Devoted admirers of John Ford The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (‘62) have long acknowledged that the weakest feature is the casting of the 53-year-old James Stewart and the 54 year-old John Wayne as Ransom Stoddard and Tom Doniphon, characters who are (or should be) at least 20 if not 25 years younger. No one disputes this.
You can “accept” Stewart and Wayne, as I have all along, but there’s no believing them as youngish fellows (late 20s, early 30s) in the prime of their lives.
Would you theoretically be interested in streaming a digitally de-aged Liberty Valance in which Stewart (born in 1909) looks like he did in, say, Destry Rides Again (‘39) or Call Northside 777 (‘48)? And Wayne (born in ‘07) looks like he did in Stagecoach (‘39) or in the first 25 minutes of Red River (shot in ‘46)?
Purists (Ford biographer Joseph McBride comes to mind) would be horrified at such a prospect, but I for one would be fascinated. I would love to see digital artists take a crack at this.
Sidenote: McBride and Howard Hawks biographer Todd McCarthy need to explain why the last name of Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance character is pronounced VAHLance while the last name of John Ireland’s Cherry Valance in Red River is pronounced VuhLANCE. I’ll wager that no one in the history of film criticism has ever contemplated, much less addressed, this question.
Posted earlier today in comment thread:
Persuasively de-aging Stewart for the “young idealistic attorney in early Shinbone” sections of the film would definitely help The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (‘62).
Stewart’s young “Rance” is supposed to be in his late 20s or very early 30s at the oldest. Stewart was 53 when Valance was filmed in mid to late ‘61. The viewer is obliged to go along with actors (John Wayne was 54 during filming**) who are 20 to 25 years too old for their roles, but there’s no “buying” this. So yes, convincing, state-of-the-art digital de-aging of these two would help somewhat.
** Wayne’s Tom Doniphon is supposed to be no older than his mid 30s — young enough to be courting and wooing the 32-year-old Vera Miles & building their marital home. With his bulky physique and creased saddlebag features, Wayne looks old enough (not a day younger than his actual biological age) to be Miles’ father.
Second sidenote: The snow-white wig worn by Stewart’s 25-years-later version of Stoddard, a U.S. Senator in his mid to late 50s, makes him look like an actor wearing a white wig. Think of how much more convincing it would’ve been if Stewart, who had been gradually balding since the late ’40s or early ’50s, had simply not worn a wig at all.