The Searchers

Starring: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Natalie Wood, Harry Carey, Jr.
Directed by: John Ford
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Western, Adventure, Drama
1956

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Ethan Edwards (John Wayne), a confederate veteran goes to live with his brother and their family. When they are killed by Indians, Ethan and a small group are determined to hunt the murderers down and retrieve any living members who were kidnapped.

Review:

Tim: The Searchers is generally regarded as one of the greatest (if not the greatest) Western of all time. It is highly regarded as one of the all-time classics. I definitely agree that this is a very good movie- but I wouldn't put it among the ultra-top tier of Westerns.

What I like about the movie really centers around John Wayne. He's the ultimate cowboy, and is in very good fashion here. I love his frequent use of "That'll be the day." This is Wayne at his best. You also have to love the last scene in the movie- this is one of the all-time greatest closing scenes, and is iconic for many reasons. The film features some great action sequences, presents the West in a complex, complicated manner (where one questions who exactly are the "good guys"), and has a bit of heart as well. These are the film's strengths.

There are a few things I didn't like about the movie. The film sets out to pain the West in gray- this is not a black and white world here. The layers of complexity are terrific. However, the film seems to sacrifice all this for the movie's conclusion. The various storylines are all tied together a little too neatly, and I believe this hurts the film. I also don't especially like how the Indians are portrayed here. While this film does a better job than most of painting the whites as guilty as the Indians- there is still a quite a bit of stereotype here.

The Searchers is a great movie. It is definitely one of the best Westerns ever made. However, I prefer Westerns that spend more time focused on developing relationships among the characters. This has been done much better in films like Rio Bravo. Even still, this film is one of the biggest, most sprawling Western epics. It certainly needs to be included in your Must-See list.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Rio Bravo, The Sons of Katie Elder, Rio Grande, Stagecoach