John Ford’s The Searchers, written by Frank S. Nugent, is based on the novel of the same name by Alan Le May. The movie stars John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, and Natalie Wood. In the film, it’s a few years after the Civil War and Confederate veteran Ethan Edwards (Wayne) returns to the home of his brother, Aaron, in West Texas. Ethan’s past is mysterious, and he is neither clear, nor wants to be clear, about where he has spent the past half a decade.
Buy The Searchers 4K UHDNot long after Ethan arrives in West Texas, some of the neighbor’s cattle disappear. While investigating, Ethan and the other men realize Commanches have set up the raid to lure the men away from their families. Returning home, Ethan discovers the bodies of his brother, Aaron, Aaron’s wife, Martha, and their son, Ben. Meanwhile, the two daughters, Debbie and Lucy, have been abducted. A long, at least five years, search is led by Ethan and Debbie’s adopted brother, Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter).
This is a tolerable Western (slow shootouts, no fear of anybody important dying), with a middling mystery (it is just a search for Debbie and Lucy, and the Comanches who have them don’t seem too worried about keeping the secret). Ultimately, this movie is concerned with one man’s ego and nothing to do with the hoped-for family drama. In order for the plot to work, it is imperative that Debbie spends a half hour in which she wants to stay a Comanche, and it is also imperative that Ethan would rather see Debbie dead than leading a Comanche lifestyle.
Why do some characters ultimately change their minds in the film? Debbie simply wakes up one morning and wants to go home; Ethan finally decides he doesn’t feel like putting a bullet through Debbie’s head. The argument could be made, possibly, that it does have something to do with family, that they both wake to the fact they have a family to take care of, but none of the necessary scenes are there to back the claim. Ethan doesn’t want the family split up, but your family cannot be Comanche either. Better dead than red.
Bonus Features:
Blu-ray Disc:
- Archival Commentary by Director Peter Bogdanovitch
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- 1996 Introduction by Patrick Wayne
- The Searchers: An Appreciation
- A Turning of the Earth: John Ford, John Wayne, and The Searchers
- The Searchers World Premiere in Chicago: Newsreel Footage
- Outtakes
- Behind the Cameras: Meet Jeffrey Hunter; Monument Valley; Meet Natalie Wood; Setting Up Production
4K UHD:
- Archival Commentary by Director Peter Bogdanovitch
A beautiful rendition of the original product is presented here in clear 4K UHD. The bonus features are excellent, in part, because John Ford was the first director to ask a studio to create short documentaries concerned with the construction of a film.
