Review of The Searchers (1956) by Chris H — 01 Dec 2013

One of the most disappointing and overrated movies I've seen. John Wayne, himself vocal about being more a persona than an actor, actually is one of its best parts giving one of his best performances. It's difficult to forgive a movie where the non-actor shows up most of the "real" actors, Ward Bond the most commendable exception to this. Hunter, Miles, even Natalie Wood give dated performances typical of the era for which Ford seems to have no remedy or concern.

Beautiful cinematography and subtly clever shots can't make up for a marginally above average story and script which is nailed to the floor by most of the cast. It is not the catastrophe that Fort Apache is, but it is far from the classic most everyone feels it is blasphemous to deny that it is.

Widely considered the best Western, Ford's best, and one of the great films ever, it stands to me as one of the most overrated in all categories. Despite my distaste for Fort Apache, and the disappointment of Searchers, I'm still confidnent (because of what brilliance I saw here) that there is a Ford film worthy of his reputation, but this one doesn't quite carry it to the extent promised.