1956.#96 / #12
Nominated for 1 DGA Award.
A Comanche tribe kills his brother's family and kidnaps Ethan Edwards' (John Wayne) two neices, Debbie (Lana and Natalie Wood) and Lucy (Pippa Scott). Edwards and his adopted nephew Martin (Jeffrey Hunter) search for them. Years later, they find Debbie living as one of the Comanche. They rescue her and take her back home.
Eddie: THE SEARCHERS is a paper champion. The story sounds compelling and suspenseful. John Wayne has an impressive track record. John Ford has a knack for great Westerns. And Natalie Wood is never terrible. In fact, she's usually pretty good.
But paper is as far as this movie should've gone. I think it's incredibly boring. Twice, I fell asleep watching it. The story labors along, spending inordinate amounts of time trying to convince you that years have passed. Then, when the story gets itself into a jam from which it can't escape, they suddenly rescue Debbie and the movie is over, leaving you with a general feeling of WTF?. Jeffrey Hunter and (my fellow USC Trojan) John Wayne hold the movie together, especially Hunter's performance. And the first and last shots are remarkable. Beyond that, THE SEARCHERS gets a big meh from me.
Sarah: Though I'm the one to usually squirm in my seat during slow films, I actually did not find this film boring. But I was still highly disappointed in the movie, even more so when I realized that it wasn't taken off the second list (as I had hoped) but actually moved up 84 spots.
This film is incredibly racist. I love John Wayne but his character is despicable here. (I also love Natalie Wood, but again she is miscast here. Fun fact: her sister, Lana Wood plays young Debbie.) He calls the Comanche "half-breeds" and "blanket heads" (this last one is more absurd than offensive) and shoots their buffalo in hopes they will starve. The actor's playing the Comanche are white, but are so made-up to look native American they come out orange, like Snooki.
The worst part about the film, and in my opinion why it should be removed from the list, is that it sells out. Ethan is a racist who doesn't even care that his niece might be killed in a raid. Only Martin seems to have accepted that Debbie is Comanche now. Then, Ethan does save Debbie (while brutally slaughtering ever other Comanche) and takes her home. The end implies "See, she didn't really want to be Comanche Savage." Of course, the violence between the Comanche and white settlers was complicated, but the film just sticks a happy ending on it, ignoring many of the true stories about captives.
This film is incredibly racist. I love John Wayne but his character is despicable here. (I also love Natalie Wood, but again she is miscast here. Fun fact: her sister, Lana Wood plays young Debbie.) He calls the Comanche "half-breeds" and "blanket heads" (this last one is more absurd than offensive) and shoots their buffalo in hopes they will starve. The actor's playing the Comanche are white, but are so made-up to look native American they come out orange, like Snooki.
The worst part about the film, and in my opinion why it should be removed from the list, is that it sells out. Ethan is a racist who doesn't even care that his niece might be killed in a raid. Only Martin seems to have accepted that Debbie is Comanche now. Then, Ethan does save Debbie (while brutally slaughtering ever other Comanche) and takes her home. The end implies "See, she didn't really want to be Comanche Savage." Of course, the violence between the Comanche and white settlers was complicated, but the film just sticks a happy ending on it, ignoring many of the true stories about captives.Why You Should See It: Any scene involving Martin and Laurie Jorgenson (Vera Miles) is pretty hilarious.
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