Review of The Searchers (1956) by Kyle B — 25 Aug 2009

The Searchers is purported by many to be the greatest western ever made. To that point, I think they should keep (pardon the bad pun) searching. Now I admit, the cinematography is brilliant...and I mean brilliant. John Ford was always an expert at providing a beautiful backdrop in his films. Unfortunately, the storyline falls well short of the settings. There's very little reason to care about any of the characters. Wayne plays a jerk, Hunter a dolt, Vera Miles a selfish brat, and I can't figure out for the life of me why Natalie Wood accepted this useless role on the heels of an Academy Award nomination in "Rebel w/o a Cause". In addition, the writing was mediocre at best, and there never seemed to be any real flow to the film.

The bottom line here is that the movie is worth seeing for the scenery and because...hey, it's a Western with John Wayne. But if you really want to become familiar with the great combination of Wayne and Ford, there are many other collaborations between the two that were stronger than this one. Start with "The Quiet Man" and go from there.