The Searchers
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Movie Reviews of The Searchers
Movie Review: A classic western
Summary: 5 Stars
The Searchers is considered by many to be one of the best westerns ever made, and I cannot disagree with them. The story follows the efforts of two men trying to track down a kidnapped girl from Comanches over the course of five years. The men tracking the tribe are a Confederate veteran and the girl's uncle and the other a family friend and also part Cherokee. The film is beautifully shot as all John Ford westerns are, which adds to the overall mood of the movie. There is a vastness to some scenes which show the futility of tracking down this girl after so many years. The Searchers is a classic that provided John Wayne with a role that was different from any other he had previously played.John Wayne stars as Ethan Edwards, the Confederate veteran trying to track down his niece after his brother's family is slaughtered by a Comanche raiding party. He plays the role of the racist veteran to perfection. At times it is startling to see him in a role that differs so greatly from most other movies he had done. Jeffrey Hunter plays Martin Pawley, the Duke's partner in his search for the kidnapped girl. He plays a good sidekick to Wayne throughout since they have such differing personalities in the movie. Also starring are Natalie Wood, Ward Bond, Harry Carey JR, Patrick Wayne, Hank Worden, Ken Curtis and plenty of other Wayne stock actors. The DVD is good but could have been much better. You can view the movie in fullscreen or widescreen, with trailers included alongside four documentary shorts. A must have for western fans that is up there with Shane and The Wild Bunch as some of the greatest westerns of all time!
Movie Review: "We'll find 'em. Just as sure as a turnin' of the earth."
Summary: 5 Stars
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
Movie Review: Ford and Wayne's Crowning Achievement
Summary: 5 Stars
Forget for a moment that this is probably the greatest Western ever made. Divorce it from the genre it ranks as one of cinema's greatest achievement. Director John Ford advanced the genre with "Stagecoach" and the calvary trilogy but he raises the stakes even further here. The title of the film has multiple meanings. On the surface it refers to the 5 year trek to find young Debbie who was taken by the Comanche after the slaughter of her family. It could also refer to John Wayne's character, Ethan Edwards, a man who served in the Confederacy during the Civil War who wandered for three years before returning to his family. His search for young Debbie raises questions. Does Debbie represent family to him or is she now part of the hated Comanche? One of the chillier images I have from the film is Edwards nonchalantly shooting out the eyes of a dead Comanche. The motivation for this is Edwards' knowledge that the Comanche believes he'll wander in the afterlife blindly without his eyes. Wayne's performance of this complex character is subtle yet towering. Jeffrey Hunter more than holds his own as Martin Pauley, Debbie's adopted brother who forms an uneasy alliance with Edwards to find her. There's nothing showy about Hunter's work here but it's no less impressive than his young method actor contemporaries(Brando, Dean, etc.). Great supporting cast on hand(Ward Bond, Vera Miles, etc.). Vivid storytelling and Ford has never utilized his beloved Monument Valley to better effect. When people say this essential viewing believe it.Movie Review: The second best western ever made
Summary: 5 Stars
Ethan Edwards, an ex confederate is to his own way, an outlaw. But I'd really like to make a crossroad in the analysis. Doesn't Ethan belong to the dinasty of the mytical hero? In the purest sense of the term. His origin is not very clear. And suddenly he appears, so he leaves at the end. In this sense his efforts for searching his kidnapped niece are an epic fight against all the obstacles.And the turning point that makes that film so extraordinary, is the decission which prevails when he finally finds Debby and almost kills her. In this sense it's a personal choice. Through all his trip he has established his own code. He kills Putterman because it has to be done, and forget all the ethical reasons.
But when he goes to rescue her with the group, and finally saves her, you notice he isn't very satissfied with the result.
At last, all the people experiences a happy ending, but he doesn't seem to be very convinced with himself. And that's why he made a decision politically right.
John Ford was the western's director per excellence. The film has unforgettable moments, the use of the objective, the travellings and the fantastic landscape in Texas support this jewel. If not for The wild bunch this film would be the greatest western movie, but a second place is not a trageddy.
In addition you can find in Ethan a close affinity with the beliefs of Pike in the wild bunch. Doesn't it tell you anything?
You must have this DVD in your collection. It's a must. Believe me.
Movie Review: discrepant vision
Summary: 5 Stars
The photography is breathtaking at times, and the movie itself, emotionally powerful -- regardless of your feelings towards the film's attitude towards Native Americans. The number of divergent reviews suggest that Ford intended John Wayne to be read simultaneously as the monomaniacal racist mindlessly shooting buffalo in order that the "Commanche" not have a source of food for the winter, and as towering figure who relentlessly searches (hunts?) for his niece. In either case, Ethan is the exceptional figure who never quite fits in civilized society. Ford's brilliance was to dramatize the ambiguity with which we view such characters, at once a threat to the order of things and its savior. As for the film's treatment of Native Americans, I think that it stretches one's credulity to claim that their treatment was "realistic" and devoid of racist stereotypes. What is true, though, is that Ford quite consciously calls into question the validity of the stereotypes used in the genre. Which is to say, that while the movie is not free of some disturbing representations, it certainly recognizes the injustice of some of the representations. This recognition of sorts, coupled with the complexity of Ethan's character (I've always wondered how aware Wayne was of the "dark side" of Ethan), is why I consider it to be Ford's greatest work (certainly a debatable claim).