Movies - The Searchers

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	Movies - The Searchers

The Searchers is a 1956 epic Western film directed by John Ford which tells the story of a man who spends years looking for his niece who was taken by Indians.

Plot

The Searchers centers on the character Ethan Edwards, a middle-aged, bitter loner played by John Wayne.

Movie starts with Ethan arriving at his brother’s house in rural Texas. The year is 1868, and Ethan returned from the Civil War, where he fought for the Confederacy. There are hints that Ethan has been up to no good in recent years. Shortly after Ethan's arrival, a Comanche raid on the white settlements in the region leaves his brother and sister-in-law dead, his two nieces abducted by the Comanches, and the homestead destroyed by fire. With his brother’s adopted son Martin Pawley, who is part Indian, part white, Ethan pursues the Comanches to recover the girls.

Ethan and Pawley soon find the raped and murdered body of the older girl, Lucy. They continue to search for the other girl, Debbie, for years afterwards. During which time Debbie grows into adolescence and is married to the chief of this branch of Comanches, named Scar. Scar is presented as the mirror image of Ethan on the other side of the cultural divide. At first Ethan doesn’t want to rescue Debbie, he wants her dead for sleeping with a Comanche. Debbie is defiled by the Comanche in his eyes. Martin tags along to rescue Debbie and to stop Ethan from killing her. After years of searching, the searchers and the United States Cavalry find the Comanches with Debbie. Ethan has a change of heart and does not hurt the girl and instead rescues her. Scar is killed by Martin.

Making of the film

The movie was adapted by Frank S. Nugent from the novel by Alan Le May. It was directed by John Ford, and much of it was filmed in Monument Valley, Arizona.

Influence

The Searchers has influenced films as diverse as Taxi Driver
, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (the scene of the burning homestead is paralleled by Luke Skywalker's burning home near the beginning of A New Hope), Dances with Wolves
and Saving Private Ryan
.

John Wayne's catchphrase in the film, "That'll be the day", inspired Buddy Holly to write his hit song of the same name.

At the beginning of The Searchers, Ethan Edwards is introduced to the audience, as he returns from war. This is the same for High Noon
, as Will Kane is introduced to us at his wedding. In both cases the storylines conform to the theory, with a pursuit, a combat between hero and villain and in The Searchers, Ethan Edwards returns home, and in High Noon, Will Kane moves away to start a new life with his new wife.

Critical response

The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress.
The film was selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry
.
The Searchers is an often cited candidate for the greatest film of all time.
* E.g. The Sight and Sound poll of the greatest films ever made:
** In 1972, The Searchers was voted in eighteenth place.
** It was in fifth place in 1992.
** In 2002 it was in eleventh place.
The Searchers is a favorite of Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg
.
Sam Peckinpah, a huge fan of Ford's and admirer of this film, referenced it several times in his movies Major Dundee
, The Wild Bunch
, and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
.
Ingmar Bergman, Orson Welles
, Howard Hawks, Akira Kurosawa, Frank Capra, Elia Kazan and Samuel Fuller have all described Ford as the world's greatest living director.
Entertainment Weekly ranked The Searchers as the thirteenth greatest movie of all time, as well as the greatest western of all time.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Searchers (film) ]

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