The Searchers
by John Ford
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Actor: Jeffrey Hunter, John Wayne, Natalie Wood, Vera Miles, Ward BondDirector: John Ford
Cinematographer: Winton C. Hoch
Editor: Jack Murray
Producer: Merian C. Cooper
Producer: Patrick Ford
Writer: Alan Le May
Writer: Frank S. Nugent
DVD: 2 Sides, Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.85:1
Running Time: 119 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1997-10-29
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Reviews of The Searchers
DVD Review: Great Wayne
Summary: 5 Stars
Wayne at his greatest in this Ford directed epic. Get goosebumps every time I watch it. A must for western fans.DVD Review: Warrior Ethic
Summary: 5 Stars
I have viewed this movie many times and each time I come away from it a little richer. I recently watched an 'American Masters' biography of John Ford and the narrator gave the most exact description of the Ethan Edwards character that I think can be given: 'he was the kind of man that civilization must have but also the kind that can never live in civilization'.
Society has always been faced with the need to decide whether or not it will acknowledge the honor that men like Ethan Edwards have earned. Sadly, for the past 40 years, we have been drifting away from them, preferring to think that our own politically correct 'moral rectitude' contains a self-defending mechanism. People who support this view are frequently heard warning us 'not to become like our enemies'. First and foremost, this is shameful because it necessarily devalues the sacrifice of the warrior. But it is also foolish. At some point our decadent society will need an Ethan Edwards for its very survival. The question remains as to whether we will then find him from within our midst.
DVD Review: Wow
Summary: 5 Stars
What a beautiful restoration of a classic American film. What the Blu-Ray format is doing for classic films like this is not just visually jaw-dropping but important preservationist work! The price for this Blu-Ray is a steal. Those, including me, who have disparged John Wayne's acting will eat their words after viewing "The Searchers." No wonder this film is mandatory viewing in many film study classes.DVD Review: A Blu-ray demo disk you /have/ to own.
Summary: 3 Stars
The image quality of "The Searchers" is nothing short of startling. We'll get to that after I've lit into the film. Yes, I'm going to tear to pieces what is generaly considered one of /the/ great American films, and (by many people) the best Western ever made.
John Ford was a great director, but I've never cared much for his Westerns. Maybe I'm tired of seeing Ward Bond play the same role again and again. Or perhaps it's just that I don't care for John Wayne, who is hardly my model of ideal manliness. (Jimmy Stewart was ten times the man John Wayne was.)
"The Searchers" has two major problems, neither of which -- as far as I know -- has ever been pointed out. (After writing this, I browsed the Amazon reviews and found that other people have almost-identical reservations.) They render it a far poorer film than it could or should have been.
The first is that it tries to tell two stories that have little to do with each other, and fail to mesh in any meaningful way. The primary story is Ethan and Martin's five-year search for Ethan's kidnapped niece. This is intercut with the broadly comic narrative of Laurie's frustration at trying to get Martin to come back and marry her. (Note Ken Curtis, later Festus on "Gunsmoke", as her dorky, guitar-strumming suitor.)
It doesn't work. The search is morbidly dark, while Laurie's plight is silly beyond belief. Any possibility of dramatic unity -- this is, after all, a serious film about a serious subject -- is destroyed. (Aristotle would have heartily agreed.)
Which brings us to the other problem. John Wayne was no actor. He was more than a decade from reaching the point where he could turn in a credible/creditable performance (Rooster Cogburn in "True Grit", for which he won an undeserved Oscar). In "The Searchers" he is still John Wayne, with a limited performance range that doesn't extend beyond what John Wayne, the man, is capable of.
True, Wayne had a difficult job for any actor -- he had convey his hatred of Indians and desire to kill Debbie for 99% of the film -- then abruptly change his mind. The problem is that we see no motivation for the change. He picks her up, she looks frightened (she knows what he intends), and then, out of nowhere, "Let's go home, Debbie." *
It just isn't believable. Ford should have shown us John Wayne's face, so that we could have gotten /some/ idea of what was going through his mind. Why he doesn't is anyone's guess. Did he think Wayne was incapable of believably revealing his change of heart? Or did it never cross Ford's mind? Regardless, the film lands with a dramatic "thud" -- Something Important happens, but we don't have the least idea /why/. The moment the story is building up to /never occurs/.
"The Searchers" would have worked far better if it had stuck with the search, and ignored just about everything else. Yes, it would have been an even darker film, but it would have packed a far stronger punch.
So why do people hold "The Searchers" in such high esteem? The reason appears to be that it was one of the first "deconstuctionist" Westerns. ** Ethan Edwards is bluntly racist, and is determined to find his niece so he can kill her. She's been polluted by her five-year contact with the "Comanch", and his no longer a "white" woman. *** She'd be better off dead, and Ethan is the man to do it. But however awful the Indians' behavior is, we are not on Ethan's side. Our broad sympathies lie with the Indians, not the Americans. ****
Unfortunately, "The Searchers" doesn't achieve what it sets out to do. It's all hat and no cattle. You don't get points for trying to be profound -- you actually have to achieve it. In this, "The Searchers" fails quite badly. It's easy to imagine a remake that's far superior to the original.
