April 22, 1962: "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" premieres

April 22, 1962: The Western film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance premieres, directed by John Ford. It stars Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne (their only appearance together), Vera Miles, and Lee Marvin as the eponymous desperado. Despite the title containing the most obvious spoiler since Death of a Salesman, it does not give the identity of the titular shooter away.

The song of the same title, sung by Gene Pitney, was composed after the fact by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and was not a part of the film. Nevertheless, for the most part, the song tells the story:

When Liberty Valance rode to town.
the womenfolk would hide, they'd hide.
When Liberty Valance walked around
the men would step aside.

'Cause the point of a gun was the only law
that Liberty understood
When it came to shooting straight and fast
he was mighty good.

Stewart plays Ransom Stoddard, a young lawyer from the East, who arrives in a Western Territory, not named but definitely not yet a State, only to be immediately robbed and beaten by Valance and his gang. Wayne plays Tom Doniphon, who takes "Ranse" to the home of his girlfriend, Hallie (Miles), who treats his injuries.

From out of the East, a stranger came
a law book in his hand, a man
the kind of a man the West would need
to tame a troubled land.

'Cause the point of a gun was the only law
that Liberty understood.
When it came to shooting straight and fast
He was mighty good.

Many a man would face his gun
And many a man would fall.
The man who shot Liberty Valance
He shot Liberty Valance
He was the bravest of them all.

He would have to be. Ranse learns Valance frequently terrorizes the town of Shinbone and the surrounding country, since the local Marshal, Link Appleyard (Andy Devine), is too cowardly to stop him. Tom says Valance only understands force, but Ranse is determined to bring Valance to justice through the law.

Ranse establishes his law practice, and begins to romance Hallie. Tom makes it clear that Hallie is his bride-to-be. Valance bullies Ranse again, and Ranse begins practicing with a gun loaned to him by Dutton Peabody (Edmond O'Brien), the publisher of the town's newspaper.

Ranse and Peabody are elected the town's delegates to a convention to decide whether the Territory should apply for Statehood. Statehood would mean a federal government presence in town, enforcing federal law. That would be bad news for the cattle barons, who are used to getting their own way. So they hire Valance to try to stop Ranse and Peabody from voting for Statehood. Valance challenges Ranse to a gunfight. Tom offers to assist Ranse in leaving town, but Ranse stubbornly declines.

The love of a girl can make a man stay on
when he should go, stay on
just trying to build a peaceful life
where love is free to grow.

But the point of a gun was the only law
that Liberty understood.
When the final showdown came at last
a law book was no good

Alone and afraid, she prayed that he'd
return that fateful night, oh that night
when nothing she said could keep her man
from going out to fight.

From the moment a girl gets to be full grown
the very first thing she learns:
When two men go out to face each other
only one returns!

This is where the song differs from the film: Ranse didn't stay for the love of Hallie, but out of stubbornness. And although Hallie now wanted Ranse, not Tom, and was worried about the gunfight, the film did not depict her praying for Ranse, or discouraging him from dueling.

That night, Valance and his gang vandalize the newspaper office, and severely injure Peabody for reporting Valance's murder of a local farmer. Ranse arms himself and goes after Valance. But, even drunk, Valance easily shoots Ranse in the arm, causing him to drop his gun, then prepares to kill him. Ranse picks up his gun and shoots, and Valance falls dead.

Everyone heard two shots ring out!
One shot made Liberty fall!
The man who shot Liberty Valance
he shot Liberty Valance
he was the bravest of them all!

The man who shot Liberty Valance
he shot Liberty Valance
he was the bravest of them all!

Everyone who was watching and listening during the gunfight did hear two shots: The shot from Valance that wounded Ranse, and the shot that made Valance fall dead. Tom sees Hallie treat Ranse's wound, and knows that he's lost her.

At the Territorial Convention, Ranse is nominated for delegate to Congress, but withdraws after a representative of the cattle barons, still opposing Statehood, accuses him of building a career from murdering a man.

Tom arrives, and explains to Ranse that it was he who killed Valance: Knowing that Ranse could not win, Tom shot him with a rifle at the same time Ranse fired -- two shots at the same time, hence, "Everyone heard two shots ring out, one shot made Liberty fall," but, in fact, there were three shots, and only Tom knew, until he told Ranse. Tom encourages Ranse to accept the nomination for Hallie's sake, before quietly walking out of the Convention.

