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The Searchers (1956) watch along (Patreon)

Published:
2026-01-25 00:53:49
Imported:
2026-01

Content

The Searchers (1956), directed by John Ford, ranks #12 on the AFI List. I had forgotten, but reminded when checking the list after watching that it had significant leap from its original placement in 1997. (Not sure I agree with this massive jump on the list(#96-#12). But made me very intrigued to watch. To many, I believe this is considered one of the greatest American Westerns. This film was unlike John Ford's earlier masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath, which tackles different themes of economic hardship and social injustice, The Searchers delves into darker, territory, literally. Following a more vengeful, racially prejudiced loner character driven by obsession and hatred after his family's massacre. The film left me feeling conflicted. I am unsure of its ultimate message about racism, redemption, or revenge in the frontier, but I was undeniably captivated by its epic cinematography. Ford's use of doorways to frame characters in this against the vast, unforgiving landscapes of the Wild West created some iconic shots. Perhaps used as boundaries from one world to the next. I loved how it started with the door and ended with the closing image of Ethan walking away into the desert, leaving me unsure of the poetry and emotion than my puny mind has yet to grasp?

let me know your thoughts below!

Enjoy!

xx

ames

Files

The Searchers (1956)

Comments

Bill Maurer

Best Western of all time and my personal favorite movie of all time

Jon Noland

Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese said this is their favorite and their most influential movie of all time. Spielberg said that he has a tradition. The night before he leaves to begin filming a movie, he sits in the dark, alone, and watches The Searchers. He said the entire time he watches the movie he re-studies each shot and thinks about how he hopes the movie he’s about to make is at least a fraction as good as this movie is. Also, George Lucas said the scene in Star Wars A New Hope where Luke returns home to find his home burning and his Aunt and Uncle dead, was a direct influence and an homage to The Searchers.

Stanley Etienne

This film is without a doubt John Ford's masterpiece.

Catchermag

I think some perspective about what this movie meant at the time, and then again in the 90’s, might be useful. Most westerns drew ridiculous caricatures of native Americans whooping around and being the aggressor to Americas frontiersmen. And John Wayne westerns hardly did anything to fix that ridiculous misconception. Was the Searchers the first movie to crack through the heroic cowboy hating ‘injuns’ facade? I don’t know. But for John Wayne, who later famously made public his racist views, this type of movie was a revelation. Ethan was a scarred, grossly imperfect character, and Wayne leaned into it. I’d combine this film and his later western The Shootist as Wayne’s transitional films, like The Unforgiven was for Eastwood. The 90’s also provided a vast amount of clarity on the Native America subject to the general public. Dances with Wolves, Thunderheart, Last of the Mohicans, Pocahontas, Geronimo, Smoke Signal……all helped the country begin to come to terms with their past, both real and cinematic. I think that’s a big part of why this movie shot up the AFI list. The Searchers still portrayed Native Americans as savages, but with a ton more nuance than earlier films. They even used Native American actors for some roles. The Searchers helped veer things off the previous road westerns was on. Would there be a Dances with Wolves without The Searchers? I don’t think so. It’s easy to forget that process comes slow, and along the way you will still have your shades of inconvenient societal stereotypes along the way. That was a lot and it’s pretty surface, but just my two cents.

Toc

Many other Ford (and Wayne) movies I prefer (Stagecoach, The Informer, My Darling Clementine. It's ok, but I like Ford in the 30s and 40s (and 20s) (and teens!) way more than his 50s and 60s work

Stanley Etienne

Loved your honest reaction to this film. Your AFI reactions is what I wait for all week because I love classic films. When you're done with the AFI list there are great international classic films just as good and influential as the American films. I wonder if you can continue this trend by reacting to some of those. Just a suggestion.

