The Searchers (1956)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Frank S. Nugent (screenplay)
Alan Le May (novel)

Release Date:

13 March 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Western

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Raid | Civil War Veteran | Rescue | Texas | Hatred

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. July 25

9:30 AM

AMC

Cast

John Wayne	...	Ethan Edwards
Jeffrey Hunter	...	Martin Pawley
Vera Miles	...	Laurie Jorgensen
Ward Bond	...	Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton
Natalie Wood	...	Debbie Edwards (older)
John Qualen	...	Lars Jorgensen
Olive Carey	...	Mrs. Jorgensen
Henry Brandon	...	Chief Cicatrice (Scar)
Ken Curtis	...	Charlie McCorry
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Brad Jorgensen
Antonio Moreno	...	Emilio Gabriel Fernandez y Figueroa
Hank Worden	...	Mose Harper
Beulah Archuletta	...	Wild Goose Flying in the Night Sky (Look)
Walter Coy	...	Aaron Edwards
Dorothy Jordan	...	Martha Edwards
Pippa Scott	...	Lucy Edwards
Patrick Wayne	...	Lt. Greenhill (as Pat Wayne)
Lana Wood	...	Debbie Edwards (younger)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pipe Line Begishe	...	Comanche (uncredited)
Exactly Sonnie Betsuie	...	Comanche (uncredited)
Danny Borzage	...	Accordionist at Funeral (uncredited)
Ruth Clifford	...	Deranged Woman at Fort (uncredited)
Tommy Doss	...	Wedding Musician (uncredited)
Pete Grey Eyes	...	Comanche (uncredited)
Feather Hat Jr.	...	Comanche (uncredited)
Nacho Galindo	...	Mexican Bartender (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	...	Man at Wedding (uncredited)
Jack Tin Horn	...	Comanche (uncredited)
Harry Black Horse	...	Comanche (uncredited)
Away Luna	...	Comanche (uncredited)
Robert Lyden	...	Ben Edwards (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	...	Col. Greenhill (uncredited)
Peter Mamakos	...	Jerem Futterman (uncredited)
Mae Marsh	...	Dark Cloaked Woman at Fort Guarding Deranged Woman (uncredited)
Frank McGrath	...	(uncredited)
Bob Many Mules	...	Comanche (uncredited)
Jack Pennick	...	Sergeant at Fort (uncredited)
Lloyd Perryman	...	Wedding Musician (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	...	Ranger at Wedding (uncredited)
Smile White Sheep	...	Comanche (uncredited)
Many Mules Son	...	Comanche (uncredited)
Percy Shooting Star	...	Comanche (uncredited)
William Steele	...	Nesby (uncredited)
Chief Thundercloud	...	Comanche chief (uncredited)
Terry Wilson	...	(uncredited)
Billy Yellow	...	Comanche (uncredited)

Directed by
John Ford

Writing credits
Frank S. Nugent		(screenplay)
Alan Le May		(novel) (as Alan LeMay)

Produced by
Merian C. Cooper	....	executive producer
Patrick Ford	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Winton C. Hoch		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Jack Murray

Art Direction by
James Basevi
Frank Hotaling

Set Decoration by
Victor A. Gangelin		(as Victor Gangelin)

Costume Design by
Charles Arrico		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Web Overlander	....	makeup artist
Fae M. Smith	....	hair stylist (as Fae Smith)

Production Management
Lowell J. Farrell	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Wingate Smith	....	assistant director
Gary Nelson	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Dudley Holmes	....	properties

Sound Department
Hugh McDowell Jr.	....	sound (as Hugh McDowell)
Howard Wilson	....	sound

Special Effects by
George Brown	....	special effects

Stunts
Bill Cartledge	....	stunts (uncredited)
Philip Crawford	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dick Dial	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bryan 'Slim' Hightower	....	stunts (uncredited)
John Hudkins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Fred Kennedy	....	stunts (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	....	stunts (uncredited)
Frank McGrath	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dale Van Sickel	....	stunts (uncredited)
Henry Wills	....	stunts (uncredited)
Terry Wilson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Billy Yellow	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack N. Young	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Alfred Gilks	....	photographer: second unit

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Frank Beetson Jr.	....	wardrobe: men (as Frank Beetson)
Ann Peck	....	wardrobe: women

Music Department
Murray Cutter	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Robert Gary	....	script supervisor
James Gooch	....	technicolor color consultant

Production Companies

• C.V. Whitney Pictures
• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1956) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (1990) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS) (widescreen)
• Warner Home Video (1998) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Bros. Finland (1956) (1969) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1956) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Fazer Musiikki Oy/Fazer Video (????) (Finland) (video)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1979) (1997) (Finland) (TV)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2000) (Finland) (DVD)
• TV3 (1990) (Finland) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (1996) (Germany) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Germany) (DVD) (special edition)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1987) (1992) (Finland) (TV)

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Canada:F (Ontario) | Canada:G (British Columbia/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:G (Manitoba) | Portugal:M/12 | Iceland:L | West Germany:12 (nf) | USA:Approved (certificate #17787) | South Korea:12 (2003) | Australia:G | Finland:K-12 | Norway:12 | Sweden:15 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Aspen, Colorado, USA

Company:

C.V. Whitney Pictures

Trivia:

In 2007, the America Film Institute ranked this as the #12 Greatest Movie of All Time.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the beginning of the movie, a blanket is draped on the hitching rail. When the shot moves from inside the darkened house to the bright outdoors the blanket is gone.

