John Ford’s “The Searchers” stands tall as one of my top five movies of all time. It’s probably the one film I’ve seen the most in my life – and the one that I find myself discovering new layers and new ideas with every viewing. Did you also know that is one of the most influential movies of all time? “Taxi Driver,” “Star Wars,” “The Hidden Fortress,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and most recently “You Were Never Really Here” – among many others – have been inspired by this classic western. After his niece is captured by Comanches, Ethan Edwards (John Wayne in his best performance) goes on her obsessive search that will take over 5 years.
The film is an epic adventure that takes place during frontier times and it was shot in Monument Valley. On the surface, there’s plenty of action and visual splendor to keep everyone entertained. Yet – director Ford is navigating rich material here. He introduces a great ambivalence throughout the film – something at the time you didn’t expect from a Western. The main character holds a deep hatred towards Native Americans – and John Wayne doesn’t hold back on showing the racism. Ethan’s questionable moral codes in a leading man is a precursor to all the 1970s anti-establishment characters that became the norm in American cinema. Like Travis Bickle in “Taxi Driver” you slowly start to understand that Ethan might be a madman. John Ford also visually makes you question the role of civilization and the destruction of the wilderness. There are also other important themes addressed – the role of the justice and the law, our obsession with violence, what community truly means and our need for independence. Yes – this is a dense movie. Ford conveys all of this cinematically. Consider the opening shot – in complete darkness a doorway opens to the magnificent outdoors. For a moment we’re literally on the threshold between civilization and wilderness. Our hero – (or anti hero) will be forever excluded from feeling at home past that threshold. This movie makes you understand the price we paid for the modern world we live in – and the buried bones and lives upon which this country was erected.
I hope you enjoy watching “The Searchers.”
Love,
Roger
Available to rent on Amazon Prime, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
Written by Frank S. Nugent
Directed by John Ford
Starring: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond and Natalie Wood
119 minutes
About Director John Ford
”°John Ford was born Sean Aloysius O’Fearna on Feb. 1, 1895, in Cape Elizabeth. Me., but grew up in Portland. Sean O’Feeney remained Mr. Ford’s legal name throughout his life. Under the stage name of Francis Ford, his brother had become a successful director and star of silent serials, usually Westerns. He put Sean to work as a property man, stunt rider, assistant cameraman and grip. Jack Ford, as he soon became known, also played bit parts and even collaborated on scripts. All the while, he was carefully studying film©\making techniques. He learned to be his own cameraman and editor, and often functioned as such throughout his career. He mastered what became a new technique for directors”Ŗ”°cutting”± or editing the film ”°in the camera.”± The Tornado, released in 1917, was the first Ford©\directed movie. Between 1917 and 1920 Mr. Ford ground out some two dozen cheapjack movies. Mr. Ford was the only person to win Academy Awards for four feature films, of which he directed more than 130 in a four©\decade career. He also won a fifth Oscar for his direction of a documentary during World War II.(New York Times) A few of his films include The Informer, Stagecoach, How Green Was My Valley, My Darling Clementine, The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, How the West Was Won, Tobacco Road, The Grapes of Wrath, The Long Voyage Home, and Mister Roberts.
The Story That Inspired The Searchers
”°The film was based on a novel by Alan LeMay, who in turn based his book on the true-life story of Cynthia Ann Parker. As a nine-year-old girl, Parker was abducted by Comanche Indians from her prairie home in 1836 Texas. She spent years among the Comanche, eventually marrying chief Peta Nocona, with whom she had three children–Prairie Flower, Pecos, and Quanah Parker. Meanwhile, family members, including her uncle, James Parker, spent years looking for her. Cynthia Ann Parker was eventually found and removed from the Comanche after the Battle of Pease River in 1860.”± (Texas Public Radio)
Martin Scorsese Discusses The Searchers
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, director Martin Scorsese reflects on John Ford”Æs classic film. ”°…the last time I saw The Searchers, the picture seemed even greater than ever…In truly great films — the ones that people need to make, the ones that start speaking through them, the ones that keep moving into territory that is more and more unfathomable and uncomfortable — nothing’s ever simple or neatly resolved. You’re left with a mystery. In this case, the mystery of a man who spends 10 years of his life searching for someone, realizes his goal, brings her back and then walks away. Only an artist as great as John Ford would dare to end a film on such a note. In its final moment, The Searchers suddenly becomes a ghost story. Ethan’s sense of purpose has been fulfilled, and like the man whose eyes he’s shot out, he’s destined to wander forever between the winds.”± (The Hollywood Reporter)