The Searchers 1956 Wow

I can remember the impact this film made on me when I first saw it, back in my 20's or so. What?? - John Wayne's supposed to be the good guy! I think I'd only ever seen his war films before that, which I did not like at all. But some of his westerns were great. I think my favorite is Red River. I'm also inordinately fond of Rio Bravo, although I think that's due more to the surprisingly good Dean Martin. But yeah, The Searchers is epic.

 

Agree! When I was a kid I loved watching John Wayne movies with my dad.

My dad is gone now. When I watch a John Wayne movie now it’s like seeing an old friend.

 

Warner has a great triple-feature BD - The Searchers, The Wild Bunch and How the West Was Won.

 

Not just a great western, it is a great film full stop.
Incredibly it didn't even make the nominations for best film at the Oscars and in fact it didn't make it into any of the categories... Had John Ford p****d the Academy off in some way? I find it hard to believe it wasn't worthy of a nomination, especially for the Cinematography.

My favorite John Wayne movie although I do really like the Cavalry Trilogy. IMHO John Wayne never quite looked right in a role where he wasn't either a 'cowboy' or a cavalryman. Honorable exception being the Quiet Man.

 

Ford's popularity suffered in 1955 when he clashed violently with Henry Fonda over "Mr. Roberts". Ford may have suffered a nervous breakdown and Fonda never spoke to Ford again. Fonda thought Ford turned "Mr. Roberts" into an all out comedy throwing much of the film to Jack Lemmon's "Ensign Pulver" resulting in Lemmon taking home his first Oscar. Ford thought Fonda, James Cagney and William Powell were all too old for their roles thus choosing to showcase the young Jack Lemmon.

That Ford came back in less than a year to make "The Searchers" just illustrates how remarkable a director he was.

 

Haven't we all had moments when we thought we saw "Mary" but it was someone who killed her wearing her dress?

 

I suspect with westerns back then it's rather like the Oscars are today with the sci fi/fantasy/super hero genres ... they're often considered too lowbrow for best picture nominations. Lots of good movies get overlooked, alas.

 

I saw The Searchers on VHS when I was a kid and couldn’t understand why my Dad thought it was so wonderful. Then in my teens the local cinema started doing late night screenings of classic movies and when I saw it this way it honestly moved me to tears.

Could anyone imagine Hollywood making art like this today?

 

Certainly a great film, certainly one of the best westerns ever, and a fine performance from JW. Much better, IMO, than True Grit.

What puts this film over the top is that it tackles racism, and the lead character is conflicted by it. That is why it plays so well today. Of course, the cinematography is just remarkable.

But for me, the John Wayne legend is personified in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, which was done by Ford/Wayne a few years later. Now that is a larger than life character.

I can think of Donovan's Reef (1963) as an example of an enjoyable non-stereotypical Ford/Wayne film.
Also Hatari (1961) (directed by Howard Hawks) is in the same class. Both good films that are non-western/war types. Hatari is pretty awesome because is was filmed in Africa in '61, that makes is special.

 

WOW! that was my first thought as well when I saw the thread title! LOL...my brain got confused! hUh?

 

One of the Duke's best.

 

Yep, one of the best westerns ever made. Hell, one of the best films ever made. There is a lot of symbolism/ metaphors in the movie. The director was a master.

Now go watch “Shane”

 

EXCELLENT movie!

 

Another great and often unsung Ford film with Wayne is They Were Expendable.

 

Maybe, but in the same year at the Oscars 'Stagecoach to Fury' was nominated in the Best Cinematography category (albeit the 'Black and White one), which is a western. The following year 'The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral' got nominated in a couple of categories. But I do agree with your general point.
It just seems really odd that a film which is now so revered didn't get even one single nomination. I can understand it maybe not winning an award but to be not even in the mix... Whilst we can

 

Shane's a strange one: the director making a statement on the myth of the Wester. First, star a non-Western actor who looks too short; dress him in prissy buckskins to align him with the Wilderness but have him help the farmer eradicate that one last element of the wilderness (the stump) from his land; make him a Southerner (like Wayne in The Searchers) because though he's gunfighter, he has a touch of the Southern gentleman about him (and it'll shift a few units down South); flood the land to create that garden in the Wilderness look; have an evil Northern SOB in a black hat as the villain and stage a gunfight between white buckskins and black hat; have the 'hero' ride off back to the Wilderness (but wounded to show vulnerability and emphasise his Christ-like status) because there ain't no place him for him now civilisation has arrived and you don't want to give the kid the notion that violence is the right way to solve things. Then remake as Pale Rider but with a supernatural tone; then remake as Terminator 2.

 

Indeed, go watch The Green Berets

 

Not to mention 'The Greatest Story Ever Told'.

 

The one JW movie that I have watched countless times. "Think back, pilgrim".

 

Also pretty funny watching his cameo in "How The West Was Won" (General Sherman).

 

The book did it better. One of my favorite novels.

 

Great heartbreaking movie....I am a huge John Ford fan (watch The Long Voyage Home... gets under my skin)
I am single and date sometimes, and the communication sometimes is not all that it could be (usually because I am on some insane flight of fantasy, and the woman is thinking about Olive Garden), and this line always comes to mind, and I want to say it EXACTLY LIKE THIS.....!

 

I think you are lost... that is the "music" forum

 

Not perfect..really damn good though.. I wince hard at some of the Indian stuff comes on, humor falls flat... though thankfully it doesn't last long....music is wonderful..........

 

But you have to agree he was stunning as Genghis Khan!