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The Searchers is directed by John Ford and stars John
Wayne, Ward Bond, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles and Natalie
Wood. ***
Ethan Edwards, a Confederate soldier, has just returned
home to his family following the Civil War. But the reunion
is short-lived when Indians attack and kill Ethan’s family,
and kidnap the niece he loves so much. He sets out on a
quest lasting several years for revenge against those responsible,
and to find his niece by any means necessary – even if it
means sacrificing some of his humanity in the process. ***
The Searchers is one of those widely-revered, true
“classic” films. It’s not at all uncommon to see it top
“greatest Westerns” lists and continue to be talked about
today. In an era in which the Western genre was one of the
most dominant, The Searchers stands strong as one of the
leaders of the pack. Deeper, darker, and far more complex
than other Westerns of the same era, it isn’t hard to see
why The Searchers is as much revered today as it was when
it was first released, over half a century ago. ***
This film marks one of many collaborations between
the legendary John Wayne and director John Ford – one of
the most famous and successful actor/director pairings in
film history. Ford had a way of making his films deeper
and more complex than the “typical” Westerns of the day,
and perhaps no film epitomizes this better than The Searchers.
Despite its dark subject matter, though, Ford still manages
to insert some humor into the movie – which fits in perfectly
and doesn’t detract from the big picture. Well-paced, well-written,
and with a number of great performances and some of the
best cinematography of any film in the genre, The Searchers
is every bit the classic it has been revered as. ***
Needless to say, John Wayne is the actor more people
associate with the Western than any other, and The Searchers
contains what is arguably his best performance. Ethan Edwards
isn’t the stereotypical Western “good guy.” He swore an
oath to the Confederacy and lives his life by it. As the
film progresses, Ethan descends into his own personal hell
– it’s clear this is a man who hates Indians and wants nothing
more than to see them all burn as his family did. The Searchers
is a movie that isn’t afraid to paint an ugly picture of
a man whose life has been torn apart and sent spiraling
off the deep end. Some detractors of the film even consider
it a racist affair due to the harsh depiction of Native
Americans, but I personally believe this was necessary to
show how deep and affected Wayne’s character here is. ***
Even other filmmakers/critics/etc. hail this film as
one of the greatest. Numerous filmmakers from various backgrounds
and styles of moviemaking (Lucas, Lean, Scorsese, Tarantino
and Leone to name a few) have all hailed the movie as an
influence on their work to some degree. ***
Ultimately the film must be seen to appreciated. Critical
acclaim is no substitute for actually seeing the move in
action. This is the Ford/Wayne collaboration at its finest.
Damn good filmmaking. Enough said. ---
Image and Sound:
Warner Bros. NEVER fails to please when it comes to
remastering classic films, and The Searchers, thankfully,
proves to be no exception to this. The movie was filmed
in the high-resolution VistaVision process, and the images
of the film, thanks to the resolution of Blu-Ray and Warner’s
restoration efforts, looks better than ever. Detail is strong
and the colors rich. There is pretty much no dirt or film
damage to speak of, and the grain level, while almost always
noticeable, never spikes or becomes a negative issue. Disappointingly,
only the original Mono audio track is included – this is
before Warner began creating lossless audio tracks as a
regular part of their remastering efforts. Oh well, at least
this track still sounds pretty good. But with the picture
quality this good, it’s hard to complain about anything.
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