The Searchers (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
The Searchers
Directed by John Ford
Produced by C.V. Whitney
Written by Alan Le May (novel)
Frank S. Nugent
Starring John Wayne,
Jeffrey Hunter
Music by Stan Jones (title song)
Max Steiner
Cinematography Winton C. Hoch
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date(s) March 13, 1956 (U.S. release)
Running time 119 min.
Language English
IMDb profile

The Searchers is a 1956 epic Western film directed by John Ford, which tells the story of Ethan Edwards, a bitter, middle-aged loner played by John Wayne, who spends years looking for his abducted niece. The movie was adapted by Frank S. Nugent from the novel by Alan Le May. It is a very influential film, inspiring other westerns as well as dramas, science fiction, and even Bollywood films.

Much of it was filmed in Monument Valley, Arizona. Additional scenes were filmed in Mexican Hat, Utah, and in Bronson Canyon in Griffith Park, Los Angeles.

The film was shot in the VistaVision widescreen process.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The year is 1868. Ethan returns from the American Civil War, where he fought for the Confederacy, to his brother's house in rural Texas. No one knows what he's been doing for the past three years (siunce the war ended), but no one asks. There are hints that Ethan has possibly been up to no good. Shortly after his arrival, a Comanche raid leaves his brother and sister-in-law dead, his two nieces abducted, and the family homestead burned down. With his brother’s adopted son, Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter), who is part Indian part white, Ethan pursues the Comanches to rescue the girls.

Ethan soon finds the raped and murdered body of the older girl, Lucy. They continue to search for the other girl, Debbie, for years afterwards. During that time, she grows into adolescence and is married to Scar (Henry Brandon), the chief of that tribe of Comanches. Scar is presented as the mirror image of Ethan from the other side of the cultural divide. At first, Ethan doesn’t want to rescue Debbie; he wants her dead for sleeping with a Comanche. Debbie is defiled in his eyes. Martin tags along to stop Ethan from killing her. After years of searching, they and the Texas Rangers find Debbie. Ethan has a change of heart and does not hurt the girl. Scar is killed by Martin. Ethan returns Debbie to her relatives.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Influence

The Searchers has influenced films as diverse as Taxi Driver, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (the scene of the burning homestead is paralleled by Luke Skywalker's burning home near the beginning of A New Hope), Dances with Wolves and Saving Private Ryan. David Lean also watched the film repeatedly while preparing for Lawrence of Arabia (1962), to help him get a sense of how to shoot a landscape. Sergio Leone, a noted Ford admirer, mentioned it as one of his favorite films and referenced it in a key scene of his film Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), The Searchers was also referenced in a similar scene in the Bollywood film Sholay. In Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, the scene in which Anakin enters the village of the sandpeople is a direct quote from The Searchers. Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist references the final shot of the film. Jonathan Lethem's novel "Girl in Landscape" cites the film as inspiration in its jacket copy.

John Wayne's catchphrase in the film, "That'll be the day", inspired Buddy Holly to write his hit song of the same name.

[edit] Real-life inspiration

The movie is often said to have been inspired by the kidnapping of nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker on May 19, 1836 by a large force of Comanche warriors who raided her family's home at Fort Parker.

She was "rescued" twenty-five years later, also by Texas Rangers. James W. Parker, uncle of Cynthia Ann, just as Ethan was the uncle of the kidnapped girl in the movie, spent much of his life and fortune in what became an obsession of searching for her, just as the movie character did. Unlike her brother, who was ransomed, Cynthia Ann lived with and married into the tribe. Unlike the movie, where the girl is glad to be rescued in the end, Cynthia Ann Parker's "rescue" was horrific for her and her family. She had married Peta Nocona, who, like Scar in the movie, was a war chief of the Comanche, and the two eventually had two sons, Quanah Parker and Pecos, and a daughter, Topsannah, who was taken back to white society with her.

Cynthia Ann was never reconciled to living in white society and made several unsuccessful attempts to flee back to her Comanche family. After three months at Birdville, her brother Silas took her to his Van Zandt County home. She afterward moved to her sister's place near the boundary of Anderson and Henderson counties. She was often locked in her room to keep her from running away. In 1863, Cynthia received word that her son Pecos had died of smallpox, and only a few months later, her daughter died of influenza. Topsannah's death was the final blow for Cynthia Ann. Often refusing to speak or eat, she died in 1870 of influenza at the age of 43.

