The Searchers poster & wallpaper

Henry Brandon, Jeffrey Hunter, John Qualen

As a Civil War veteran spends years searching for a young niece captured by Indians, his motivation becomes increasingly questionable.

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87% liked it

30,958 ratings

Unrated, 119 min.

Directed by: John Ford

Release Date: March 13, 1956

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DVD Release Date: May 18, 1999

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The Searchers Jeffrey Hunter and Natalie Wood The Duke Frank Worden Hank Worden & Jeffery Hunter Cantina scene " The Searchers " ( 1956 )
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Flixster Reviews (1,993)

  • flixsterman
    November 14, 2009
    flixsterman
    One of John Wayne's darkest and most complex roles. It's easy to see why The Searchers is widely considered to be the Duke's best film. Unlike many of his other characters where their disposition and development is set according to type, Ethan Edwards (Wayne) is blatantl...( read more)y racist and morally flawed. He's a walking, talking paradox in the sense that you applaud what he is trying to do but you're appalled by how he's doing it. For example: During the course of his career in the western genre, John Wayne must have shot and killed hundreds of American Indians. But how often have you seen Wayne, after killing an Indian, ride over and shoot out the eyes of the corpse? Not only did he want to kill the man, he wanted him to stumble around blind in the hereafter. That scene, as filmed, shows a level of contempt that no Wayne character possessed before or since.

    This isn't the be-all/end-all of John Wayne's films, and neither is it the only time Wayne played a character with depth and substance, but it is arguably his most challenging and triumphant performance. A film deserving of it's status as one of the best westerns to ever grace the big screen.
  • benjaminguilbert2
    January 12, 2009
    benjaminguilbert2
    I never quite understood John Ford. I mean yes, the whole thing's beautiful, some shots are brilliant, but still the actual interest of this type of westerns totally eludes me.
  • stopitgoaway
    January 10, 2009
    stopitgoaway
    The Searchers(1956) has been reflected to death by many filmmakers in their own work with main ideas, situations, and plot as guide. Many elements of The Searchers(1956) influenced film directors ranging from Brian De Palma, George Lucus, Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, and Sergi...( read more)o Leone. There are scores of other movie makers whom I cannot list at the top of my head that were affected by this one film. Obvious film influences are Once Upon a Time in the West(1968), Obsession(1976), Taxi Driver(1976), Star Wars(1977), and Hardcore(1979). It shows that great works of cinema are also able to inspire many admirers and disciples. Only films(stories) by Akira Kurosawa has been reflected more often by film directors than The Searchers(1956).

    John Wayne was legendary American film star and big box office draw by 1956. The Searchers(1956) lends creedence to John Wayne being an exceptional actor enforced by his multi-layered performance. In a career that spanned five decades, The Searchers(1956) is the efflorescence of John Wayne. John Wayne gives a complex/flawed portrait of a man looking for redemption and salvation. One fine moment that examplifies the multi-layerness of John Wayne's performance is the look on Ethan Edwards face as he feys over what will happen to his brother and family. The Searchers(1956) was to John Wayne's career what Treasure of the Sierra Madre(1948) was to Humphrey Bogart and Vertigo(1958) was to James Stewart.

    Story is about drifting, trying find something which is self-meaningful. Ethan Edwards is such a drifter who is always in search of a purpose. The Searchers(1956) is really about drifting in the American Frontier and search for self-discovery. There were many drifters like Ethan Edwards in the Old West especially in the wake of the Civil War. The Cowboy drifter in the Old West is almost the equivalent of the Samurai ronin in Tokugawa Japan Era. These drifters were men who were on the go, had temporary employment, and always wondered about their existence in life.

    Rare individualistic motion picture in the old studio system days when many Hollywood films were studio controlled. The Searchers(1956) defies the typical 1950s Hollywood film presentation because its a director's picture. Excells on a visual level with interesting camera placement. Camera framing also plays a psychological and visual role in representation of two conflicting worlds(Civilized West and Wild West). Helped by crisp and flawless editing that flows the plot along effortlessly. Shades of Homer's THE ODYSSEY are penetrated into the heart of the story with irony.

    Deals with racial prejudice with honest and truthful gusto. Racial prejudice in The Searchers(1956) is filmed in terms of emotional and psychological depth. The racial prejudice of the protagonist echos the prejudice of many white people in the Old West felt towards native Americans. The relationship between Ethan Edwards and Martin Pawley is met by distrust, prejudice, and sarcasm. Only towards the end does Ethan Edwards begin to show some sign of acception and respect for Martin Pawley. Shows that people are willing to change if they are willing to confront the dark side of humanity.

    John Ford was the one director who was able to channel the talents of John Wayne to full heights. He made it possible for John Wayne to become an American film star by casting him in Stagecoach(1939). The other major director John Wayne had great success with was Howard Hawks. The Searchers(1956) is the greatest film of the Ford-Wayne tandem. Each are at their highest and most professional peak as film artists. In film working relationship they were halves of one and one of halves.

    Ethan Edwards fullfills the requirements of hero and villain in narrative plot structure. This makes him an anti-hero with human strengths and flaws so typical of this type of protagonist. Its funny that John Wayne detested Italian Westerns and yet played a character in The Searchers(1956) who fits the mold of the Spaghetti Western anti-hero. Ethan Edwards is the closet thing to a villain John Wayne played in the movies. At the beginning Ethan Edwards lives only for hate and revenge. By the end he becomes merciful and forgiving.

    On-location photography gives the film its rugged character. Monument Valley is depicted with beauty, mystery, and savagery. The people in the story are represented by their environment and location. Monument Valley was a favorite film location of John Ford who was obsessed by its untamed and individualistic nature. Monument Valley site is explored on a physical, psychological, and social level. Scenery is an important character of the Classic American Western and none so more true then in The Searchers(1956).

