The Searchers 1956 123movies

Watch: The Searchers 1956 123movies, Full Movie Online – After a long three-year absence, the battle-scarred Confederate veteran of the American Civil War, Ethan Edwards turns up on the remote and dusty Texan homestead of his brother, Aaron. In high hopes of finding peace, instead, the taciturn former soldier will embark on a treacherous five-year odyssey of retribution, when the ruthless Chief Scar’s murderous Comanche raiding party massacres his family, burns the ranch to the ground, and abducts his nine-year-old niece, Debbie. Driven by hatred of Indians, Ethan and his young companion, Martin Pawley, ride through the unforgiving desert to track down their lost Debbie; however, is the woman they lost and the prisoner in Scar’s teepee still the same woman the searchers seek?.
Plot: As a Civil War veteran spends years searching for a young niece captured by Indians, his motivation becomes increasingly questionable.
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Ratings:

	7.9/10 Votes: 90,070
	94% | RottenTomatoes
	94/100 | MetaCritic
	N/A Votes: 1115 Popularity: 14.644 | TMDB

Reviews:

_**Overrated Wayne Western with a young Jeffrey Hunter**_

Released in 1956 and directed by John Ford, “The Searchers” chronicles the story of Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) who returns from the Civil War to his brother’s ranch in the Southwest; and to his brother’s wife, whom he secretly loves. After the ranch is raided by Comanches, Ethan and his 1/8 Indian nephew (Jeffrey Hunter) search for the band of Indians to get his captive niece back (Natalie Wood). As time passes and the niece assimilates with the Natives it’s not certain if Ethan intends on rescuing the girl or killing her.

Touted as a masterpiece and one of the greatest Westerns, I’ve seen “The Searchers” twice now and was disappointed each time. Sure, the Monument Valley locations are breathtaking and the cast is great, but the story leaves a lot to be desired. The plot’s excellent, but the way the story is told isn’t interesting and so there’s very little momentum. On top of this we get sequences, characters and dialogue that seem to be stabs at amusement, which (1.) aren’t funny, (2.) are awkward because the main story is a serious drama/adventure in a Western context, and (3.) make some of the characters out to be dimwits (note to the writers: just because someone lives in the wilderness it doesn’t automatically make them doofuses).

Give me “Stagecoach” (1939), “The Horse Soldiers” (1959), “The Alamo” (1960), “North to Alaska” (1960), “True Grit” (1969), “Chisum” (1970), “The Cowboys” (1972) and “Rooster Cogburn” (1975) any day over this mediocre Western. Heck, I’ll even take “The Comancheros” (1961), “El Dorado” (1966), “The War Wagon” (1967), “Rio Lobo” (1970), “The Train Robbers” (1973) and “The Shootist” (1976).

The movie runs 119 minutes and was shot in Arizona, Utah and Colorado.

GRADE: C-

What makes a man to wander?

Upon returning from a trip out to find cattle thieves, Ethan Edwards finds his brother and sister-in-law murdered by Comanches and their two daughters missing. Driven by a hatred of Indians, and a motive of some determination, Edwards and his part Indian companion set off to find the missing girls – it’s a perilous journey that will span many years.

The Searchers is one of the greatest Westerns ever made, in fact it’s one of the finest pictures all told ever made. Its reputation as such is most definitely warranted, directed and photographed with almost peerless precision, The Searchers stands tall as a triumph of cinematic achievement. Plot wise the piece is really very basic, based on a novel by Alan LeMay, its revenge/hatred driven pursuit theme is one that will forever be trundled out to gather easy Hollywood coin, but with director John Ford pulling the strings on this picture, this is cloaked with a beauty that belies the bleakness of the main protagonist’s driving force. As a character driven picture it’s something of a flag bearing lesson for all other directors to make note of, for the thematic heart of it lays with Ethan Edwards (superbly played by John Wayne), an embittered man that incredibly, in spite of his evident bile, manages to keep the viewer from hating him due to the complexities of his make up and the surrounding sprawl of the American West.

