The Searchers (1956)

As a Civil War veteran spends years searching for a young niece captured by Indians, his motivation becomes increasingly questionable.

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Frank S. Nugent (screenplay), Alan Le May (from the novel by)

Stars:

John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Wayne	...	Ethan Edwards
Jeffrey Hunter	...	Martin Pawley
Vera Miles	...	Laurie Jorgensen
Ward Bond	...	Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton
Natalie Wood	...	Debbie Edwards - Age 15
John Qualen	...	Lars Jorgensen
Olive Carey	...	Mrs. Jorgensen
Henry Brandon	...	Chief Cicatriz - Scar
Ken Curtis	...	Charlie McCorry
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Brad Jorgensen
Antonio Moreno	...	Emilio Gabriel Fernandez y Figueroa
Hank Worden	...	Mose Harper
Beulah Archuletta	...	Look - Wild Goose Flying in the Night Sky
Walter Coy	...	Aaron Edwards
Dorothy Jordan	...	Martha Edwards

Storyline

Ethan Edwards, returned from the Civil War to the Texas ranch of his brother, hopes to find a home with his family and to be near the woman he obviously but secretly loves. But a Comanche raid destroys these plans, and Ethan sets out, along with his 1/8 Indian nephew Martin, on a years-long journey to find the niece kidnapped by the Indians under Chief Scar. But as the quest goes on, Martin begins to realize that his uncle's hatred for the Indians is beginning to spill over onto his now-assimilated niece. Martin becomes uncertain whether Ethan plans to rescue Debbie...or kill her.

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Plot Keywords:

raid | texas | hatred | rescue | civil war veteran | 

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Taglines:

The story that sweeps from the great Southwest to the Canadian border in VistaVision.

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Navajo Spanish

Release Date:

13 March 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

Más corazón que odio

Filming Locations:

Aspen, Colorado, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,750,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, C.V. Whitney Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Western star Harry Carey died in 1947. Director John Ford cast Carey's wife (Olive Carey) as Mrs. Jorgensen (the mother) and Carey's son (Harry Carey Jr.) as one of the sons (Brad) as a tribute to Carey. In the closing scene with John Wayne framed in the doorway, Wayne holds his right elbow with his left hand in a pose that Carey fans would recognize as one that he often used. Wayne later stated he did it as a tribute to Carey. Off-camera, Olive watched.

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Goofs

Mamacita is using an aluminum pot to cook Frijoles.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[seeing a horseman in the distance]
Aaron Edwards: Ethan?
Debbie Edwards: Hush, Prince.
Lucy Edwards: That's your Uncle Ethan!
Martha Edwards: [he approaches] Welcome home, Ethan!

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Connections

Referenced in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Skip to My Lou"
(uncredited)
Traditional
Performed by Ken Curtis

User Reviews

Misguided and melodramatic

Perhaps John Ford's worst cinematic offense is one of those films that was indifferently reviewed when released, but has since achieved such revisionist stature that it's almost heresy to utter anything negative about it now. Obviously in 1956 John Ford the legend could do what he wanted. It's too bad he didn't want to make a movie featuring complex characters and a thought-provoking story. Instead we get a plot populated by sentimental simpletons doing hokey comedy: Swedish rancher Jorgensen in his gingerbread house, dense Charley McCorry, and simple-minded Mose Harper are exactly the types of stock characters that detract from John Ford's considerable virtues as a director. But the histrionics of all the other actors confirms that Ford was after an extremely melodramatic tone. In addition, he wastes a lot of film on Ward Bond's Ranger captain and Patrick Wayne's cavalry officer, characters who do not add to the story's development and slow the pace considerably. One can only assume John Wayne's son appears because Wayne wanted him to.

The landscape is harsh and beautiful, but although barren Monument Valley can easily stand in for Apache country, it cannot take the place of the Great Plains where both the novel and movie are set. Am I the only one who cared that there was no grass in cattle country, or that ranchers in the 1860s were eating dough-nuts for breakfast? And what is it with these Indian captives who go insane in Comanche villages? Couldn't Ford show a little subtlety in his treatment of the interaction between Euro and Native Americans? His sympathetic portrayal of Cochise in FORT APACHE introduces a note of complexity in that movie, creating a dramatic tension that is missing in the melodrama of THE SEARCHERS. It is impossible not to hate Comanche chief Scar, the villain of THE SEARCHERS. Ford's only other attempt to humanize Native Americans came in CHEYENNE AUTUMN (1964) when he had lost his powers altogether. What a shame!