The Searchers

Summary

“That’ll be the day.”

We had hoped for years that the day would come that Warner Archive would begin releasing some of their films from the Warner Vault onto the 4K format. The wait is over, and they are starting with one of the most acclaimed Westerns ever made – John Ford’s The Searchers. This is a perfect choice. The Searchers is a John Wayne film that is so brilliantly filmed and well acted by all those involved that even people that did not appreciate the Duke were in admiration of it. It inspired a generation of filmmakers and writers from various different film genres including Martin Scorsese, Peter Bogdanovich, Stephen Spielberg, Wim Wenders, John Milius, Jean-Luc Godard, Paul Schrader, and George Lucas. All of those filmmakers have noted its influence on their work. The American Film Institute named it the greatest Western ever made in 2008. That is a pretty amazing pedigree for a Western that primarily deals with a stubbornly racist anti-hero. 

In 1868, Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) has come to visit his brother Aaron (Walter Coy) and his sister-in-law Martha (Dorothy Jordan) at their homestead in Texas. They have a boy they have raised as their own son named Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter) who Ethan had found abandoned years earlier when the boy’s family was massacred. Ethan is not particularly warm towards the young man when he joins them for dinner, because Martin is 1/8 Cherokee. To Ethan, Martin is a “half-breed” or a “blanket head.” Ethan has just now returned from the war, where he fought for the Confederacy, even though the war ended three years earlier. In that time he had also fought in the second Franco-Mexican War. He has come back with some money to his name. Aaron’s oldest daughter Lucy (Pippa Scott) is dating Brad Jorgenson, whose family lives nearby. Ethan gives his niece, Aaron’s youngest daughter, Debbie one of his medals. The next day, Reverend Samuel Johnson (Ward Bond) arrives at their place. He is also a Texas Ranger Captain. He deputizes Ethan and Martin to help track down some men who have stolen some livestock from the Jorgensen farm. It’s a possibility that the thieves are Comanche. The men form their posse with Martin, Ethan, Brad, Mr. Jorgenson, and Rev. Captain Samuel Johnson and they ride out into the hills. They find a prize bull with a Comanche lance resting in it. Ethan recognizes the spear and explains that the Comanche’s real goal was to draw them away from either their ranch house or his brother’s home. Martin wants to run back to the house immediately, and Ethan warns that this will simply kill the horse. Martin speeds off, refusing to listen. Back at Aaron’s home, a raiding party arrives. They steal away Debbie and Lucy, and burn down Aaron’s home after killing Martha, Aaron, and their son Ben. Martin’s horse dies from exhaustion, so Ethan and Brad move ahead past him as Martin carries his saddle. Ethan finds the house ablaze and the dead family left behind by the Comanches. Martin arrives and deals with the emotions caused by the demise of the only family he had. Ethan and Martin set out on a years long quest to find Debbie who has been taken by a Cherokee chief named Scar. Along the way, Martin carries on a romance with Laurie Jorgenson (Vera Miles,) who struggles with the absence of Martin who is constantly searching for Debbie.

It may come as a shock to those that read this, but I had never seen The Searchers, despite all of its acclaim. I had read about it and seen numerous scenes over the years, but to the best of my knowledge I had never seen the film in its entirety until last night. It was a great experience to view the film and finally eliminate a glaring gap in my film knowledge. From viewing it the other night, I can safely say that The Searchers is essentially a perfect film. 

