Why did the Comanches attack the home of Aaron and Martha to begin with?

The Screen Comes Alive for Wayne and Ford

James Stewart, John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Andy Devine, Vera Miles, and Edmond O'Brien in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

John Wayne, Ward Bond, Walter Brennan, Angie Dickinson, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, and John Russell in Rio Bravo (1959)

Gary Cooper, Lloyd Bridges, Lee Van Cleef, Katy Jurado, Ian MacDonald, Robert J. Wilke, and Sheb Wooley in High Noon (1952)

Robert Mitchum, John Wayne, and James Caan in El Dorado (1966)

Shirley Temple and John Agar in Fort Apache (1948)

Maureen O'Hara, John Wayne, Ward Bond, Barry Fitzgerald, and Victor McLaglen in The Quiet Man (1952)

John Wayne, Glen Campbell, and Kim Darby in True Grit (1969)

John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, and Joanne Dru in Red River (1948)

Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, and Victor Mature in My Darling Clementine (1946)

Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Brandon De Wilde, Van Heflin, Jack Palance, and Ben Johnson in Shane (1953)

John Wayne, Natalie Wood, Ward Bond, Jeffrey Hunter, and Vera Miles in The Searchers (1956)

Ken Curtis and Vera Miles in The Searchers (1956)

Jeffrey Hunter, Olive Carey, and Vera Miles in The Searchers (1956)

John Wayne

Jeffrey Hunter

Vera Miles

Frank S. Nugent

Alan Le May

An American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother&apos;s family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.

John Ford

The Searchers

Wayne&apos;s Finest Performance, in Ford Masterpiece...

Even if you&apos;ve never seen John Ford&apos;s THE SEARCHERS, you will have, undoubtedly, seen a film that owes it&apos;s &apos;style&apos; to the film. DANCES WITH WOLVES, THE OUTLAW JOSIE WALES, UNFORGIVEN, JEREMIAH JOHNSON, and OPEN RANGE are just a few westerns that have &apos;borrowed&apos; from it, but THE SEARCHERS&apos; impact transcends the genre, itself; STAR WARS, THE English PATIENT, THE LAST SAMURAI, even THE LORD OF THE RINGS have elements that can be traced back to Ford&apos;s 1956 &apos;intimate&apos; epic. When you add the fact that THE SEARCHERS also contains John Wayne&apos;s greatest performance to the film&apos;s merits, it becomes easy to see why it is on the short list of the greatest motion pictures ever made.

The plot is deceptively simple; after a Comanche raiding party massacres a family, taking the youngest daughter prisoner, her uncle, Ethan Edwards (Wayne), and adopted brother, Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter), begin a long quest to try and rescue her. Over the course of years, a rich tapestry of characters and events unfold, as the nature of the pair&apos;s motives are revealed, and bigoted, bitter Edwards emerges as a twisted man bent on killing the &apos;tainted&apos; white girl. Only Pawley&apos;s love of his &apos;sister&apos; and determination to protect her stands in his way, making the film&apos;s climax, and Wayne&apos;s portrayal of Edwards, an unforgettable experience.

With all of Ford&apos;s unique &apos;touches&apos; clearly in evidence (the doorways &apos;framing&apos; the film&apos;s opening and conclusion, with a cave opening serving the same function at the film&apos;s climax; the extensive use of Monument Valley; and the nearly lurid palette of color highlighting key moments) and his reliance on his &apos;stock&apos; company of players (Wayne, Ward Bond, John Qualen, Olive Carey, Harry Carey, Jr, Hank Worden, and Ken Curtis), the film marks the emergence of the &apos;mature&apos; Ford, no longer deifying the innocence of the era, but dealing with it in human terms, where &apos;white men&apos; were as capable of savagery as Indians, frequently with less justification.

Featuring 18-year old Natalie Wood in one of her first &apos;adult&apos; roles, the sparkling Vera Miles as Pawley&apos;s love interest, Wayne&apos;s son Patrick in comic relief, and the harmonies of the Sons of the Pioneers accenting Max Steiner&apos;s rich score, THE SEARCHERS is a timeless movie experience that becomes richer with each viewing.

It is truly a masterpiece!

Theatrical Trailer from Warner Home Video

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYTBkNmY4MWQtMDQxMi00NTI1LTg5NTYtNTY1MGFkOGE0OWQ1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzU1NzE3NTg@._V1_.jpg

Wayne's Finest Performance, in Ford Masterpiece...

Even if you've never seen John Ford's THE SEARCHERS, you will have, undoubtedly, seen a film that owes it's 'style' to the film. DANCES WITH WOLVES, THE OUTLAW JOSIE WALES, UNFORGIVEN, JEREMIAH JOHNSON, and OPEN RANGE are just a few westerns that have 'borrowed' from it, but THE SEARCHERS' impact transcends the genre, itself; STAR WARS, THE English PATIENT, THE LAST SAMURAI, even THE LORD OF THE RINGS have elements that can be traced back to Ford's 1956 'intimate' epic. When you add the fact that THE SEARCHERS also contains John Wayne's greatest performance to the film's merits, it becomes easy to see why it is on the short list of the greatest motion pictures ever made.

The plot is deceptively simple; after a Comanche raiding party massacres a family, taking the youngest daughter prisoner, her uncle, Ethan Edwards (Wayne), and adopted brother, Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter), begin a long quest to try and rescue her. Over the course of years, a rich tapestry of characters and events unfold, as the nature of the pair's motives are revealed, and bigoted, bitter Edwards emerges as a twisted man bent on killing the 'tainted' white girl. Only Pawley's love of his 'sister' and determination to protect her stands in his way, making the film's climax, and Wayne's portrayal of Edwards, an unforgettable experience.

With all of Ford's unique 'touches' clearly in evidence (the doorways 'framing' the film's opening and conclusion, with a cave opening serving the same function at the film's climax; the extensive use of Monument Valley; and the nearly lurid palette of color highlighting key moments) and his reliance on his 'stock' company of players (Wayne, Ward Bond, John Qualen, Olive Carey, Harry Carey, Jr, Hank Worden, and Ken Curtis), the film marks the emergence of the 'mature' Ford, no longer deifying the innocence of the era, but dealing with it in human terms, where 'white men' were as capable of savagery as Indians, frequently with less justification.

Featuring 18-year old Natalie Wood in one of her first 'adult' roles, the sparkling Vera Miles as Pawley's love interest, Wayne's son Patrick in comic relief, and the harmonies of the Sons of the Pioneers accenting Max Steiner's rich score, THE SEARCHERS is a timeless movie experience that becomes richer with each viewing.

It is truly a masterpiece!

An American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.

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