The following is an essay I wrote for one of my favorite movies, The Searchers, starring John Wayne, directed by John Ford.

The Searchers, starring John Wayne, directed by John Ford, is, at its core, a movie about race (Levy, p. 1). While The Searchers in fact belongs in the western genre, “in its complexity and ambiguity, was a product of post-World War II American culture and sparked the deconstruction of the western film myth by looking unblinkingly at white racism and violence and suggesting its social psychological origins (Wayne State University Press).”

Nothing has been as enduring to the American nation as racism (Books 3-6, Terkel 204-205). As W. E. B. Dubois wrote at the beginning of the Twentieth Century “Herein lie buried many things which if read with patience may show the strange meaning of being black here at the dawning of the Twentieth Century…for the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line (Dubois, xi).” In a way then, The Searchers is the quintessential American movie. It captures the essence of the American character.

The Searchers is also a compelling story. Three years after the American Civil War ends, unrepentant Confederate Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) returns to visit his brother Aaron (Walter Coy), his sister-in-law and alleged lover/old flame Martha (Dorothy Jordan), and their family. Shortly after Edwards’ arrival, a renegade party of Comanche Native Americans murders all of the Edwards’ family except a daughter, Debbie (Natalie Wood). After an initial search party turned back, Ethan and Aaron’s adopted son Martin (a suspected mixed Native American) (Jeffrey Hunter). The rest of the movie is a quest whose purpose allegedly is to rescue Debbie; however, before long, it is obvious that Ethan wishes to kill Debbie. Finally, after five years, and an epic journey reminiscent of the Hebrew journey to the Promised Land, Ethan finds Debbie, scalps Debbie’s Native American husband Scar (Henry Brandon), and nearly kills Debbie. At the end, though, Aaron softens, and returns with Debbie to her home.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 9:30 am and is filed under Movie Classics, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.