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!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

Soundtrack:

The Searchers

Near Villainous Role for THE DUKE

The Searchers(1956) has been reflected to death by many filmmakers in their own work with main ideas, situations, and plot as guide. Many elements of The Searchers(1956) influenced film directors ranging from Brian De Palma, George Lucus, Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, and Sergio Leone. There are scores of other movie makers whom I cannot list at the top of my head that were affected by this one film. Obvious film influences are Once Upon a Time in the West(1968), Obsession(1976), Taxi Driver(1976), Star Wars(1977), and Hardcore(1979). It shows that great works of cinema are also able to inspire many admirers and disciples. Only films(stories) by Akira Kurosawa has been reflected more often by film directors than The Searchers(1956).

John Wayne was legendary American film star and big box office draw by 1956. The Searchers(1956) lends creedence to John Wayne being an exceptional actor enforced by his multi-layered performance. In a career that spanned five decades, The Searchers(1956) is the efflorescence of John Wayne. John Wayne gives a complex/flawed portrait of a man looking for redemption and salvation. One fine moment that examplifies the multi-layerness of John Wayne's performance is the look on Ethan Edwards face as he feys over what will happen to his brother and family. The Searchers(1956) was to John Wayne's career what Treasure of the Sierra Madre(1948) was to Humphrey Bogart and Vertigo(1958) was to James Stewart.

Story is about drifting, trying find something which is self-meaningful. Ethan Edwards is such a drifter who is always in search of a purpose. The Searchers(1956) is really about drifting in the American Frontier and search for self-discovery. There were many drifters like Ethan Edwards in the Old West especially in the wake of the Civil War. The Cowboy drifter in the Old West is almost the equivalent of the Samurai ronin in Tokugawa Japan Era. These drifters were men who were on the go, had temporary employment, and always wondered about their existence in life.

Rare individualistic motion picture in the old studio system days when many Hollywood films were studio controlled. The Searchers(1956) defies the typical 1950s Hollywood film presentation because its a director's picture. Excells on a visual level with interesting camera placement. Camera framing also plays a psychological and visual role in representation of two conflicting worlds(Civilized West and Wild West). Helped by crisp and flawless editing that flows the plot along effortlessly. Shades of Homer's THE ODYSSEY are penetrated into the heart of the story with irony.

Deals with racial prejudice with honest and truthful gusto. Racial prejudice in The Searchers(1956) is filmed in terms of emotional and psychological depth. The racial prejudice of the protagonist echos the prejudice of many white people in the Old West felt towards native Americans. The relationship between Ethan Edwards and Martin Pawley is met by distrust, prejudice, and sarcasm. Only towards the end does Ethan Edwards begin to show some sign of acception and respect for Martin Pawley. Shows that people are willing to change if they are willing to confront the dark side of humanity.

John Ford was the one director who was able to channel the talents of John Wayne to full heights. He made it possible for John Wayne to become an American film star by casting him in Stagecoach(1939). The other major director John Wayne had great success with was Howard Hawks. The Searchers(1956) is the greatest film of the Ford-Wayne tandem. Each are at their highest and most professional peak as film artists. In film working relationship they were halves of one and one of halves.

Ethan Edwards fullfills the requirements of hero and villain in narrative plot structure. This makes him an anti-hero with human strengths and flaws so typical of this type of protagonist. Its funny that John Wayne detested Italian Westerns and yet played a character in The Searchers(1956) who fits the mold of the Spaghetti Western anti-hero. Ethan Edwards is the closet thing to a villain John Wayne played in the movies. At the beginning Ethan Edwards lives only for hate and revenge. By the end he becomes merciful and forgiving.

On-location photography gives the film its rugged character. Monument Valley is depicted with beauty, mystery, and savagery. The people in the story are represented by their environment and location. Monument Valley was a favorite film location of John Ford who was obsessed by its untamed and individualistic nature. Monument Valley site is explored on a physical, psychological, and social level. Scenery is an important character of the Classic American Western and none so more true then in The Searchers(1956).

Another major motif in The Searchers(1956) is redemption. The path of hate and vengeance is replaced by compassion and forgiveness. Its this motif as well as others that makes the story a subtle Catholic driven tale. Redemption is the saving grace for a destructive and negative character like Ethan Edwards. Revenge until the climatic moment takes importance over everything else in Ethan Edwards life. Redemption is one motif from The Searchers(1956) that influenced Scorsese and Schrader.

Martin Pawley goes with Ethan Edwards on revenge pledge as way of following path of fealty. The moment of Ethan picking up his niece and holding her with compassion is a tender one. Jeffrey Hunter as Martin Pawley provides a nice foil to John Wayne's Ethan Edwards. Cinematography in The Searchers(1956) is forceful and graceful. In time The Searchers takes place, drifters like Ethan Edwards are dime a dozen but by the period depicted in films of Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinaph, they are nearly extinct. The Searchers(1956) is a milestone in both American and World cinema.