Senator Ranse Stoddard and his wife Hallie arrive in Shinbone, a frontier town somewhere in the Southwest, to attend the funeral of Tom Doniphon. As they pay their respects, reporters ask Stoddard why a United States senator would make the long journey from Washington to attend the funeral of a local rancher.
The story flashes back 25 years. Stoddard is a young, idealistic attorney; his stagecoach is robbed by Liberty Valance and his gang. When Stoddard tries to take Valance to task, he is brutally whipped and left for dead. Doniphon finds him and takes him into the town of Shinbone, where Hallie and other townspeople tend to his injuries and explain that Valance victimizes Shinbone residents with impunity. Marshal Link Appleyard lacks the courage and gunfighting skills to challenge him. Doniphon (who is courting Hallie) is the only man willing to stand up to Valance.
Stoddard opens a law practice in Shinbone, inviting retribution from Valance, who cannot abide challenges to his "authority". Force, Doniphon explains, is the only thing Valance understands; but Stoddard advocates justice under the law, not brute force. Stoddard earns the town's respect by refusing to knuckle under to Valance, and by founding a school to teach reading and writing to illiterate townspeople, including Hallie.

Directed by John Ford
Starring James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O'Brien

Senator Ranse Stoddard and his wife Hallie arrive in Shinbone, a frontier town somewhere in the Southwest, to attend the funeral of Tom Doniphon. As they pay their respects, reporters ask Stoddard why a United States senator would make the long journey from Washington to attend the funeral of a local rancher.
The story flashes back 25 years. Stoddard is a young, idealistic attorney; his stagecoach is robbed by Liberty Valance and his gang. When Stoddard tries to take Valance to task, he is brutally whipped and left for dead. Doniphon finds him and takes him into the town of Shinbone, where Hallie and other townspeople tend to his injuries and explain that Valance victimizes Shinbone residents with impunity. Marshal Link Appleyard lacks the courage and gunfighting skills to challenge him. Doniphon (who is courting Hallie) is the only man willing to stand up to Valance.
Stoddard opens a law practice in Shinbone, inviting retribution from Valance, who cannot abide challenges to his "authority". Force, Doniphon explains, is the only thing Valance understands; but Stoddard advocates justice under the law, not brute force. Stoddard earns the town's respect by refusing to knuckle under to Valance, and by founding a school to teach reading and writing to illiterate townspeople, including Hallie.

Directed by John Ford
Starring James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O'Brien