Image: Paramount Pictures
About This Quiz
One of the classic movie Westerns, "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," was about changing times on the American frontier -- the rule of law versus the rule of the gun. Think you remember a lot about this epic film? Test your knowledge with our quiz!
Who played Ranse Stoddard?
Gene Autry
Clark Gable
Cary Grant
James Stewart
The movie poster trumpeted "Together for the first time!" John Wayne and Stewart were both headliners in the 1950s and 1960s.
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Who played Liberty Valance?
Lee Marvin
The other Lee, Lee Van Cleef, played one of Valance's henchmen. Or, as the eloquent newspaper editor puts it, one of Valance's "Myrmidons."
Lee Van Cleef
Gergory Peck
John Wayne
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What is the name of the town where "Liberty Valance" is set?
Deliverance
Tombstone
Shinbone
We're sure there is a colorful back-story to how this town got its name. Unfortunately, the movie fails to share it with us.
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As the film opens, what office does Ranse Stoddard hold?
local judge
U.S. senator
As the film opens, Stoddard is returning to Shinbone as a respected U.S. senator. Most of the movie, though, takes place decades earlier, when Stoddard held a much humbler station in life.
local undertaker
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Who has just died, when the movie opens?
Liberty Valance
Tom Doniphon
Stoddard has come home for Doniphon's funeral. This raises eyebrows for the local newsmen, who don't see what makes Doniphon so important to a man like Stoddard.
Hallie's father
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How did Liberty Valance get his first name?
his parents thought they were having a girl
his father loved America and freedom
it's an ironic nickname
we have no idea
Liberty Valance's name is never explained, at least not in the film. There was a stage play and a short story that preceded it, though, either of which might have fleshed out the backstory.
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Where does Link Appleyard drive Hallie?
her old home
Tom Doniphon's ranch
Hallie observes a burnt section of Doniphon's farmhouse and says, "He never did finish that room." We learn the story behind this as the movie unfolds.
the edge of the Picket Wire river
the graveyard
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"Ranse" is short for what name?
Ransom
"Ranse" Stoddard puts his full name on his sign: "Ransom Stoddard, Attorney at Law." As Hallie predicts, Liberty Valance shoots the sign until it falls apart.
Terrance
Richard
we never learn this
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With which of these did Ransom Stoddard NOT head west?
his father's gold watch
his dog
Before the long flashback begins, Stoddard tells the Star editor and others assembled that he came west with his father's watch, his law books, and $14.80 in cash. Unfortunately, he loses all that in a robbery committed by Valance and his gang.
his law books
about $15 in cash
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What political issue are the residents of Shinbone and its surrounding area debating?
alcohol prohibition
gun control
statehood
Water rights do come into play, though. If the territory becomes a state, then there will be money to dam the river, and more people can farm and garden.
water rights
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Who opposes statehood?
the cattlemen
Most of the people of Shinbone want statehood, which will bring schools, better law enforcement and a river-damming project to the town. The cattlemen want "open range" -- freedom to run their cattle where they want and do mostly as they please.
freed slaves
most of Shinbone's residents
Hank, the saloon owner
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What is the name of the town's newspaper?
the Announcer
the Star
This might seem like a pretty small piece of trivia, but the Shinbone Star is important to the plot of "Liberty Valance." News and editorials about the statehood issue get a lot of people riled up -- the townsfolk, and Valance himself.
the Tattler
the Tribune
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What is the name of the river near Shinbone?
the Mad Dog
the Rio Grande
the Picket Wire
A lot is made of who lives "north of the Picket Wire" and who lives south. That is, the north is mostly rich cattlemen and their open range.
the Thames
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Other than a gun, what weapon does Liberty Valance carry?
a Bowie knife
a machete
Okinawan sai
a silver-handled whip
Valance, a bully, likes to beat up on his victims, not just cleanly shoot them. Stoddard recognizes Valance, the second time he sees him, by the whip he carries.
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What is Tom Doniphon's job?
hangman
fire marshal
night watchman
rancher
Though Doniphon is the only man in Shinbone whom Valance fears, he doesn't have a law-and-order role like watchman or hangman. He's just a tough rancher who takes care of business himself.
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From what country are Pete and Nora?
England
Canada
Sweden
Pete runs the town's only diner, where everyone seems to eat. Pete and Nora have given up Swedish meatballs and ableskivers for frontier food like steak, beans, and mashed potatoes.
Germany
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What secret does Stoddard learn about Hallie while working in the kitchen?
she once killed a man
she cannot read
Stoddard embarrasses Hallie by asking her to read something, which forces her to admit her secret. He makes up for it by offering to teach her to read and write.
she is an illegal immigrant
she is blind in one eye
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Hallie is the first person Stoddard offers to teach to read. Who is the second?
Doniphon
Nora
Stoddard is enthusiastic about teaching both women to read and write. Before long, he has opened a one-room school off the newspaper office. Julietta, if you didn't recognize the name, is one of his young Mexican students.
Link Appleyard
Julietta
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Which of these is NOT the name of a minor character in "Valance"?
