The Searchers 1956

David Longenhagen III
10/30/2011
The Searchers
run time 119 min
English
Directed by John Ford
Released 3/13/1956

I really thought about what I should write about for how this film relates to what we talked about in class. Usually I just take the easy way out and say it uses montage. This film does use it quite well in the battle scenes, and also the journey of our heroes searching for Debbie. But I thought there was something more one can talk about. Two topics I want to discuss are Realism and discussing the Auteur theory with Ford. First off is realism, now I'm not talking about the

stereotypes of Mexicans, Native Americans, and the Heroic white man. I'm talking about the way the west was in real life. As a history student I have read many historical acts that show basically that anything goes in the west. Law is almost absent, and like in the film, groups would send killing parties and so on. Also Ford shows the homes, and insides of the homes with enough detail to show that the people live with little. For example when in the horse farmers home. John Wayne tells his supporting hero that he should stay and work there because he will have a good life. But inside the home there is no material, they have basic furniture, and clothing to the best standards of the area I presume. This shows that even the way people lived was difficult. Besides the characters the realism of the environments was I thought very well shown. Ford has streams, canyons, desserts, rocks, hills, etc.. This shows the rough living conditions people similar to our characters would have to live with. So realism was captured here I believe with the showing of living conditions, and nature. The second topic I wish to talk about is Auteur theory and how it relate to the director Ford. Well Auteur means author is French, and from what I gathered the term relates to how a director relates film to one's life. An example would be Truffaut's 400 Blows, how he bases his film off real situations he had as a child. Fords life when I did a little research shows that he is somewhat similar to the main character Ethan Edwards (John Wayne). I came to this conclusion because Ford was in the Army and later Navy. He was present at the D-Day invasion in WWII and later became an Rear Admiral. But the sailor aspect is just a part of what I'm discussing. After his services times he returned home. According to many actors and actresses he was very hard on them. He played pranks, and if a star was expecting "star treatment" they were pressed even harder. Now in the film John Wayne's character comes home late from the Civil War, and what do you know he treats every one like they are underneath him. He talks down to Martin the whole movie, but it turns out he likes him anyway. This is shown by the reading of the will. To conclude I'm just saying that the war aspect, and hardness of Ford is apparent in his character.

I saw one article that I really wanted to read and use for this project but I had some difficulties in attaining it. The article was called 'Let's Go Home, Debbie': The Matter of Blood Pollution, Combat Culture, and Cold War Hysteria in The Searchers (1956). Written by Sue Matheson, from what I could gather it had some great topics dealing with races and so on but I couldn't get the whole document which stinks. So I found A new one By Clay Steinman called The Method of The Searchers. His articles is a very in depth look at the plot of the movie and its symbolism. With the plot he tells the whole story from beginning to end, then takes a break to discuss the settings and importance of it. He talks about the interiors of the homes, different character groups, and the artistic use of nature and the

framing because of doorways or structures. He then looks at John Wayne's character and how he is a very savage guy. He uses evidence from the film when he shoots buffalo, and shoot the dead Indian in the eyes. But he also has a heart, obviously there is a love aspect about him and Martha. And the finding of Debbie is related to this. So his anger when she likes the Indians is like she betrayed him causing him to want to kill her, which he doesn't. Steinman also looks deep at the clothing, and even dialog or lack off. He says some things aren't explained fully, but at other times action speak louder than words. An example giving is when Wayne wants to kill his niece and Martin steps in front of her. The rest of the article talks about the building of tension to the climax and other aspects of the film. The article had a lot of information, and many things being discussed in-between the summary of the film. (Stienman).

Again I turn to Roger Ebert's website where his reviews of films are very interesting. In his review of The Searchers written in 2001 he says that it was the bases for STAR WARS (1977), and people at the time raved over its beauty and story. Today the feeling are the same. One aspect he talked about is racism. This is brought up because of the stereotypes of the Indians, and how Wayne's character says whatever he wants and gets away with it. Back in the 1950' the public just went along with it. He then says like Steinman that the movie was based on the book by Alan LeMay. An interesting idea portrayed by Ebert is that this film has two stories going at the same time. One is John Wayne's character is searching for Debbie, but also a love story is being told between Laurie and Martin. Ebert then tells a summary of the movie, and in his last paragraph he says that he was talking about subjects of racism and genocide, and tried to justify the two in the film. This would Have went well with Matheson's article.(Ebert).

These two articles speak much truth for the film. Stienman's approach was a very detailed explanation of the film's method. He spoke much about the use of doorways. And how they capture important scenes in them. In the class viewing I saw this. two parts that stood out was towards the end when the two heroes were running into a cave to fight the Indians. The Other was at the end when John Wayne saved Debbie and I guess decided he has to go back off into the sunset. There is a important part here that shows that he maybe wants to stay, but something calling him.

I also like the visuals. The inside of the door is pitch black, but the land is exposed to sunlight. This might be that if he stays there is an uncertainty, but he can see everything if he is outside. This brings us to another of Stienman's ideas, that the film lacks dialog(not in a bad way), So one just has to come up with these film theories on your own. Roger Ebert's article is similar to the one mentioned above, he too gives a summary of the movie. But instead of looking at many details, he talks about racism in the film. Now watching this film is class sure I can see what he is talking about. But Like any other form of art, or story I believe one must put themselves into the time period or state of mind. It is racist because at that time in history many Americans were. Now the fact that he is a former soldier of the Confederates does not mean that's the reasons he hates people, people in the north hate people too. Even when people saw this in the theaters there was this racism or should I say use of stereotypes in the media already. Cowboys are good, and Indians are bad that type of stuff was rampet, even today like toy plastic soldiers they have cowboys and Indians. But back to the film I think a point many miss is that the human mind or soul can change. In the film we see our hero come into screen full of hate towards Martin. But as the film goes on this changes slowly. At the end of the film Martin reads the will of our hero and sees that everything is left to him. This shows me relating to Stienmen's uses of actions are stronger than words that John Wayne has made a change. He is still a rough man, button the inside he probably sees that his ideas are not absolute, and that Martin is in fact family.

I thought this movie was the coolest film we have watched so far. And I am not putting the other films down, I just thought this was fresh and a new genre. I have never really watched a western before, and this movie blew me away. Sure there was racism and girls are treated differently than today but I thought it was good anyway. There was so many parts I liked and it would take forever to discuss them all. The one part that I thought was awesome was John Wayne's speech about finding Lucy. This was a mixture of feelings and all the actors in the scene were great. I think that line will always stay with me when he says "What do you want me to do draw you a picture!" Besides that the story was amazing as well. Men on a journey to find the most important thing in this world FAMILY. But there is two stories going on in this movie. Martin besides looking for Debbie is also having a love story with his woman. The title of this movie is called the Searchers, and when you get right down to the core of the film these two men were both searching for something let it be love, family, or revenge. The use of montage, realism, and Auteur make this film special. I just pray they never make a remake of it, as John Wayne says "That’ll be the day!" This movie is fantastic and I recommend it to anyone.





Ebert, Roger. The Searchers (1956). November 25, 2001. rogerebert.com

Steinman, Clay. The Method of The Searchers. Journal of the University Film Association , Vol. 28, No. 3, Special Student issue (Summer 1976), pp. 19-24

Matheson, Sue. 'Let's Go Home, Debbie': The Matter of Blood Pollution, Combat Culture, and Cold War Hysteria in The Searchers (1956). Journal of Popular Film & Television; 2011, Vol. 39 Issue 2, p50-58, 9p, 3 Black and White Photographs