Reggie

This is the first time I've seen this film and I think it's esteemed reputation is well earned. The cinematography is spectacular, and I am hoping my local Alamo theater plays this sometime so I can see it on the big screen. There are a variety of very interesting personalities that are excellently portrayed. The dialogue is memorable and action sequences are compelling. John Ford's direction is brilliant, and I can see why this is considered by many to be the greatest western of all time (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly remains my favorite of that genre however). I must say I wish I had seen more of Natalie Wood, but I've crushed hard on her for a long time so I guess I'm a bit biased. Her sympathizing and siding with her captors is basically what is now called "Stockholm Syndrome". It's a real thing and a peculiarity of human psychology. Vera Miles is great as Martin's long-suffering fiancé in waiting. She might be most famous for her portrayal of Janet Leigh's sister in the movie Psycho. I just checked her IMDB page and she is presently 95 years old. John Wayne's performance in the film is masterful, and it is difficult to picture someone else playing this role as convincingly as he did. I grew up watching him in war movies and westerns. He wasn't simply a movie star, he was and remains an American cultural icon (listen to the reaction he gets when makes a guest appearance on a TV sitcom! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7yo_UWNfys I would agree that early black hat / white hat westerns often portrayed people as caricatures, but I don't think this movie qualifies. The Searchers depicted both settlers and Comanche as sympathetic and flawed. It makes for an interesting forerunner to the era of anti-heroes found in the 1960s spaghetti westerns that followed. Great selection Ames! Thanks! P.S. If you haven't seen the John Ford directed movie "The Quiet Man" with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, I highly recommend it. It is set in Ireland and is a great watch for St. Patrick's Day!

Brando83

Definitely dated. Ethan's morals are not ones I can get on board with. But that's part of what makes this film interesting. Isn't everything a product of its time? I was expecting you to be conflicted about this one. This movie is 70 years old now, so values have changed a bit... although I don't think we're supposed to entirely agree with Ethan Edwards. Is it the "best western of all time?" Well, as a fan of primarily spaghetti westerns - my personal opinion is no... but I think it's one of John Wayne's best westerns, and one of the better Ford/Duke collabs. The cinematography is excellent, and John Wayne's delivery is classic. No wonder Peter Cullen based his "Optimus Prime" voice on him.

Toc

Trivia for the Searchers fans: The very last shot of the film, John Wayne does an homage to one of the very earliest Western heroes/movie stars: Harry Carey. Harry Carey would always kind of hold his arm when he stood around. Carey had just died, and his son was in all of John Ford's movies (including this one). Carey's wife was on the set that day, and didn't know he was going to do that. John Wayne watches everyone goes in......then holds his arm......like Harry Carey used to do......and then turn around and walk away. Always gives me goosebumps.

Gardner von Holt

This is one of a very small set of films i have always avoided due to the subject matter. Its so easy sometimes to push things away that one doesn't wish to deal with. Perhaps current events provide a backdrop for thinking this is the time to overcome my reluctance to put myself through things that may be uncomfortable to watch.

Jeremy Finch

I can’t think of a better introduction to John Wayne than this movie. It may be accurate that he wasn’t a versatile actor and he almost always played the same character, but his acting here is undeniably spectacular. The look he gives that former captive is bone chilling and his anger at retelling what he saw in the canyon is intense. Of all the films he starred in, this is the Oscar performance, IMO. Hank Worden (Old Mose) lived a long life and was in many films, he appeared briefly in Smokey and The Bandit as a truck driver.

Catchermag

I keep thinking about this movie and some of the comments, forgive me if I say a little more here. There are two major things that aren’t said with words in the movie, but are extremely important to understanding Ethan. It took me a few viewings to get this, but the inference and what wasn’t actually said is that Ethan is Debbie’s real father. Watching the first five minutes of the movie with this in mind and it’s clear, the tension with him and Martha is palpable. It’s a HUGE realization that changed my view of Ethan’s motivation entirely. Another thing not said but definitely stressed using more careful wording was when Ethan basically tells Martin that there’s no way Debbie wasn’t raped. They fight briefly about it but Martin knows it’s true. To me, Ethan wanted to kill Debbie because of the damage he imagined was already done and couldn’t be fixed. He hated the Comanche, he’d seen what they did when he saved Martin as a child after his parents were killed. He even pointed out it was Scar who KILLED Martins real mother when he told Martin that was his mother’s scalp on the pole. Ethan saw those other women and girls at the camp. They were mentally gone. He assumed Debbie was too. He couldn’t untangle that thought with the hatred he felt for scar, and wanted to put her out of her misery, like a lame horse or rabid dog. Laurie tells Martin that Ethan will put a bullet in Debbie’s brain, and tha Martha would want him to. To Ethan it was the right thing to do. But ultimately, he saw her innocence and brought her home. He wasn’t the hero here anyway, not in the classic sense. Martin was, he was unflinching in his wanting to save Debbie. I don’t think there’s anything heroic about Ethan and there’s not meant to be. He’s a drunk, a confederate soldier who is still loyal to that oath, he shoots people in the back during the movie, he had an affair with his brother’s wife and left her pregnant, and never let’s go if his hate. And The Searchers is a dark movie about revenge, hate, prejudice, and how some people couldn’t move on from it. It’s definitely a film that’s easy to misunderstand because it’s all seen through the lens of an old fashioned sensibility.

