The Searchers

"The Searchers" is about Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) who returns to his brother's ranch after the Civil War. He wants a place to live and be near his secret lover, his brother's wife. But one day Comanche Indians attack the ranch while Ethan and everyone is out looking for the herd that the Comanche stole. The Comanche burn down the ranch, kill his brother, sister in law, and nephew and kidnap both of his nieces. Now Ethan and Martin, a 1/8 Indian that Ethan help save as a young boy, go looking for these Comanche and want to get back Debbie and Lucy.

This movie is directed by John Ford who is a famous director who won four Oscars for "The Grapes Of Wrath", "The Quiet Man", "How Green Was My Valley", and "The Informer". Ford does a great job showing life after the Civil War. He shows the vast openness of the ranch and its surroundings. Also he does a great job in his shots, whether it is showing the true emotions of his characters or framing everyone in his shots.

Now everyone knows John Wayne as a cowboy, the good everyone roots for but in this movie he is a different character. He might still be a cowboy and wanting revenge but he is a mean spirited person. He is a racist against Indians, lust for his brother's wife, and is a loner, nothing like your typical hero. For example during their search for Debbie when it starts to look hopeless after years of searching, Ethan has no desire to save Debbie, he wants to kill her because she probably has become to Indian and not a white person anymore. He expresses this in a few ways, such as when he is talking to Marty about his will, he says since he does not have any blood kin left alive he will leave everything to Marty, even though he knows Debbie is alive.

Marty is a voice of reason, a conscious so to speak. He wants to save Debbie and get revenge but he also wants to protect Debbie because he knows that Ethan wants to kill her and he will not let that happen. Like I previously stated Marty is 1/8 Indian and his parents were killed by Chief Scar, the Comanche Chief who kidnapped Debbie and Lucy. But when Lucy is killed it is more of Marty wanting to save Debbie even more.

After years of searching they finally find Chief Scar and the final show down is great. When Marty kills Scar you feel no pity for Scar because he deserved it. But when Ethan comes across his dead body, he scalps Scar a way of taking away his dignity. They rescue Debbie and take her back to the Jorgenson ranch to live happily ever after. One thing that was good was how John Ford framed everything, you see everyone welcome Debbie and slowly walk into the house. The door frame is framed and you can only see from the door. When everyone walks in, Ethan is left all by himself and is about to walk in himself but realizes he does not belong and walks away into the sunset. Like a typical John Wayne character.

Overall I would give a 7.5/10, it is not a bad movie and I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants to see a John Wayne film.