John Ford's film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence is a great western that exemplifies the difficult and dangerous life of the frontier. The town, Shinbone is a place where the act of one finger rules the land, until the book of law comes into the picture. The film portrays a transitional phase of the town that went from the rule of the gun to the rule of the law.
The beginning of the film takes place after the transition happened. The town is civilized with a school, church, and train station when Rans arrives. The Marshal explains to Halley that "the railroad done that." He entire time that Rans and Halley are in the town (present day) the sound of the train is heard. This shows that the town is primarily based on the railroad now. The fact that Tom is dead is reason enough to show that the old way of life is dead. The old, rusty, broken stagecoach is also proof that the way of the past is dead. Once the flashback begins the viewer begins to see that the way of the......

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Title: The Man Who Shot
Approximate Word Count: 1247
Approximate Pages: 5 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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