Clay F

Glad Ethan decided not to kill his niece in the end. Agree, stunning visuals. Liked some of the dress. Scar (played by a German-born actor in Indian drag) is hard to look at. I like how the movie is dark -- seems ahead of its time. The start of a change in the western genre. "They ain't white anymore." The unlikeable Ethan seemed to alternate between nastiness and reserved humor. “Brute with attitude.” “Get over yourself, Ethan.” There was Ethan's oft-repeated line "that'll be the day.” I appreciate the significance of the movie but personally don’t see it as the best or most entertaining western. My dad liked John Wayne.

Clay F

To avoid a dated feel, I generally prefer post-1965 westerns. Westerns I like that you reacted to include Dances with Wolves (1990), 3:10 to Yuma (2007) (awesome), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) (charismatic duo who functioned well in a trio), Open Range (2003) (charismatic duo; also a teen Diego Luna who later reached fame in Star Wars), True Grit (2010), Unforgiven (1992), Tombstone (1993) (for the Val Kilmer performance), and The Wild Bunch (1969) (not your favorite). Two pre-1965 westerns you reacted to that I liked were A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and High Noon (1952). I hope you continue your journey w/westerns. 3 westerns directed by + starring Clint Eastwood I have nostalgia and suggest: The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) (Eastwood felt a career high point), Pale Rider (1985) (highest grossing western of the 1980s), and High Plains Drifter (1973). A western that stars (but not directed by) Eastwood worth mentioning is Hang ‘Em High (1968).

Jessie Caldwell

There are a lot of good comments here. There are many films that I have loved that would, today, require me to set aside my distain for how women and minorities were treated back in the day, but setting that aside is not possible. So, I can relate to how conflicted this movie made you feel. I grew up in a racist environment, and then grew out of that, and have spent most of my life adjusting to the fact that, while I love my family, I am sad and disappointed that I'll never be close to them. That's how I feel about films like this, I love the artistry and the craft, but I'll never consider them fully acceptable. I think the idea from one of the other comments about how it needs to be clear that Ethan is not a hero, and this film is supposed to be dark and tragic is spot on. But, the overall misrepresentation and dumbing down the true nature of America indigenist people is unforgivable.

Michael T

Ames, we as viewers are *supposed* to feel conflicted about this film. John Ford is showing us just how things were in that time without shying away from all the racism, sexism, brutality, greed, and so on. It's important to note that almost no one is innocent here. Everyone, from the "white" settlers to the indigenous peoples are a mix of both good and bad, of wise and foolish, of honorable and disgusting. Because that is reality, that's the world we live in. Thanks to Ford's brilliance, we can observe these characters while being entertained, perhaps enlightened, and certainly, if we're perceptive, we can also marvel at the artistry on display.

David Stagg

I totally get your thoughts on this movie . John Wayne made about 170 movies some are great ! It might grow on you if you tried his other famous movies . .. There is so many to pick from --- Did you here about his comedy western called North to Alaska ?

David Stagg

Oh I just had a thought . If you have time . Try the John Wayne movie McClintock ! Its very fun ! thanks -- Its so funny --

Bill Maurer

Just watched your reaction to "The Searchers" last night. It was the 70th anniversary of the release of the movie and it kinda made sense to watch it again on its anniversary. To me it is my all time favorite movie. It has inspired current and past directors like Spielberg, David Lean (supposedly he watched this movie repeatedly before filming "Lawrence of Arabia" for inspiration). I understand and appreciate you going kinda of "so-so" on it, to each its own and I like your honestly on it. Some things you may not have known. It was based, loosely, on a true story about the abduction of "Cynthia Ann Parker" a young woman who was abducted by the Comanche and spent over 20 years living with them till found by Texas Rangers. It was filmed in Monument Valley, Arizona. They even named the most prominent point in the Park "John Ford Point" for all the films he made there. The winter scenes (Buffalo hunt and onwards) was filmed in Alberta, Canada. John Wayne's famous line "That'll be the Day" inspired Buddy Holly to write his most famous song titled, "That'll be the Day". Holly watched "The Searchers" in a movie theatre in Lubbock, Texas and next day started writing the song with some of his other bandmates. If you want to watch other John Wayne movies I would recommend "Fort Apache", also directed by John Ford and starring Hendy Fonda and Shirley Temple. "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" is also another John Ford movie with Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne. Both do not have a lot of reactions to it. Thanks again, love you channel and still need to watch "Spartacus" and "The Outlaw Josey Wales".