Review #138: 'The Searchers' (1956)

Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) is an outsider; a wanderer after the Confederate wars were lost by the south. Arriving back at his brothers ranch in Texas , three years after the end of the civil, Ethan is later dismayed by the systematic killing of his brothers family and the kidnapping of his young niece, Debbie, by the Comanche. Ethan enters a 5 year odyssey to find his niece. He later discovers that she has become "one of them". Ethan hates them "Injuns". His plan now is to find Debbie and kill her; It's better that she dies than to live as a Comanche. His total, racist hatred towards the Indians is palpable throughout the film.

There's no disputing John Ford's film making virtuosity in this 'classic' Hollywood western. The outsider nature of Wayne's character is highlighted in the mise-en-scene and positioning of the shots. Ethan is nearly always framed in shots through windows, doorways and rock. We as the spectator are looking out at his character. Wayne is always outside looking in. He is alienated in-frame; his racism detached from the audience. This framing device also provides from this film, one of the most iconic images from the history of cinema. At the close of the film, as the family is reunited with Debbie, Ethan dithers at the doorway before turning to walk away. We are not supposed to like this bigoted character, yet we are to follow his "heroic" quest. Wayne sits uncomfortably throughout the film, seemingly looking awkward with the dimensions of Ethan.

This segues into John Wayne himself. I have only seem a small handful of Wayne's films. Two (now three) I have thoroughly enjoyed - Stagecoach (1939) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). However, these are more to do with the pleasure of the films themselves and not the Wayne performances. I really have a lot of difficulty liking him. Like his performance in The Searchers, I was agitated and uncomfortable. Wayne walks through his performances like a man with severe hemorrhoids. He stands, walks, shoots awkwardly. His diction sounds like a frustrated sex-pest drawling, and spurting out lines as if he had recently had a throat-stroke.

Aside from my passionate hatred of John Wayne, I can state that whilst he is clearly out of place with a compromised character - and not the clear-cut hero characters he was used to playing - it is quite refreshing to see him play something a little left-field (or right-field, if you like!), this is thoroughly entertaining western film making, in the classic Hollywood mode. The sumptuous cinematography capturing the true beauty of Monument Valley - it's location - is stunning. No one shots that landscape quite like Ford. It's no wonder that this was nominated in 2008 as the greatest American western, and number 12 on the AFI's top 100 American films of all time. I have to state though, that the western genre only really delights me when made outside of America.


Directed by: John Ford
Starring: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Marc Ivamy