s no reason to believe she would change here mind: she’s already chosen the man who’s willing to die, not the man who’s willing to kill, but the only way she would know in advance was if John Wayne indicated it to her before he went outside. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-who-shot-liberty-valance/947722/5 "2021-08-01T01:23:30Z")
I did not like Stewart’s character in this movie. Ideals untethered to reality don’t do any good, as his wouldn’t if Wayne’s character hadn’t saved the day. (In fact, if it’s not too much of a hijack, after a lot of years I’m finding a lot of other Stewart characters that I don’t like.) ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-who-shot-liberty-valance/947722/6 "2021-08-01T01:23:39Z")
I didn’t know that was written by Burt Bacharach/Hal Davis: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PhsZkPlMQk8/hqdefault.jpg "GENE PITNEY-"THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE"(LYRICS)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhsZkPlMQk8) ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-who-shot-liberty-valance/947722/7 "2021-08-01T08:54:34Z")
That’s one of the rare instances in which a song based on the plot of a movie doesn’t actually appear in the movie itself. Bacharach/David wrote the song and had Gene Pitney record it hoping to sell it to Director John Ford, who, by the way, hated it. Back to the original question: Though it’s never explicitly stated, Rance was an honest man and certainly would have told Hallie who really shot the nasty Mr. Vallance. ---
**Author:** ![Somethingwitty1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/somethingwitty1/32/8899_2.png) [@Somethingwitty1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Somethingwitty1)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-who-shot-liberty-valance/947722/8 "2021-08-01T13:15:20Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > Rance was an honest man His whole career as Governor, Senator, Ambassador, is based on the lie that he is the Man who shot Liberty Valance. One could argue he lets people keep thinking that for the greater good. Tom essentially tells him that. He does fess up to the press but only after decades and presumably at the end of his career. And when the press, decides not to run with the story, he goes along with it. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-who-shot-liberty-valance/947722/9 "2021-08-01T14:46:50Z")
Mea culpa. I was thinking in terms of him being honest with Hallie about who did the fatal shooting, which I think he was. You are right, however, about the legend being at least indirectly responsible for his later successes. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2021, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-who-shot-liberty-valance/947722/10 "2021-08-03T15:23:13Z")
What a great song! My grandson and granddaughter went through a phase when they were about 4 & 3 where they wanted to listen to it all the time. I have it on my playlist and thought my grandson would like it because there are a couple of times you can hear a gunshot (He was into cowboys at the time). After he heard it once, I had to play it constantly when I had them in the car. They still know the words 7 years later! ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2021, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-man-who-shot-liberty-valance/947722/11 "2021-08-03T15:36:44Z")
A great song, indeed! I think almost all of Gene Pitney’s songs are great, I have a CD of greatest hits I play in the car and sing along.