My Dad, Ranse Stoddard

As part of their 31 Days of Oscar, Turner Classic Movies will be airing The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance this evening.

The film, directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart, is one of my particular favorites.

Obviously, what always draws me into this film is the extraordinary performances by Wayne and Stewart as characters with very different ideas on how order should be enforced in the open American West of the early 1900's. Wayne's character Tom Doniphon is a product of the untamed West. A man who still adheres to the notion that the guy with the biggest stick and the hardest punch rules the day. This is countered by Stewart's Ranse Stoddard, a newly minted lawyer from the East who fervently believes in the power and authority of the written law. I always enjoying watching these two forces play out against each other, and love how director John Ford handles the story.

However, the film also appeals to me on another, more personal level.

Growing up The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was one of the movies I always remember my dad talking about. At least, it was one of the films that he was always trying to get me and my brother and sister to watch. He'd sing or hum a few bars of the song. Tell us about John Wayne's character or Jimmy Stewart's character, or the down-right evilness of Liberty Valance. He always seemed so passionate about the film. I could tell he really loved it.

I don't remember if he ever got me to watch the film with him or if I came to the film myself years later out of curiosity. Regardless, after I watched the film, and every time I have watched it since (which is a lot), I can't help but see my dad in the character of Ranse Stoddard.

Like Stoddard, my dad was/is a lawyer (he's currently a judge) who has always held the letter and spirit of the law in the highest regard. You don't solve your problems by hitting the other guy. You fight back by following and using the law of the civilized society in which we live. It doesn't matter how bad things may get, there is always a civil, rationale way to resolve the problems that descend upon us. When I see Stewart up there on the screen arguing with Wayne that he doesn't want to kill Valance, despite all of the horrible things Valance has done to him, but he wants to put him in jail; I see my dad.

I don't know if The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance influenced my father to pursue a career in law. Not sure if he even knows. But I see the resemblance and influence, so watching the film is a little like understand the man behind my dad