The Searchers is not only ranked at the very top of the western genre, it is usually ranked among the greatest films ever made. It has influenced artists as diverse as Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver), Steven Spielberg (Star Wars ), Jean-Luc Godard (a code name in Weekend), and Buddy Holly (the source of the title for his song "That'll be the Day").
In Ethan Edwards, John Wayne had the greatest and most complex role of his life; an anti-hero, a loner, a racist, who searches obsessively for his niece, the sole remaining member of his family, who has been kidnapped by the Indians.
Directed by John Ford, 1956, U.S., 119 min., color, unrated.
"The Searchers manages to be both a rousing adventure movie and a melancholy film poem exploring the American values at the heart of the Western genre." Ed Lowry, International Directory of Films and Filmmakers, 1990
Ethan Edwards, fierce, alone, a defeated soldier with no role in peacetime, is one of the most compelling characters Ford and Wayne ever created (they worked together on 14 films). Roger Ebert, Great Films
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The Searchers trailer