However, Cynthia Ann Parker's experience was only one of many child captivities that served as historical background for "The Searchers." (It appears to be the inspiration because of the closeness of the facts to real life - but it was but one of many that were less well known) The movie was based on a novel by Alan Le May, who studied 64 cases of child captivities in Texas, most of which occurred in the 1860s and early 1870s (when the movie is set). One reason for taking captives was to build up tribal numbers. Children who spent a year or more in captivity typically became assimilated into Plains Indian culture and often did not want to return to their parents.

Alan Le May's surviving research notes at UCLA point to only one model for the character who goes in search of his missing relatives: Brit Johnson, an African-American teamster. In 1864 Johnson's wife and two of his children were captured by a party of Kiowas and Comanches in the Elm Creek raid in Young County, Texas. The following year, Johnson reportedly ransomed his family from the Comanches in exchange for seven ponies. After that, he continued to search for other captives, inquiring at military posts, attending Indian councils, and visiting Comanche villages. He undertook these missions voluntarily and never asked for any payment. Johnson was one of very few private individuals who apparently succeeded in ransoming captives; most were recovered by federal Indian agents working together with friendly tribal chiefs. Although some historians dismiss Johnson's story as mere legend, several eyewitness accounts lend it credence. He was killed by Kiowas while hauling freight in 1871.

[edit] Critical response

[edit] Analysis

The Searchers can be viewed as a simplistic action story about two men’s hunt for Debbie and revenge for the death of their family, but this would neglect both its humor and its subtle explorations of masculinity and racism. The film begins with a frontier cabin door opening to the wilderness, this scene presents the visual motif of the framed doorway and threshold between the two worlds. The interior represents civilized values and the settled family, whereas the outside represents that of a man’s world. The black silhouette of a woman moves from the darkness, with a shot from a forward-tracking camera, through to the door to see the sunlit landscape. She notices a man approaching, in the center of the frame, riding in from the desert. This type of shot is typical for a Western, although its use in this film is exemplary. Furthermore, as Ethan Edwards arrives home the background soundtrack Lorena is playing. This song is rumored to be a favorite of civil war soldiers and is also a reminder of the lost love they have left behind during the wartime. Its use in the film is symbolic, given the plot of the film, since it has a reference to the family members who have died during the Comanche raid. It may also serve as an expression of Ethan's apparent romantic love for his sister-in-law, Martha, who he hasn't seen for years.

The Searchers conforms to the codes and conventions of a Western, with the desert landscape, small close-knit community and also the point that cowboys live in an age that, whether good or bad, one follows a strict code of honor in which one always tells the truth, never cheats an honest fellow, and tip a hat to the ladies. This film deals with themes that include racism, individuality, the American character, and the opposition between civilization and the untamed wilderness.

In The Searchers, the protagonist, Ethan Edwards has his own strong beliefs. ’Living with the Comanches ain’t being alive’ he insists and sees no moral dilemma in murdering the kidnapped girl once he finds her. The film's greatest virtue is the single-minded determination of Ethan (Wayne) in his quest for Debbie (Natalie Wood). Propelling Ethan on his 5-year journey is a volatile mixture of his hatred of the Comanche and the knowledge that Debbie presents the final obstacle to Ethan's gaining clear title to his late brother's cattle. "There's more at stake here than your sister!" Ethan says near the end of the film as he prepares to attack the Comanche encampment where Debbie and Scar are located, indicating that this is not, and never has been a simple rescue mission.

Certainly a contributing factor to The Searchers' popularity is the fact that Ford's trademark calm style and wide shots are almost thrown to the wind in this film: it contains perhaps Ford's most radical camera movements and setups. Peter Bogdanovich said of The Searchers that "the bold, vigorous strokes of The Searchers...require more artistry than the direction of The Informer." Another powerful factor is the famous depth of character, the best example being John Wayne's actions in the twist ending.

The film can be interpreted as a subtle critique of the sort of Westerns that Wayne normally appeared in (although Wayne himself would probably have disagreed). Wayne's character, Ethan Edwards, is shown as a brooding and disturbed racist. The West is shown as a threatening, even slightly sinister place. However, unlike some revisionist Westerns of the 1950s (e.g. Broken Arrow) the Native Americans are shown in a negative light, massacring white settlers, sexually assaulting them, and abducting their children.

It has also been noted that the older characters mostly have Biblical names (further true in the novel, in which Ethan was called Amos--a change specifically made by the filmmakers because Amos 'n' Andy made the name seem too humorous), while none of the younger characters have such names.

[edit] Primary Cast

John Wayne : Ethan Edwards

Jeffrey Hunter : Martin Pawley

Vera Miles : Laurie Jorgensen

Ward Bond : Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton

Natalie Wood : Debbie Edwards

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../t/h/e/The_Searchers_%28film%29_86a8.html"