03/08/2025
Old West Newspapering Depictions on Film and Television.
This is the thirteenth of an occasional series of articles about newspapering characters depicted in the movies and/or on television shows. They may be owners, editors, printers, reporters or any combination of these.
This time:
Dutton Peabody as played by Edmond O’Brien in the movie “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” (1962).
I will not be detailing plot points of the film here. If you have seen it, you already know them. If you haven’t seen it, please do at the earliest opportunity; it is an excellent production and I have no wish to give away spoilers and adversely affect your enjoyment of this classic.
Dutton Peabody is a “distinguished member of the Fourth Estate, founder, owner, publisher and editor of the “Shinbone Star” ”. This is the sole newspaper in the small frontier town of Shinbone, in an unspecified territory of the west. Peabody is a man who likes a drink - or several - but, looking past that, he is an excellent newspaperman. He is principled and firm in his belief that the press should be honest, impartial and unafraid to print the truth. He is not one of those men who uses his publication to promote his own agenda (except when pushing for Statehood) but is instead intent on highlighting issues and broadcasting any and all stories that may be of interest to his readers. He is also well-read and erudite, a good writer. Peabody stands by his principles, in both voice and action, so becomes involved in the vote relating to remaining a territory or moving towards statehood. When this is added to his honest reporting, calling out bad deeds, it is only a matter of time before he has troubles with the lead criminal, Liberty Valance.
Edmond O’Brien was an excellent character actor who made each of his roles wholly believable. Anyone familiar with him from “The Girl Can’t Help It”, “The Longest Day” and other pictures would already know that but may also be surprised by his portrayal of Dutton Peabody. Assisted by a beard and good make-up, O’Brien looks different here from elsewhere and is not immediately recognizable. This probably helped him to inhabit the character, adding mannerisms and style to the script. Initially, Peabody seems to be just another town drunk but the viewer soon learns to understand, appreciate, like and admire the man. He probably drinks because he works hard without any staff and does not have a wife and family to support him emotionally. He is still determined to do his job diligently and, during the course of the narrative, Peabody’s confidence grows despite the dangers. While listed in the second tier of actors/actresses in the movie, O’Brien shows himself worthy of equal top billing alongside James Stewart, John Wayne and Lee Marvin.
The motion picture itself is rightly deemed one of the best classic westerns. Yes, there are the usual 1950s-60s inaccuracies with gun rigs, belt loops etc. but look beyond that. The sets and props are spot on. The newspaper office is a sight to behold. The desk, type cases, hand press and so on are all present and correct. It is completely believable that Dutton Peabody works and lives there. He even has his cot/bunk set up in the back.
The cast is superb. Not just the stars (Stewart, Wayne and Marvin) but the ‘second string’ (Vera Miles, Woody Strode, Andy Devine etc.) and the ‘bit parts’ (Lee Van Cleef, Strother Martin, John Carradine and others) are all excellent. Edmond O’Brien is up there with the rest. His is a great performance.
Readers may already be familiar with “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” but, if you have not seen it, please do yourselves a favor and watch it. It is available on different streaming platforms as well as on DVD.
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For the first twelve of these articles, please scroll down this page.
If you have any suggestions for other newspapering characters that I could write about, please note them in the comments below.
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Richard F. Baker; Sole Proprietor, Editor, Reporter,
Frontier Citizen®
