The day "The Searchers" becomes irrelevant? That'll be the day

Sixty years after its theatrical debut, John Ford's riveting "The Searchers," a picturesque western saga about an avenging dark angel obsessed with finding his kidnapped niece yet blinded by racism and hate, continues to enthrall audiences. Repeat viewings provide more than a sumptuous visual feast like the painted Desert Monument Valley canvas upon which Ford sweeps with broad brush strokes; the film also rewards watchers with densely packed compositions featuring colorful characters who could each warrant their own movie. This is also a film that forces us to ask and answer tough philosophical and moral questions: Is Ethan's anger and hatred justified? Is he worthy of our sympathy if he actually wants to kill Debbie once he finds her? Why doesn't he walk through the doorway and enter the house with the rest of the family at the conclusion of the picture? More than your average western, "The Searchers" is an embarrassment of riches – a film loaded with ideas, interesting personalities, and a wealth of talent in front of and behind the camera. Here are some of the conclusions our CineVerse group reached about this movie:

HOW IS THE SEARCHERS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER WESTERNS THAT CAME BEFORE IT?
• It’s less black and white/good vs. evil and more psychologically complex, spotlighting an anti-hero, personified by John Wayne, who has flaws and dark undercurrents to his character.
• Earlier westerns from the 1920s through the 1940s dealt with simpler messages and less complex protagonists, examining themes like man versus nature, the justification of Manifest Destiny, good cowboys vs. bad Indians, rugged individualism, etc.
• By the mid 1950s, Hollywood westerns were delving into moral dilemmas and more mature subject matter; this was the rise of the “adult western” subgenre that was promulgated by several Anthony Mann films like Bend of the River, The Naked Spur, The Man from Laramie, “The Last Frontier,” and “Winchester 73.” The subgenre went even darker with Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns and Sam Peckinpah’s “The Wild Bunch” in the 1960s.
• It explores controversial themes, including bigotry and racial hatred from both whites and Native Americans as well as extreme off-screen violence, such as interracial sexual assault and pedophilia.

HOW IS ETHAN A FASCINATINGLY COMPLEX CHARACTER, AND WHY DOES ETHAN ACT THE WAY DOES WHEN HE IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE UPSTANDING HERO OF THE MOVIE?
• We are rooting for Ethan in his quest to find Debbie, but we eventually learn that, when he finds her, he intends to kill her—not save her—because she has been usurped by the Comanches; she has been de-virginized by and taught to live and speak like the Comanches, despite the fact that she was a helpless child who had no choice. In Ethan’s eyes, Debbie cannot be redeemed or brought back into the family fold because she has become another one of the savages.
• Yet, by the end of the movie, Ethan’s love conquers his hatred, and he brings Debbie back to her family alive.
• Ethan served in the Confederate South, which by this time had lost the war. It’s possible that Ethan is a frustrated man driven by racial prejudices.
• He’s intended to be the symbolic opposite of Scar, yet he ironically parallels Scar in that they’re both capable of violence and bigotry, suggesting that intolerance has no color; it’s also ironic that Ethan speaks Comanche and is familiar with their culture.
• Ethan is also an outcast from society, as evidenced by the fact that he’s framed in the doorway at the opening and conclusion of the film: he can’t enter the house, and is forced to wander like a wandering spirit by the movie’s denouement. He cannot “go home” again.
• It’s been theorized that Ethan represents our past American history and racially prejudiced values that must pass on if civilization is to advance.

WHAT OTHER EXAMPLES OF BIGOTRY, INTOLERANCE AND RACIAL INSENSITIVITY ARE OBSERVED IN “THE SEARCHERS”?
• Laurie calls the Native American female described in the letter a “squaw,” which is regarded as an offensive/ethnic slur.
• The cavalry guard remarks of the white survivors of an Indian attack, “It’s hard to believe they’re white,” to which Ethan responds: “They ain’t white anymore. They’re Comanche.”
• Ethan goes so far as to shoot at the Comanches’ backs while they are retreating, scalping Indians, and even shooting out the eyes of a dead Comanche so that he cannot enter the spirit world.
• The filmmakers disregard historical accuracy and cultural sensitivity, creating some cringe-worthy moments and elements:
o They cast white actors instead of Native Americans in the Native American roles, including the character of Scar.
o The Native Americans are supposed to be Comanches, but they act, dress and sing like the Navajo people.
o Stereotypical tom tom drums are played in the background.
o Ford uses one older Native American extra in three different nonspeaking Comanche parts, which suggests that American audiences can’t tell the difference and that all Indians resemble each other.
o As was stock and trade in Hollywood westerns to this point, Native Americans are portrayed as soulless, villainous savages who are preventing the white man from raising a family, making a living or civilizing the old west.
o One could make a case that this film is as insulting and denigrating to Native Americans as “Birth of a Nation” is to African Americans.

FORD DISPLAYS A MASTERY OF “SHOWING WITHOUT TELLING” IN THIS FILM AND SUGGESTING HORRIBLE VIOLENCE WITHOUT ACTUALLY DEPICTING IT ONSCREEN. CAN YOU CITE EXAMPLES?
• Consider the visual techniques Ford uses early on in a montage at the family homestead to build suspense prior to the Comanche attack: A red sunset is accompanied by an unsettling quiet; birds abruptly fly away from a cluster of sagebrush; we hear the anxious barking of the family canine; Aaron announces to his nervous wife that he's going to hunt for sage hens; Martha warns not to light the kerosene lamps; Lucy utters a bloodcurdling scream as she becomes aware of the impending Indian attack; Debbie cowers down near her grandmother's gravestone, which reads: Here lies Mary Edwards, Killed by Comanches, May 12, 1852.
• Ford doesn’t show the desecrated body of Lucy, but a nightmarish image is envisioned by viewers when we hear Ethan say: “What do you want me to do? Draw you a picture? Spell it out? Don't ever ask me! Long as you live, don't ever ask me more.”
• The viewer is privy to ample nonverbal communication from the characters, including the famous close-up on Wayne’s face that shows his visage in shadow.

WHAT DECISIONS ARE MADE BY FORD THAT HELP TELL THE STORY AND ELEVATE THIS PICTURE ABOVE THE AVERAGE WESTERN?
• “The Searchers” is shot on location in gorgeous Monument Valley, lending a topographical authenticity to the setting.
• Ford employs simple, logical framing—he introduces several characters at once by putting them in the same frame together, for example.
• He’s also an extremely straightforward and efficient storyteller. Case in point: the letter reading scene, which uses no dissolves or fades to transition to the flashback scenes; instead, the filmmakers use straight cuts.
• Ford also doesn’t use fancy camera movements, cranes, dollies, pulls, or pans to proceed the visual narrative; he lets his actors’ actions and words propel the story.

WHAT OTHER FILMS DOES “THE SEARCHERS” REMIND YOU OF?
• This classic western influenced a number of later filmmakers, including:
o Martin Scorsese, who used elements of this story in “Taxi Driver,” also a tale of a man trying to rescue a lost/wayward girl and capable of inflicting great violence to achieve his mission.
o Steven Spielberg, who also depicts a child kidnapped by alien forces in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
o George Lucas, who revisited the raid on the homestead in “Star Wars: A New Hope.”
o Paul Schrader, whose “Hardcore” borrows liberally from “The Searchers.”

OTHER MASTERPIECES BY JOHN FORD:
• Stagecoach
• Young Mr. Lincoln
• Drums Along the Mohawk
• The Grapes of Wrath
• How Green Was My Valley
• My Darling Clementine
• Fort Apache
• She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
• Rio Grande
• The Quiet Man
• Mister Roberts
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance