The Searchers

John Wayne, the grizzly bear of Hollywood Westerns, stars as Ethan Edwards, a man bent on tracking down and killing the Indians who have massacred his brother's family and kidnapped his niece, Debbie, in John Ford's classic cowboy saga (incidentally, writer Robert Kolker interprets the story of The Searchers as a major inspiration for Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver).

Ford's depiction of the American wilderness is conveyed by consistently marvellous photography, especially that of Monument valley which displays his eye for breathtaking imagery and revels in the rich colours of the desert landscape.

The Searchers' complexity lies in the many tensions which underlie Ethan's relationships with the various members o fthe devastated family and those who join him on his epic quest - his brother's wife with whom a supressed love is implied; Martin Pawley, a half-Cherokee adopted by the dead couple; and most dramatically, with Debbie whose discovery inflicts a cruel twist on all his hopes and expectations.

With John Wayne's fantastic performance and Max Steiner's superb complimentary score, The Searchers is perhaps the greatest Hollywood Western. The myriad imitations that followed are clear tributes to its epic poetic, emotional, and technical qualities.

Review by Iain Harral
Taken from EUFS Programme 1995-96