Product Description
A favorite film of some of the world's greatest filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, John Ford's The Searchers has earned its place in the legacy of great American films for a variety of reasons. Perhaps most notably, it's the definitive role for John Wayne as an icon of the classic Western--the hero (or antihero) who must stand alone according to the unwritten code of the West. The story takes place in Texas in 1868; Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, a Confederate veteran who visits his brother and sister-in-law at their ranch and is horrified when they are killed by marauding Comanches. Ethan's search for a surviving niece (played by young Natalie Wood) becomes an all-consuming obsession. With the help of a family friend (Jeffrey Hunter) who is himself part Cherokee, Ethan hits the trail on a five-year quest for revenge. At the peak of his masterful talent, director Ford crafts this classic tale as an embittered examination of racism and blind hatred, provoking Wayne to give one of the best performances of his career. As with many of Ford's classic Westerns, The Searchers must contend with revisionism in its stereotypical treatment of "savage" Native Americans, and the film's visual beauty (the final shot is one of the great images in all of Western culture) is compromised by some uneven performances and stilted dialogue. Still, this is undeniably one of the greatest Westerns ever made. --Jeff Shannon
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"We'll find 'em. Just as sure as a turnin' of the earth."
What is The Great American Film? THE SEARCHERS has a claim to this title. Released at very nearly the midpoint of the American filmmaking experience (1956), directed by The Great American Director (John Ford), starring The Great American Actor (John Wayne), and filmed in The Great American Genre (The Western), THE SEARCHERS embodies American film as perhaps none other. But John Ford filmed other westerns starring John Wayne in the middle of the last century. What makes THE SEARCHERS stand out?
THE SEARCHERS is an adult western which addresses themes largely absent in the genre up to that point: psychological conflict, racism, rape, and massacre. The film is far more violent than any other Ford western up to that point, and the line between hero and villain is blurrier. Disaster strikes early in this film, and the rest of the movie is a complex narrative about picking up those broken pieces that remain after such a tragedy. The epic timeframe of the movie allows complexity to seep into the characters realistically and believably.
Most old-time westerns seem dated to me today; I grew up after the heyday of cowboy films. THE SEARCHERS is one of those rare movies, however that transcends not only its genre, but the decade in which it was made. A fan of classic cinema, I steered away from westerns for many years, not thinking them worthy of being considered great films. After viewing THE SEARCHERS, I knew that I was wrong. No library of classic American film would be complete without this movie.
Jeremy W. Forstadt