The Searchers

Friday, June 1st, 2007

John Wayne’s 100th birthday was last Saturday, but I only got around to watching The Searchers almost a week later.

It’s arguably the greatest movie ever made — but I am not one of the people making that argument. Roger Ebert opens his review with elements that make the movie great:

John Ford’s ”The Searchers” contains scenes of magnificence, and one of John Wayne’s best performances. There are shots that are astonishingly beautiful. A cover story in New York magazine called it the most influential movie in American history.

But the movie is not unalloyed greatness; it’s quite uneven:

”The Searchers” indeed seems to be two films. The Ethan Edwards story is stark and lonely, a portrait of obsession, and in it we can see Schrader’s inspiration for Travis Bickle of ”Taxi Driver;” the Comanche chief named Scar (Henry Brandon) is paralleled by Harvey Keitel’s pimp named Sport, whose Western hat and long hair cause Travis to call him ”chief.” Ethan doesn’t like Indians, and says so plainly. When he reveals his intention to kill Debbie, Martin says ”She’s alive and she’s gonna stay alive!” and Ethan growls: ”Livin’ with Comanches ain’t being alive.” He slaughters buffalo in a shooting frenzy, saying, ”At least they won’t feed any Comanche this winter.” The film within this film involves the silly romantic subplot and characters hauled in for comic relief, including the Swedish neighbor Lars Jorgensen (John Qualen), who uses a vaudeville accent, and Mose Harper (Hank Worden), a half-wit treated like a mascot. There are even musical interludes. This second strand is without interest, and those who value ”The Searchers” filter it out, patiently waiting for a return to the main story line.

A few elements you’re unlikely to notice in a casual viewing:

  • A significant portion of the film’s labyrinthine plot is revealed on a throwaway prop that most casual viewers rarely notice. Just before the Indian raid on the Edwards homestead, the tombstone that Debbie hides next to reveals the source of Ethan’s glaring hatred for Native Americans. The marker reads: “Here lies Mary Jane Edwards killed by Commanches May 12, 1852. A good wife and mother in her 41st year.” Sixteen years earlier, Ethan’s own mother was massacred by Comanches.
  • The medal Ethan Edwards gives to Debbie is not a Confederate or Union Army medal. It is a French medal awarded to mercenary soldiers who fought between 1865 and 1867 for the Emperor Maximilian of Mexico. This medal implies Ethan served in the French Mexican Expedition during his mysterious three year absence and also explains his fluency in Spanish.
  • According to John Wayne in a 1974 interview, John Ford hinted throughout the movie that Ethan had had an affair with his brother’s wife, and was possibly the father of Lucy and Debbie. This meant Ethan’s thirst for vengeance stemmed not from the murder of his brother, but of the woman Ethan had loved. This was so subtle that many viewers at the time missed it altogether.

Wikipedia notes the real-life basis for the story:

The story of the original novel version of The Searchers is often said to have been inspired by the 1836 kidnapping of nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker by Comanche warriors who raided her family’s home at Fort Parker. She spent twenty-five years with the Comanche, married a war chief, and had three children, only to be “rescued” against her will by the Texas Rangers. James W. Parker, Uncle of Cynthia Ann, spent much of his life and fortune in what became an obsession of searching for her. This certainly matches the obsession of Ethan in the movie in searching for his niece, as James Parker did Cynthia.

Leave a Reply