The Searchers

Overview

Director John Ford's psychologically complex western is about culture clash between white settlers and nomadic Indians in 1868 Texas. When Comanches capture Ethan Edwards' 10-year-old niece, he spends several years searching for her. But if he finds that she has been assimilated by her captors, he intends to kill her.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/02/2007
UPC:	0085391158653
Original Release:	1956
Rating:	NR
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:59:00
Sales rank:	162

Special Features

Closed Caption; Introduction by John Wayne's son and the Searchers co-star Patrick Wayne; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

John Wayne	Ethan Edwards,Lt. Greenhill
Jeffrey Hunter	Martin Pawley
Vera Miles	Laurie Jorgensen
Natalie Wood	Debbie Edwards,Debbie as a Child
Ward Bond	Samuel Clayton
John Qualen	Lars Jorgensen
Olive Carey	Mrs. Jorgensen
Henry Brandon	Chief Scar
Ken Curtis	Charlie McCorry
Harry Carey Jr.	Brad Jorgensen
Antonio Moreno	Emilio Figueroa
Hank Worden	Mose Harper
Walter Coy	Aaron Edwards
Dorothy Jordan	Martha Edwards
Pippa Scott	Lucy Edwards
Robert Leyden	Ben
Beulah Archuletta	Look
Jack Pennick	Sergeant
Peter Mamakos	Futterman
William Steele	Nesby
Cliff Lyons	Col. Greenhill
Chuck Roberson	Man at Wedding
Ruth Clifford	Deranged Woman at Fort
Mae Marsh	Woman at Fort
Dan Borzage	Accordionist at Funeral,Accordionist at Funeral
Away Luna	Comanche
Billy Yellow	Comanche
Bob Many Mules	Comanche
Exactly Sonnie Betsuie	Comanche
Feather Hat Jr.	Comanche
Jack Tin Horn	Comanche
Many Mules Son	Comanche
Shooting Star	Comanche
Pete Grey Eyes	Comanche
Pipe Line Begishe	Comanche
Smile White Sheep	Comanche
Tommy Doss	Wedding Musician
Nacho Galindo	Mexican Bartender
Harry Black Horse	Comanche
Robert Lyden	Ben Edwards
Frank McGrath	Ranger
Lloyd Perryman	Wedding Musician
John Milius	Narrated
Chief Thundercloud	Comanche chief
Max Steiner	Composer

Technical Credits

Frank S. Nugent

Winton C. Hoch

Alan Le May

John Ford	Director,Sound Effects
Frank S. Nugent	Screenwriter
Winton C. Hoch	Screenwriter
Merian C. Cooper	Executive Producer,Producer
C.V. Whitney	Producer
George Brown	Special Effects
Alan Le May	Screenwriter
Bill Cartledge	Stunts
Hugh McDowell Jr	Sound Effects
Howard Wilson	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Danny Daniels	Sound Effects
William Griffith	Sound Effects
Hugh McDowell, Jr.	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Described by the director as a "psychological epic", The Searchers (1956) is John Ford's most revered Western, for its visual richness and profoundly ambiguous critique of the genre's (and America's) racism. Ford pushed John Wayne's archetypal Westerner into the realm of antiheroism, as Ethan's five-year quest to rescue his niece from Comanche chief Scar mutates into killing her when he discovers her living placidly as Scar's bride. While Ethan's lethal racism signals his insanity, Wayne's charismatic presence and Ethan's desire to salvage the family unit of "civilized" settlers carries its own sheen of Western heroism. Still, the famous final image of Ethan's departure into the desert reveals that "civilization" has no place for such an uncompromising figure. Shot on location in Colorado and Monument Valley, Ford's vividly arid Technicolor vistas render Ethan a man of the magnificent and punishing landscape, unable to reconcile his inner savagery with domestic constraints. Greeted in America as just another quality Ford oater, the film was first reclaimed by French critics for the unresolved tensions and evocative style of Ford's narrative, elevating it to the status of cinematic art. With U.S. cinephiles following suit, The Searchers deeply influenced the 1970s "film school" generation (Martin Scorsese and Paul Schrader transformed it into Taxi Driver in 1976) and has since taken its place among the greatest Westerns ever made.