The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

This classic western film uses two different editing styles to explain to the audience as to whom really did shoot Liberty Valance.

Throughout the film the audience is led to believe that it can only be Jimmy who can and will kill Liberty since he is the stranger who comes into town and his moral ethics refuse him from picking up a gun. As the story progresses, it finally comes to the cinematic climax. When Jimmy Stewart finally puts down the pen and picks up a gun, the shootout scene accomplishes quick edits back and forth from Jimmy to Stewart: ie, Liberty shoots his gun and then it cuts to a pot exploding over Jimmy's head. This editing continues until Liberty is dead in the dirt and Jimmy is left with only his smoking pistol.

The story continues and then John Wayne retells the big climatic scene. This time around, the editing is less dramatic and more narrative: the camera is away from the action and we see the events unfold in a long shot. Jimmy Stewart is wounded, but he pulls his gun up to fire and John Wayne fires a rifled gun at Liberty at the same time that Jimmy does.

By having a contrasting editing strategy for these two characters, the editing style keeps people in the suspenseful action and then takes a long pause so that the audience may absorb the reality of who actually killed Liberty Valance.