The film is bookended by brilliant shots from open doorways, with both sequences impacting to almost steal the breath away, yet these are merely the crusts of an incredibly delicious sandwich. Many scenes here could be framed as pictures to define the classic Western, with Ford making the Monument Valley location one of the best Western characters to have ever graced the screen. Rolling hills and dusty odd shaped rocks are given impetus by scorching reds and oranges that themselves are aided by the everlasting fold of a vividly potent blue sky, all of it dwarfing the characters as Ford adroitly weaves the Civilization versus Wilderness thread. This is a film that positively begs repeat viewings, where each subsequent viewing brings further insights into character dissections and a lyrical lesson in racial indifference, all played out with almost hauntingly poignancy by Max Steiner’s memorable score.

Back in the day the film never won any awards, presumably because the racist core of the film had many twitching in their beds, or maybe because the film doesn’t rely on dialogue to make its points? (the body language and facial acting here is quite brilliant). Perhaps some just wanted a basic Western of shoot outs and shallow characters that barely have time to show some heart? Either way, what we do now know is that The Searchers is revered across the globe and often hits the best of lists formed by those with a very keen interest in cinema. Maybe it’s only one for those willing to invest and observe it on numerous occasions? I am of course but a mere mortal film fan for sure, but really I feel this film is as good an experience as a film fan could have, technically and thematically the piece has few peers, it’s a true American masterpiece. 10/10

John Ford shows us how to make a Western
John Ford is a classic Western filmmaker (though certainly not the only genre in which he excelled), employing the classic Western film star, John Wayne, in perhaps one of the most underappreciated films of our time. Ford builds a thoroughly entertaining movie which explores classic Western themes without necessarily relying on these themes to drive the plot.

Like any good Western, we are inorexably drawn to a kind of Cowboys vs. Indians saga, but Ford manages to draw us into the conflict in such a way that the mere “Cowboys good, Indians bad” aesthetic isn’t really applicable here. While relying on the archetypical roles of the two groups to set up a conflict, Ford is ahead of his time in managing to characterize the Indians as more than “noble savages”. Wayne’s character’s (Ethan Edwards) hatred of “the Commanch” is called into question a number of times, especially in his stormy relationship with adopted nephew and fellow searcher Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter), who we are told is a quarter-Indian himself, and cannot bring himself to find the same sort of hatred for the Indians that Ethan holds.

Ethan was a Confederate soldier in the Civil War, returning to his brother’s Texas homestead after the war. A group of Commanches, led by the ominous Chief Scar, route and kill his brother’s family while Ethan and Martin are investigating a cattle rustling, the Commaches’ diversionary tactic. The Indians took the family’s youngest daughter, and the majority of the film has us following Ethan and Martin in their attempts to track down Scar and take back the girl, Debbie (played by Lorna and Natalie Wood, at different times).

Such a situation sets up one of the many moral ambiguities that make this more than an ordinary Western: the Commanches slaughtered Ethan’s brother and his family – he seemingly has reason to hate them with the almost crazy passion that he does. Yet the more naive Martin cannot bring himself to hate them in such a way, and the split between them becomes a major point of contention when it becomes clear that Debbie has more or less been adopted as a Commanche (the two “Searchers” chase after her for about five years in film time). Furthermore, when the two “Searchers” actually meet Scar, who they’ve been chasing for years, he is presented as a rather intelligent character, although certainly one filled with vengance – he, too, has his reasons for waging war with the likes of Ethan and Martin, and cannot merely be written off a the type of bloodthirsty savage that is typical of the portrayal of most Indians within the genre.

The film relies on enough classic Western material to imbue with the feel with the sense of such pictures. Aside from the question of Ethan’s morality, Wayne plays him with classic John Wayne freewheeling confidence and swagger that made the actor such an icon, and it comes off quite well. We are also given a side story involving Martin’s romance with the hard-as-nails Laurie Jurgensen (played by Vera Miles, best known for playing Janet Leigh’s sister in “Psycho”). The relationship is from a classic, archetypical Western mold – the two have been in love since they were kids, but Martin has responsibilites to his family that stop him from making the proper time for his beau, and his rough frontier-uprbringing leave him seemingly lacking the proper sensitivity for dealing with Laura (though he does, of course, have a heart of gold).

