The most majestic and greatest of all westerns. It's Ford's darkest, most complex work, with the Duke's performance as the haunted Ethan Edwards one of his finest.
A film of iconic stature, an influence and inspiration for many filmmakers. Ravishing technicolor photography from Winton C. Hoch and one of the most famous closing shots in screen history. Essential viewing.
Documentaries: Introduction by Patrick Wayne. 'Searchers: An Appreciation', 'A Turning of the Earth: John Ford, John Wayne and The Searchers', 'Behind the Cameras', 'Meet Jeffrey Hunter', 'Monument Valley', 'Meet Natalie Wood
Based on the novel by Alan LeMay, this loving Western celebrates the talents of the larger-than-life Ford-Wayne partnership at the peak of their careers. Wayne is Etha... more >
Based on the novel by Alan LeMay, this loving Western celebrates the talents of the larger-than-life Ford-Wayne partnership at the peak of their careers. Wayne is Ethan Edwards, a hard-bitten, ex-confederate soldier returning home to his brother’s family after a long absence. His arrival seems mysterious and the man withdrawn, but Ethan’s agenda becomes clear one night when his family are massacred and his niece kidnapped by Comanche Indians. Not surrendering to hunger, thirst, loneliness or the elements, his obsessive, five-year quest to find her leads him to something which he did not expect to find - his own humanity. Ford’s film is philosophical, melancholy, and its searing colours throw the viewer into the wide open spaces of Monument Valley, which lie at the heart of his universe. Both dark and humourous, The Searchers also immortalized John Wayne as one of the tallest icons of the silver screen. < less
