The Searchers
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Movie Reviews of The Searchers
Movie Review: The quintessential Western
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the signs that a film is truly great is that it lives on, thematically, and visually, in films that follow. Judged by that standard, few films are greater than "The Searchers," pieces of some of the greatest films ever made have their genesis in this John Ford masterpiece.
The scene in "Star Wars" where Luke Skywalker returns home to find his aunt and uncle dead? Yep, that's from "The searchers," right down to a windswept Luke looking briefly away when the enormity of what happened hits him.
The opening shot, framed by a doorway opening into the desert vastness and a woman walking out of it, has been incorporated into dozens of films, the latest being "Kill Bill, Volume 2."
The story of a sociopathic bigot trying to rescue a young girl trapped with a bunch of savages? Hey, wasn't that the basic plot of "Taxi Driver"?
In addition to being a cinematic touchpiece for generations of filmmakers, "The Searchers" stands on its own as a truly great film experience, probably most notable for its stunning visuals, John Wayne's greatest performance, and a slightly more nuanced approach to the "cowboys and Indians" conflict that marked the coming of the revisionist Western.
If nothing else, "The Searchers" is a gorgeous film to look at, with some of the most well-known visuals in film history. The most famous images, of course, are of the opening and closing "doorway" shots, but the desert scenes have enduring grace and power. If Wayne is the star of this film, the desert is his co-star.
Wayne's complex, powerful portrayal of Ethan not only defined his career, but also helped define a new kind of character that would soon become known as an "antihero." Before long, the antihero would redefine cinema in films like "Bonnie and Clyde," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," and even "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
Much has been written about the attitude towards native Americans in "The Searchers," but this much is pretty clear: it's a whole lot more nuanced than the Westerns of its day. The famous climactic scene in which Wayne's character picks up his niece (who he'd vowed to kill because she was living with Cherokees) and takes her home seems to be an admittance that his bigotry is wrong. When the door literally closes on Wayne's character in the movie's legendary closing shot, the message is pretty clear: he might have done the right thing by bringing his niece home, but his attitudes are no longer acceptable, and he is denied redemption.
That's a pretty powerful anti-bigotry message by 1956 standards, and like so much else in "The Searchers," it, too, lived on.
Movie Review: Western Perfection...
Summary: 5 Stars
This review refers to the Warner Bros DVD edition of THE SEARCHERS..
THE SEARCHERS from 1956... Do they come any better than this? The Duke is a war weary ex-confederate who becomes obsessed with hunting down the Comanche tribe who has massacred his family and kidnapped his young niece. We follow him for years as he will not let go of his mission or his beliefs. Wayne is amazing in this role as we see his hatred turn into humanity. This film has it all for the Western lover. It is from Director John Ford, and may just be his masterpiece. It is filmed in technicolor, and the stunning scenery may be viewed in the original widescreen(taking in all the action and rugged terrain), but also has the option of a standard version. It also stars Hollywood greats Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond and Natalie Wood.
Contrary to the editorial reviews here, I thought the transfer of this nearly 50 year old film looked wonderful. The picture was clean and clear with very good sound. There are a couple of documentary shorts included, made at the time of the shoot, one has a brief interview with Natalie Wood(glowing from her recent Oscar nomination for REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE). It may be viewed in or with subtitles in English, French and Spanish, and it also contains some production notes.
For big fans of The Duke or John Ford, or great American Westerns in general, you may want to consider purchasing this DVD in theThe John Wayne Collection (The Cowboys/The Searchers/Stagecoach) Not only is it a great selection of Wayne's works, spanning 30 years, but check the prices individually, this could be the better deal.They each come in their own snap case and have an outer sleeve for the set.
Saddle Up once again with The Duke for a great adventure and a powerful story.
Happy Trails....Laurie
check out these early John Wayne films:
Shadow of the Eagle
His Private Secretary
Great American Western V.24, The
Movie Review: The Searchers: a movie that defined the American West to the world.
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is ranked the 7th best or 12th best movie of all time, depending on which list you read, and usually #1 in the Westerns category, even though it was not all that popular when released in 1956. Shot in northern Arizona's famous Monument Valley on the Navajo Reservation, Director John Ford and actor John Wayne created a huge iconic movie that has now influenced Westerns and movies in general for over 50 years. In the movie, they pretend they are in Texas.
This film shows John Wayne at his best: moody or friendly, a loner or a family man, angry but kind and gentle, hard and soft, and so on. He plays his character nearly perfectly, and the relentless search that goes on for years is an overpowering theme throughout the movie. The ending is very touching and worth watching over and over.
Trivia: in the film, Wayne says THAT'LL BE THE DAY many times. After seeing the movie, Buddy Holley wrote the song with the same title. Also: at the end of the film, Wayne stands on the porch alone, holding his right elbow with his left arm across his stomach, a clear tribute to Harry Carey Sr., who was Wayne's favorite actor, and whose wife Olive, and son Harry Jr. (both are IN this film)were behind the camera watching. It was a trademark gesture of Carey Sr. in other films. And Debbie, played by Natalie Wood, is played by Natalie Woods younger sister as a little girl at the very beginning. The rest of the supporting cast is loaded up with stars that we all know and love.