    Another major motif in The Searchers(1956) is redemption. The path of hate and vendetta is replaced by compassion and forgiveness. Its this motif as well as others that makes the story a subtle Catholic driven tale. Redemption is the saving grace for a destructive and negative character like Ethan Edwards. Revenge until the climatic moment takes importance over everything else in Ethan Edwards life. Redemption is one motif from The Searchers(1956) that influenced Scorsese and Schrader.

    Martin Pawley goes with Ethan Edwards on revenge pledge as way of following path of fealty. The moment of Ethan picking up his niece and holding her with compassion is a tender one. Jeffrey Hunter as Martin Pawley provides a nice foil to John Wayne's Ethan Edwards. Cinematography in The Searchers(1956) is forceful and graceful. In time The Searchers takes place, drifters like Ethan Edwards are dime a dozen but by the period depicted in films of Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinaph, they are nearly extinct. The Searchers(1956) is a milestone in both American and World cinema.
  • bort16
    November 7, 2008
    bort16
    Politically Incorrect? Yes. Hammy, sometimes bad acting? Yes. Silly? Yes. Melodramatic? Yes. One of the greats? Absolutely. John Ford's films are something of a mystery to me. Nearly all of them suffer from overly dramatic acting and cheesy period writing. Nearly all of them seem...( read more) to bounce from tense dramas to slap stick comedies at a moments notice without necessity or merit. Yet despite what should be complete casualties of time the many of them are some of the great American movies, and those apparent casualties have become endearing. The Searchers, Ford's greatest western, is a prime example.
    John Wayne, the patron saint of American toughness, gives one of his greatest performances as Ethan Edwards, a man who spends years searching for his niece, captured by Comanches after they raid the family ranch and kill of the other family members. He's returned after a long absence following the civil war, perhaps fighting in Mexico. Apparently Wayne also thought this was his best work - he named a son Ethan after this character. Jeffrey Hunter plays Martin Pawley, the 1/8 Cherokee adopted nephew of Ethan, who comes along for the years long journey. Together they search and search. After a while, Martin confides that he continues on not so much to find his adopted sister alive, but to make sure that when Ethan finds her alive, she stays that way. Edwards is a man so consumed with hate for the Comanches that he shoots them as they carry their dead, and kills buffalo in fields just so they can't eat them. After all these years, it's likely that Debbie has been totally adopted into the Comanche way of life - something that to Ethan means she may as well be dead.
    As with most of Ford's films, there's a myriad of other characters and their own little storylines. As usual, there is the stock Swedish family. Their daughter Laurie is madly in love with Marty, despite him leaving her side to search along side Ethan for years. After a time, and after Martin reveals he accidentally got married to a young 'squaw,' he gets competition in the form of Charlie McQuarie, the regions letter carrier. This plot point leads to some of the film's most memorable moments of comedy. There's also old Mose Harper, the crazy old rocking chair loving friend of the family. He's got the brunt of the film's slap stick pay off.
    Pointing out just how great John Ford's direction is is analogous to beating a dead horse. Each shot is perfectly composed, simple but elegant. Of course, shooting in Monument Valley is difficult to make look poor. It's one of those great filmmaking environments. It's a stunning location, beautiful in its rugged stacks and jutting rock formations.
    Without a doubt, some of the acting in The Searchers is silly by today's standards. Jeffrey Hunter is sometimes unintentionally hilarious. John Qualen, doing his trademarked Swedish shtick as Lars Jorgensen is at times endearing but at other times annoying and cringe-worthy. But that hardly matters, the thespian stage belongs entirely to John Wayne as Ethan Edwards. It's easy to write off Wayne in memory as an over-the-top tough guy, but seeing performances like this one reminds us that he really was a very good actor. His performance is outstanding, embodying all that a man like Ethan Edwards must. He plays Edwards as a spiteful and bitter man, who's joys seem to only rise to the level of bittersweet. His hatred of the Comanches seems to be straightforward racism, unless you're one of the few to notice a split second prop early on in the film that explains his bitterness. That Wayne was 20 years too old to play the part is entirely inconsequential.
    Although The Searchers is not exactly a politically correct film, that does little to really harm the film's reputation. Ford was aware of the nature of the film he was making, and maintained that the intent was never malicious. It's certainly nowhere near the level of bigotry shown in Griffith's Birth of a Nation. It's a product of its time, which means that it's all that more of a success considering how great it is today over 50 years later.
  • bradwest
    October 7, 2008
    bradwest
    For me this is the greatest result of the Ford/Wayne combo. Wayne's character Ethan is obsessive and at times borderline psycho, but he has moments, especially at the end, that pack an emotional waloop.
  • karla168
    November 20, 2009
    karla168
    Knocked off half a star for the Jorgensen subplot. Wow, what an amazing movie.
  • fandangoforever
    November 10, 2009
    fandangoforever
    Still not certain why this movie is considered one of the greatest Westerns ever? I mean, I love John Wayne but this movie has just never done it for me.
  • fluturash
    October 1, 2009
    fluturash
    i'd take john wayne any day. and this one is really fantastic.
  • ElCochran90
    September 20, 2009
    ElCochran90
    Absolutely fantastic. Best John Wayne western ever, and one of the finest of the genre as well.

    95/100
  • crdodson
    September 20, 2009
    crdodson
    A different role for John Wayne but he carried it great.

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  • What was the name of the movie where John Wayne said, "That'll be the day?"  Answer »
  • Which of the following films IS NOT a remake?  Answer »
  • In the classic John Wayne film, "The Searchers," who played the captive woman?   Answer »
  • In the classic John Wayne film, "The Searchers," Who played the part of Ethan Edwards?   Answer »
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