Time passes -- 25 years. Ransom and Hallie Stoddard return to Shinbone by train, for Tom Doniphon's funeral. Ransom had been elected Governor, and then U.S. Senator. A President had appointed him U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain. It is a Presidential election year, and the rumor is that Ranse will be nominated for Vice President.

He tells the newspaper's current editor, who had been preparing an anniversary story on the shooting, the truth. Not wanting to ruin Ranse's legacy, he burns his notes, and says, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." And yet, when the Stoddards board the train to begin their journey back to Washington, Ranse thanks the train conductor for the railroad's courtesies, and the conductor, none the wiser, answers, "Nothing's too good for the man who shot Liberty Valance!"

TL;DR: Jimmy Stewart got the girl, but John Wayne got the bad guy.

*

April 22, 1962 was a Sunday. Football was out of season. The NBA Championship had been won 4 days earlier, by the Boston Celtics, over the Los Angeles Lakers in 7 games.

On this day, the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks 2-1, to take Game 6 of the Finals and win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 11 years. This started a string of 3 straight and 4 in 6 years under head coach-general manager George "Punch" Imlach, with future Hall-of-Famers like Frank Mahovlich, Tim Horton, George Armstrong and Johnny Bower.

When the string ends on May 2, 1967, the Leafs will have won 13 of the 49 Stanley Cups awarded in the NHL era -- 26 percent. At the time, they were only 1 behind their arch-rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, for the most. In the 60 years since, they have never even been to the Finals again, while the Canadiens have added 10 more.

And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees were swept in a doubleheader by the Cleveland Indians, 7-5 and 9-3 at Yankee Stadium. In the opener, Yogi Berra and Tom Tresh hit home runs, but Bill Stafford didn't get out of the 3rd inning.

In the nightcap, the game was tied 3-3 after 6, but the Tribe scored 2 runs in the 7th and 4 in the 9th to pull away. Jim Coates started, and Luis Arroyo, injured during the recent Spring Training, ended up as the losing pitcher, a mark of his decline from being the game's best relief pitcher the previous season. Over the 2 games, Mickey Mantle went 1-for-5 with 3 walks.

* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The Mets were now 0-9 in their history, and the Pirates were 10-0, so the Mets were 9 1/2 games out of 1st place even though they'd played only 9 games. In this game, Jim Hickman got 3 hits, and Gil Hodges 2, the rest of the team combined, only 2. Roberto Clemente went 3-for-4. The next day, the Mets got their 1st regular-season win, beating the Pirates, 9-1.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-6 at Fenway Park in Boston. Norm Cash hit 2 home runs. Al Kaline went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-5 with an RBI. Jim Pagliaroni and Gary Geiger hit home runs for the Red Sox, and both would end up on the 1969 Seattle Pilots, written about by pitcher Jim Bouton in what became his book Ball Four. (And they both homered in the same game? Pagliaroni, who hit only 90 runs in his career? Ang Geiger, who hit 77? Yeah, surrre! Maybe their greenies kicked in.)

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Senators, 8-3 at District of Columbia Stadium (later Robert F. Kennedy Stadium) in Washington. Brooks Robinson, Jim Gentile, Gus Triandos and Jackie Brandt all homered for the O's.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-4 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Frank Robinson went 0-for-4, but the Reds got home runs from Vada Pinson, Johnny Edwards and Wally Post. Willie Mays went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Kansas City Athletics swept the Chicago White Sox, 7-1 and 7-5 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Hank Aaron was injured in the 1st inning, and was replaced by his brother, Tommie Aaron. Eddie Mathews went 0-for-1, but drew 4 walks. Duke Snider went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

Hank played again the next day. The main reason he was able to go to hit a record 755 home runs was his remarkable durability and availability: Whatever aches and pains he may have had, from 1955 to 1970, he never played in fewer than 145 games, and only twice in fewer than 150.

* The Chicago Cubs swept a doubleheader from their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 11-5 and 5-1 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. In the 1st game, Ernie Banks went 2-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs, while Stan Musial went 1-for-4. Banks went 0-for-4 in the 2nd game, while Musial appeared only as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Colt .45s, 4-3 at Colt Stadium in Houston. The Colts became the Houston Astros in 1965.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Los Angeles Angels, 5-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the Angels groundshared with the Dodgers until their stadium could be built in nearby Anaheim. Jim Kaat pitched a 4-hit shutout, with 10 strikeouts and no walks. Harmon Killebrew hit a home run.