In America, we knew that all of the West did not look at all like this spectacular, grand scenery, but the rest of the world, particularly England, latched on to these images, and to this day they believe this is what the West is like. (see the cover on the Led Zeppelin DVD HOW THE WEST WAS WON, as an example.) If you go to Monument Valley for a tour, you can stand in numerous spots in the area, and realize this is exactly where they shot this scene in the movie from. Or a host of other movies, such as STAGECOACH, SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON, FORT APACHE...even 2001, A SPACE ODESSY was partly shot there.
Overall, a great, iconic, spectacle of a Western and dramatic movie that has a well deserved high ranking in the minds of tens of millions of movie watchers worldwide. I have always given it 5 stars!
Movie Review: Wayne's Finest Performance, in Ford Masterpiece...
Summary: 5 Stars
Even if you've never seen John Ford's THE SEARCHERS, you will have, undoubtedly, seen a film that owes it's 'style' to the film. DANCES WITH WOLVES, THE OUTLAW JOSIE WALES, UNFORGIVEN, JEREMIAH JOHNSON, and OPEN RANGE are just a few westerns that have 'borrowed' from it, but THE SEARCHERS' impact transcends the genre, itself; STAR WARS, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, THE LAST SAMURAI, even THE LORD OF THE RINGS have elements that can be traced back to Ford's 1956 'intimate' epic. When you add the fact that THE SEARCHERS also contains John Wayne's greatest performance to the film's merits, it becomes easy to see why it is on the short list of the greatest motion pictures ever made.The plot is deceptively simple; after a Comanche raiding party massacres a family, taking the youngest daughter prisoner, her uncle, Ethan Edwards (Wayne), and adopted brother, Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter), begin a long quest to try and rescue her. Over the course of years, a rich tapestry of characters and events unfold, as the nature of the pair's motives are revealed, and bigoted, bitter Edwards emerges as a twisted man bent on killing the 'tainted' white girl. Only Pawley's love of his 'sister' and determination to protect her stands in his way, making the film's climax, and Wayne's portrayal of Edwards, an unforgettable experience.
With all of Ford's unique 'touches' clearly in evidence (the doorways 'framing' the film's opening and conclusion, with a cave opening serving the same function at the film's climax; the extensive use of Monument Valley; and the nearly lurid palette of color highlighting key moments) and his reliance on his 'stock' company of players (Wayne, Ward Bond, John Qualen, Olive Carey, Harry Carey, Jr, Hank Worden, and Ken Curtis), the film marks the emergence of the 'mature' Ford, no longer deifying the innocence of the era, but dealing with it in human terms, where 'white men' were as capable of savagery as Indians, frequently with less justification.
Featuring 18-year old Natalie Wood in one of her first 'adult' roles, the sparkling Vera Miles as Pawley's love interest, Wayne's son Patrick in comic relief, and the harmonies of the Sons of the Pioneers accenting Max Steiner's rich score, THE SEARCHERS is a timeless movie experience that becomes richer with each viewing.
It is truly a masterpiece!
Movie Review: This Ford Is No Edsel!
Summary: 5 Stars
The "Searchers", director John Ford's best of breed western epic, served as inspiration for Bruce Springsteen's conversion from an Asbury Park troubador, to a more universal and informed citizen of the world "Boss"..John Landau, a movie buff, and Springsteen's business manager, convinced Springsteen to preview "The Searchers" to locate his particular artistic narrative..It worked, and Springsteen found in Ethan Edwards, John Wayne's outlaw character in "The Searchers", the definitive anti-hero he was intent on capturing in his songwritings!..So, if Springsteen admits there is ore to mine in John Ford's tribute to the continental conflicts between the Comanche Indians, the United States Cavalry, and the immigrant settlers, than originally anticipated, perhaps you too should stake a claim in Ford's splendid retelling of a search for a hostage pioneer lass..In this case, a young Natalie Wood, is seized by a raiding Comanche war party headed-up by Chief Scar, for future marriage material..Ethan believes with all his brooding heart, the more humane and responsible act is to recapture the girl, to kill her, to spare the family the ignoble indignity of knowing she has become Indian truss, a buck!..Marty, the adopted brother of the missing girl refuses to let Ethan pursue the manhunt alone, and sleeps with one eye open on the trail, for fear Ethan will slip out of camp and just kill the girl, rather than rescue her.."The Searchers" becomes in the end the more serious and psychological pursuit of Ethan's humanity, since his hatred of the Comanche's translates to a need to annihilate Natalie Wood's character since she is no longer white, a human being!..For 5 years Marty and Ethan scour the Texas plains to track down the hostage, and have a pantheon of ruthless re-encounters with the Comanche's, driven on again and again by Ethan's steadfast hatred and rage against any and all things Indian..Ironically, the girl is at last located and Ethan is ready to assassinate the girl once and for all, but Marty body-shields the girl from being sniped by Ethan..In the end, Ethan has a defining epiphany and drops the rifle and tells the girl, "Debbie, let's go home, it's over!"