Kaintuck
Highpockets
Oscar
Shinbone is full of characters with colorful names. "Oscar" might not have been creative enough.
Pompey
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Who is Pompey?
Tom Doniphon's ranchhand
Pompey was played by Woody Strode, a former football star at UCLA. He also notably played an Ethiopian gladiator in "Spartacus."
the newspaper editor
Valance's horse
the cook at Pete's
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What role does Link Appleyard fill (badly) in Shinbone?
barber
mayor
marshal
Appleyard, played by Andy Devine, was comic relief in the movie. He gets steaks on credit at Pete's -- a chalkboard full of X's counts up his debt -- and avoids confrontation at any cost.
undertaker
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What flower does Hallie particularly like?
cactus rose
Early in the movie, the older Hallie goes out to Tom Doniphon's ranch to see cactus roses in bloom. When she was younger, Doniphon brought her a cactus in bloom while she was working in the kitchen of Pete's place.
plantation lily
honeysuckle
wood violet
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Who is considered the town drunk?
Link Appleyard, the marshal
Dutton Peabody, the newspaper editor
At the statehood meeting, as Peabody tries to summarize his role in Shinbone, someone suggests "town drunk" to general laughter. But he's got competition -- Doc Willoughby likes his tipple, too, which is why one character asks for Doc Willoughby to be summoned "if he's sober."
Liberty Valance
Pete, the cook
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For which famous American did the editor, Peabody, once work?
Abraham Lincoln
Horace Greeley
Greeley was a newspaperman best known for the saying, "Go west, young man, and grow up with the country." This was the same advice that Stoddard was taking when he headed West with his law books.
Mark Twain
Stonewall Jackson
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What is Doniphon creating for Hallie at his ranch?
a rose garden
an outdoor firepit
a spare room and porch
It's not clear what the spare room is for, since the newlyweds would share a bedroom. Possibly it's a nursery for their children, a parlor for entertaining guests, or a sewing room -- any of these would be typical for the time.
a fish pond
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In what year was "Liberty Valance" released?
1947
1952
1956
1962
Though it looks like a classic 1950s film, the dirty secret behind its black-and-white filming was that Paramount was keeping costs down -- this according to the film's director of photography. Incidentally, by 1962, John Wayne was 53 and James Stewart was 52, both a bit long in the tooth for romantic action heroes.
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Which character does Stoddard punch in the face?
Peabody
Doniphon
During target practice, Doniphon shoots at a paint can while Stoddard is still setting up the cans on the fence. This splatters Stoddard's suit with paint, and Ranse is angry enough to punch him in the face over it, though Doniphon claims it was only a lesson in the kind of dirty tricks Valance will pull.
Pompey
Link Appleyard
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Whom does Stoddard nominate for delegate to the statehood convention?
Link Appleyard
Tom Doniphon
Stoddard knows that Doniphon has the respect of the people, even more than he himself does. Doniphon, however, refuses the honor and nominates Stoddard himself.
Hallie
Dutton Peabody
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Who is the third candidate for delegate (beside Stoddard and Peabody)?
Link
Pete
Doc Willoughby
Liberty Valance
Valance has come to bully the townspeople into voting for him, so he can then support the cattlemen's position at the statehood convention. But only his two henchmen will vote for him, so Valance isn't elected.
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Why does Stoddard agree to meet Valance in the street?
Valance severely beat Pete
Valance severely beat Peabody
Valance, angry at things Peabody has written about him, beats and whips the newspaperman while he's alone in his office (and drunk). Stoddard, after finding Peabody, says that he'll wait for Valance in the street.
Valance tried to rape Hallie
Stoddard wants to prove he's as much a man as Doniphon
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Who actually shot Liberty Valance?
Tom Doniphon
Doniphon reveals that he shot Valance from the shadows at the same time that Stoddard fired at him directly. Stoddard believes his shot killed Valance, until Doniphon clears it up.
Ranse Stoddard
Hallie
no one
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Why does Doniphon tell Stoddard the truth about the shooting?
he wants Stoddard to give up Hallie
the coroner is about to piece it together anyway
he's tired of Stoddard getting the credit
Stoddard is about to turn down the role of delegate because of his guilt
Cassius Starbuckle launches an attack on Stoddard on the convention floor, saying that a man who killed another in the street is undeserving of political office. Stoddard seems to agree, and walks out -- where he fatefully meets up with Doniphon.
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Who saves Doniphon from the fire at his house?
Hallie
Pompey
Doniphon sets fire to the unfinished addition to his house, because he's drunk and angry over his presumed loss of Hallie to Stoddard. Pompey, his long-suffering ranchhand, pulls him from the flames.
Stoddard
Link
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What are Stoddard's plans, at the movie's end?
to run for President
to return to Shinbone and practice law
His idea makes Hallie very happy. She's wanted to return to her roots for a while.
to put up a Tom Doniphon memorial in Shinbone
this isn't made clear
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Who directed "Liberty Valance"?
Clifford Odets
John Ford
John Ford was known for his Westerns. He began working in the age of silent film, and made about 140 pictures during his career.
Orson Welles
Gregory Peck
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You Got:
/35
Paramount Pictures