As a side note, this film should prove immensely interesting to any serious fan of the “Star Wars” trilogy (the original one). While those films undoubtably draw a great deal of inspiration from Kurosawa’s samurai films, there is most certainly a great deal (especially in the film subtitled “A New Hope”) drawn from here. One scene in particular (when Luke returns to his farm after stormtroopers have blasted in pieces) is virtually ripped straight from “The Searchers”. Ford’s film is also full of the sort of gallows humor present throughout the trilogy, and even incorporates some rather goofy characters, the half-cracked Mose Harper (Hank Warden) and the incredibly over-the-top rival for Laura’s hand Charlie McCorry (Ken Curtis), without ruining the overall serious feel of the film, but managing to squeeze laughs out of absurd situations (such as a fight between Martin and Charlie) without compromising the ability to quickly return to a solemn tone. Such deft touch, as well as the addition of wise-cracking dialogue (provided largely by Wayne and Ward Bond here) are a large part of what made the original trilogy so successful, and it’s strikingly similar to the type of paradigm on display between various characters here.

Regardless of ranting and raving about Star Wars, however, this is an excellent film on it’s own merit.

No one understands this movie
The Searchers is perhaps John Ford’s greatest film. The character studies are rich and complex and never too revealing, adding mystery and depth. The location in Utah’s Monument Valley is magnificent. The Technicolor is simply stunning. And of course, the story set a standard for all action movies to come. The plot is simple and engaging and the subplot allows us to take a break from the relentless search. John Wayne’s portrayal of Ethan Edwards is memorable. The dark, anti-hero persona gives the movie an edge not seen in those days. Jeffrey Hunter (Martin Pauly) and the rest of the cast give solid performances that are very natural and spirited. All of this is credited to the brilliant directing of John Ford. It is a great movie to watch. It is a great outdoor movie that should be seen on a big screen.

People say that this movie is very racist and stereotype Indians. I disagree. I think this movie is about racism, period. Both races are ruthless and barbaric in this movie. Let’s take a look:

1. The calvary massacres an Indian village.

2. Ethan’s hatred of Indians consumes him. But his hatred has a reason. And he is not naturally racist.

3. Ethan is a loner, hated and feared by his own people.

4. When Ethan and Marty are hiding out in the canyons, they shoot the Indians in the back as they retreat. Not very noble, is it?

5. Ethan shoots three white men in the back during a shootout. I guess Ethan can do it to his own people as well!

6. When Ethan sees a group of tortured white women who were rescued from the hands of “savage” Indians, he fears for the worst. But when Lucy is found, she looks well and cared for. Ethan, upset with this unexpected result, decides to kill Lucy because she has turned ‘injun.’

7. Marty accidentally marries an Indian woman. Although ridiculed by Ethan, the Indian woman is portrayed favorably throughout the film.

8. Marty and a friend fight for Laurie’s love (Marty’s fiancée). It is a civilized fight among gentlemen. Ethan and Marty meet with Scar, the Indian chief who abducted Lucy. Scar realizes who they are but does not kill them on the spot. Why? It is a Commanche code of honor not to kill someone when he is at a disadvantage.

9. Both races are good and evil in this movie. Ethan and Scar are both driven by revenge. One dies in the end, the other continues to live a life of a loner, dead in the eye of society.

There are many reasons why I love The Searchers. It is a very simple story, yet says a lot. It is very entertaining and never boring. Unless you are a meat-head who cannot handle anything except mindless action sequences, this is the movie that stands the test of time, up there with Citizen Kane, Vertigo and The Godfather.

Enjoy! Watch it on the big screen if possible. The special edition 2-Disc DVD set from Warner Brothers is an absolute must. If you are a fan, you will not believe your eyes when you see the new transfer. The film has been restored to its original VistaVision widescreen, color by Technicolor!

On a final note, the last scene is pure poetry. Truly one of the greatest moment in film’s history. John Ford really struck gold with this one.

Other Information:

Original Language en
Runtime 1 hr 59 min (119 min)
Budget 3750000
Revenue 0
Status Released
Rated Passed
Genre Adventure, Drama, Western
Director John Ford
Writer Frank S. Nugent, Alan Le May
Actors John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles
Country United States
Awards 3 wins & 3 nominations
Production Company N/A
Website N/A

Technical Information:

Sound Mix Mono (RCA Sound Recording)
Aspect Ratio 1.85 : 1 (intended ratio), 1.96 : 1 (35mm 8-Perf VistaVision Print)
Camera Mitchell Vistavision Camera
Laboratory Technicolor (color by)
Film Length 3,256 m
Negative Format 35 mm (horizontal)
Cinematographic Process VistaVision (as VistaVision – Motion Picture High-Fidelity)
Printed Film Format Digital (Digital Cinema Package DCP), 35 mm