Review of The Searchers (1956) by Dawdlingpoet — 25 Nov 2021

I enjoyed this Western for the cinematography and some aspects of the plot, the somewhat strong women but it did feel perhaps a little bland at times. Its quite a shout-y film, so if that doesn't appeal then perhaps its best to give this a miss. There are lots of scenes involving male characters fighting with one another, trying to prove each other the better one - that sort of thing. Of course im aware of the, how shall I put it?, non-PCness of such films and I did cringe at scenes where scalps were shown and the idea of the brutal savagery of supposed indians (native Americans) but I can also see that this film may be appreciated as an example of a classic American western too. There were one or two mildly amusing moments present too (such as one when a cowboy is bent over, having to get someone to pull sharp items out of his behind 'did that hurt?' 'no! shutup boy...' that sort of thing).

Its definitely cheesy but its not an awful film - its not great, its relatively good, I'd say. I think I enjoyed more than I disliked it, so I'd recommend it on that basis, yes.