Talk:The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

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Added Trivia regarding the song, the location, and the time of the setting of the movie. Mushrom 0128, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Contents 1 Theme--POV and other objections 2 Gene Pitney 3 Was this set in Arizona? 4 Theatre vs. Theater 5 Snoopy vs. the Red Baron 6 Deletions

[edit] Theme--POV and other objections

Does discussion of Theme violate no original research? I would say the claims about the theme are highly controversial, and many other positions on the theme are possible (in fact, I read several reviews on rottentomatoes, and none of them agreed with this article on the theme). Since the claimed theme or themes of the movie are not attributed to a particular film critic, they would be original research.--Danielradetsky 05:44, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

The comments in Theme are also absurd. "The smart handsome rich lawyer etc." is a US Senator on the verge of higher office "at the very outset", not a poor dishwasher. That's a plot device, not a thematic comment. The theme is of course violence versus rule of law as a means of solving problems, and the story (for that's what it is, a story) comes down on the side of gray, not black and white. Rule of law saves the day using violence--and surrogate violence at that.--Buckboard 09:14, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

It is also important to note that Ransom and Liberty first meet each other when Liberty and his crew waylay Ransom's stage on the way into town and Liberty damages Ransom's law books. The bad blood between the two of them goes back to before Ransom's arrival in Shinbone.Scbmovies 18:17, 26 March 2007 (UTC)sbcmovies

Revised plot line to point out that Stoddard learns about the "truth" of his shootout with Valance at the convention to pick a representative to the statehood convention, at the beginning of what would become Stoddard's long career, not the beginning as earlier written. -- OCWarner.

[edit] Gene Pitney

Gene Pitney did not write the song mentioned in the article. It was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Pitney merely recorded it and had a hit with it!

[edit] Was this set in Arizona?

I agree the leandscape is about right, but the only reference in the film to a capitol is "Capitol City".

Staszu13 19:47, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

There are references to the "Picketwire" River, which is a distortion of the Purgatoire River, which runs through southern Colorado, and the film reference is to "south of the Picketwire," which could well be New Mexico, which is the state/territory south of the Purgatoire. The Purgatoire does not flow near Arizona, and doesn't quite reach New Mexico in its southward dip. Both Arizona and New Mexico achieved statehood (something the territorial citizens in "Valance" were hoping to gain) in 1912, maybe -- maybe -- a little late for the storyline of "Valance." (I don't think it's too late.) Colorado, on the other hand, the actual home to the Purgatoire River (though not much of Colorado is south of it), attained statehood in 1876, so it's more likely New Mexico is the territory in question. Monkeyzpop 02:22, 1 May 2007 (UTC)

It's also possible that the 38 stars on the flag wasn't part of a carefully crafted clue by the director, but was just somewhat random. What is certain is that the film deliberately avoided naming the territory (notice the deliberately neutral name "Capital City"). So I think it is (a) wrong and (b) a violation of WP:NOR to state as a fact that this story took place in Arizona, or Colorado, or anywhere else. 24.23.139.195 09:35, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Theatre vs. Theater

It's been changed to cinema, which I think is a perfect compromise. Originally the disputed portion read "in theatres." Someone changed it to "in theaters," which while acceptable is not a direct link to the WP article "Theatre." I changed it back to an equally acceptable word which DOES link to WP's article, which got a fellow's pantaloons in a bunch. He argued that "theatre," while WP's chosen variation and universally accepted as a proper spelling, was somehow "wrong." Fortunately, someone with more sense than both of us changed it to "in cinemas," which I think is an excellent compromise. I'm sorry that I didn't think of it myself. Of course, if the article had originally said "in movie theatres," I might not have argued the point when it was changed to the alternate spelling, since most sources suggest that there is a preference in some quarters for using the Germanic/Anglican spelling for movie houses. It's a tempest in a teapot, but as an uncredentialed etymologist, I have an inclination for the most historically accurate of two acceptable choices. At any rate, unless someone prefers edit wars to useful compromise, "in cinemas" it can remain. Monkeyzpop 03:43, 2 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Snoopy vs. the Red Baron

Background section says: "The Royal Guardsmen also covered the song in their 1967 album Snoopy vs. the Red Baron (album)."

I own that album, and my copy most definitely does not include "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence." What is the source of the above statement? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 163.192.21.44 (talk) 20:19, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

My apologies for the preceding. The album I own is "Snoopy and his Friends, the Royal Guardsmen." I was unaware of the existence of the earlier "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" album until just now. The title cut of the earlier album is on both albums, which caused my confusion. 163.192.21.44 (talk) 21:50, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Deletions

I've reverted the erroneous edit locating the film in Wyoming, as this has been discussed at length (see above) and the film clearly takes place in the Arizona-New Mexico-Colorado area from internal evidence, but there is no evidence whatsoever to support Wyoming as its locale. In addition, I deleted uncited speculation as to why certain characters were given certain names. Imputing reasons to the writer or director without quotations or citation leaves remarks subject to deletion. Monkeyzpop (talk) 00:02, 15 May 2008 (UTC)