As for the transfer... Oh... my... God... I couldn't believe it. It appears to have been derived from the VistaVision camera negatives. I have never seen a more exquisitely sharp and detailed video image (and with zero apparent edge enhancement). Ford's use of multiple image planes, some in-focus, the others out -- is clearly displayed. *****
Please note that in the supplemental material, someone describes "The Searchers" as having been filmed in three-strip Technicolor, which it almost certainly wasn't. And Martin Scorsese avers that VistaVision has greater depth of field than conventional 35mm movies. Wrong -- it has less. (It's hard to understand how someone who's been making films for four decades doesn't understand Photography 101.)
If you're a fan of "The Searchers", do yourself a favor and get the Blu-ray. Even if you don't care for the film, buy it anyhow. It's a great demo disk. This was a film /made/ for VistaVision ("Motion Picture High Fidelity") -- the scenery alone is worth the price of admission.
* One critic suggested that it's touching Debbie that causes his transformation. He can't bring himself to kill the flesh-and-blood being he knew as a child.
** It also appears to be one of the first to make a stab at proper cowboy attire. Note the dusters on several characters.
*** Another minor problem... Kidnapped whites almost always preferred living with the Indians. Debbie's willingness to return is not implausible, but it is unlikely.
**** According to the supplemental material, "The Searchers" was the first Western to show a lot of dead Indians lying around after having been massacred by whites.
***** This is common in Ford's films. Did it have anything to his being blind in one eye?
DVD Review: A good excuse to get a blu-ray player
Summary: 5 Stars
I've read that you really haven't seen a John Ford movie unless it was on the big screen. Now, after looking at one of my favorites -- The Searchers -- on a hi-def widescreen monitor, I've come to understand why. I've seen the film maybe eight times in standard definition, and LOVED IT. But with this blu-ray presentation, I was able to perceive details and compositions I hadn't appreciated before. Stunning landscapes, beautiful photography, wonderfully staged action -- the American West never looked so good. And with this level of detail, I was able to actually see the expressions of the actors within a scene, and this gave the movie greater depth and meaning. (Why does Ethan do what he does? It's seen in the looks he gives to his brother and sister-in-law early in the picture.)
It's old fashioned. People have complained to me about the stagey acting styles and the crustiness of John Wayne's character, but if you know what you're getting in to, this film is one of the great ones. Nowadays, it's virtually impossible to create a story with such epic, mythic themes.
What also pleased me about this purchase were the extras that came with the film -- including a couple of documentaries about its production and lasting impact as well as a discussion of the film's perceived racism. Didn't expect that at this low price.
If you love old westerns (or classic American filmmaking) this is a no-brainer purchase. A good excuse to get a blu-ray player.
Description of The Searchers
Classic western about a man on the trail of the indians who slaughtered his family. Studio: Turner Hm Entertainm Release Date: 03/29/2005 Starring: John Wayne Jeffrey Hunter Run time: 119 minutes Rating: NrA favorite film of some of the world's greatest filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, John Ford's The Searchers has earned its place in the legacy of great American films for a variety of reasons. Perhaps most notably, it's the definitive role for John Wayne as an icon of the classic Western--the hero (or antihero) who must stand alone according to the unwritten code of the West. The story takes place in Texas in 1868; Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, a Confederate veteran who visits his brother and sister-in-law at their ranch and is horrified when they are killed by marauding Comanches. Ethan's search for a surviving niece (played by young Natalie Wood) becomes an all-consuming obsession. With the help of a family friend (Jeffrey Hunter) who is himself part Cherokee, Ethan hits the trail on a five-year quest for revenge. At the peak of his masterful talent, director Ford crafts this classic tale as an embittered examination of racism and blind hatred, provoking Wayne to give one of the best performances of his career. As with many of Ford's classic Westerns, The Searchers must contend with revisionism in its stereotypical treatment of "savage" Native Americans, and the film's visual beauty (the final shot is one of the great images in all of Western culture) is compromised by some uneven performances and stilted dialogue. Still, this is undeniably one of the greatest Westerns ever made. --Jeff Shannon
A favorite film of some of the world's greatest filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, John Ford's The Searchers has earned its place in the legacy of great American films for a variety of reasons. Perhaps most notably, it's the definitive role for John Wayne as an icon of the classic Western--the hero (or antihero) who must stand alone according to the unwritten code of the West. The story takes place in Texas in 1868; Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, a Confederate veteran who visits his brother and sister-in-law at their ranch and is horrified when they are killed by marauding Comanches. Ethan's search for a surviving niece (played by young Natalie Wood) becomes an all-consuming obsession. With the help of a family friend (Jeffrey Hunter) who is himself part Cherokee, Ethan hits the trail on a five-year quest for revenge. At the peak of his masterful talent, director Ford crafts this classic tale as an embittered examination of racism and blind hatred, provoking Wayne to give one of the best performances of his career. As with many of Ford's classic Westerns, The Searchers must contend with revisionism in its stereotypical treatment of "savage" Native Americans, and the film's visual beauty (the final shot is one of the great images in all of Western culture) is compromised by some uneven performances and stilted dialogue. Still, this is undeniably one of the greatest Westerns ever made. --Jeff Shannon
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