re: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance appreciation

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This was surprisingly filmed in Black and White in 1962 when color was common in Westerns..It was a great decision because B&W really makes this film pop.

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This wasn't intended. Ford wanted to shoot it in color, like a standard Wayne outdoor epic of the period. But the studio would not give the money for that.

So Ford shot it like a film noir, mostly set at night and/or inside, with few of the daylight exteriors (notably the how to shoot a gun scene) that you expect in a western.