I could find no aspect of the picture that was lacking. The VistaVision cinematography by Winston C. Hoch is beautifully done. The direction by John Ford has been lauded since the picture was first released and its influence can be seen everywhere. There are exact camera movements in The Searchers – especially the iconic opening shot – that have been used in other director’s works. It is beautifully filmed with long takes and sweeping camera movements. The scenery of the West has rarely looked as good as when it was lensed by John Ford and Winston C. Hoch. Ford drew out excellent performances from his cast, including a stellar performance by John Wayne. John Wayne was an actor who was exceedingly popular, but his skills as an actor were questioned by the critics at the time. In The Searchers, he is playing a truly unusual role in that he portrays a bitter racist who would possibly rather kill his niece than allow her to be soiled by miscegenation with natives. As you can imagine, it is not an extremely likable role. I would not go as far as to call him a villian in the film, but he is certainly a more nuanced and less likable character than what John Wayne had shown in the past. The great part is that John Wayne digs deep into the role and brings it to the screen fully formed. It is a very convincing and compelling performance. Jeffrey Hunter draws a lot of sympathy from the audience in a more traditional hero role as Martin Pawley. His intentions are pure in the film and the actor is extremely likable. He also does well to convey the hurt he feels from Ethan’s constant tearing down of him simply because of his Cherokee blood. It is a shame that Jeffrey Hunter died at such a young age. He could have had a good career. Natalie Wood is well cast as the fifteen year old Debbie who has been with her captors almost as long as her family. Vera Miles is extremely charming as Martin’s love interest. There is not a bad performance in the film, although modern viewers may be somewhat surprised to see that the character of Scar and some other Native Americans were played by white actors in makeup.

On top of the great cinematography, acting, and direction, the film benefits from a great score by Max Steiner. The script by Frank S. Nugent, adapted from a novel by Alan Le May was revelatory at the time. The picture is a Western, an adventure story, a drama, a film about bigotry, and about the hurt we can cause one another with our words. It is a great script that influenced countless others. Here are just a few examples of how The Searchers influenced others:

George Lucas was influenced by The Searchers in Star Wars for the dessert moments on Tattooine. When Luke’s uncle’s house is burned down, the film intentionally calls back to those moments in The Searchers. Paul Schrader has admitted that both Hardcore and Taxi Driver borrows aspects from the script of The Searchers, and if you think about those films, especially Hardcore, parallels can be drawn easily. These are just a couple examples, but if you start looking for the fingerprints of the film, they can be found all over the place.

Overall – The Searchers is a beloved classic for a reason. It is one of the most influential Westerns ever made, and a natural choice for Warner Archive’s very first UHD release. Now we can only hope that Warner follows this up with another 4K Western I want desperately…. Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch. A guy can have dreams, right?

Video

The Searchers was shot in VistaVision and it looks just plain beautiful in 4K. Warner Archive have provided an absolutely gorgeous transfer of the film in true 4K UHD with Dolby Vision in 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The fine detail is some of the best I have seen on a picture from this era. Saturation levels are totally convincing, and the Technicolor has been resurrected through excellent color grading. It really is exceptional work. If Warner Archive takes this much care in their future 4K releases, we will all be in for a treat.

Audio

Warner has provided a DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono track. The track has been cleaned up expertly by Warner’s team. The track makes the most out of the well appointed score by Max Steiner. The dialogue is clear and hiss has been all but eliminated. 

Supplements:

• Audio Commentary – An archival commentary with filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich. 
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• 1996 Introduction by Patrick Wayne
• The Searchers: An Appreciation 
• A Turning of the Earth: John Ford, John Wayne, and The Searchers 
• The Searchers World Premiere in Chicago: Newsreel Coverage
• Outtakes
• Behind the Cameras

Overall Scores:

Video – 5/5

Audio – 5/5

Supplements – 5/5

Overall – 5/5

The Searchers remains a powerful genre-defining Western. John Ford’s opus presented a truly flawed anti-hero in the stubbornly racist Ethan, and John Wayne rose to the occasion with a morally complex performance that proved just how well he could act given the right material and right direction. The Searchers has been written about so much in the nearly seventy years since its release, that all I can do is chime in with the chorus of admirers for the film. The cinematography, score, and script are all fantastic. This film was a natural choice for Warner Archive’s inaugural UHD release and they really showed off with this one. The transfer is flawless and the mono track has been restores wonderfully. This release earns our very highest recommendation.

The film can be purchased at www.moviezyng.com.