Review of The Searchers (1956) by Ying-Min C — 19 Jul 2010

Some said The Searchers is the best western movie, but I say The Searchers not just a western movie.

The background is in 1868's Texas when the Civil War finished. Ethan Edward just comes home from army. But he can't enjoy family happiness for a long time, Indians kill all his family excepting one girl, Debbie. To bring Debbie home from Indian and revenge for their family, Ethan and his nephew, Martin, take a difficult and long trip to find Debbie and the leader of Indian, Scar.

Frankly, the music in this movie is no surprise and out-of-date and the color is too saturated and unreal (maybe is so-called "technicolor"). But I don't want to lay much blame on it with thinking about how old it is. The composition of the frames is good, showing the unlimited view in the American west and implying different relationships between characters. I really like one shot that Debbie runs to Ethan and Martin from a sand hill. It's beautiful and I think we can see the conflict in Debbie's mind: the Indian lifestyle her living in and her real but distant family. Also I like the silhouettes appear in this movie, too. Especially this one, when everybody enter the door, only Ethan stands outside with the bright and unlimited landscapes, clearly shows Ethan only hometown is wandering.

John Wayne set a typical western hero in this movie; brave, firm, arrogant, but stubborn, just like everybody imagine. Jeffrey Hunter also played an immature Texas boy well. I think it is interesting to put the two characters together. You can see Martin changing his attitude to Ethan from beginning to end: still respect but more confidence, maybe having some doubting in the middle. And Ethan also has complicated feelings to Martin about his Indian blood. I think Ford wanted to make the audience watching by Martin's viewpoint, like plot that Laurie reading the letter from Martin, maybe because Martin is the new in west and not pure white or pure Indian - more objective.

One thing which made The Searchers so special is the way it descript the conflict between two races. By covering the plot they killing Ethan's family instead of sound of horn and showing the plot that other Indians trade with white, it didn't try to make Scar and Indians fully evil. There were two characters, Martin and Debbie, who are both white and Indian making the racial issue more clear. As a hero in this movie, Ethan doesn't insist his belief normally but changes in the end. Maybe it told that the old America needs change too. With such a serious issue, the romance of Martin and Laurie adds some easy factors in the movie and lets us see other parts of western life.

It's such a rich movie and never too old. If you think I said too much, why not watch it right now and you will find more than I said.