As a Civil War veteran spends years searching for a young niece captured by Indians, his motivation becomes increasingly questionable.
Starring John Wayne, Jeffery Hunter, Vera Miles, and Natalie Wood
-- 1st John Ford film --
This film, to me, was the classic example of my problems with older films. While this most definitely was a solid Western, I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy it for the most part. It seemed strange that the story and the characters couldn't keep a consistent tone or mood. John Wayne's character finds his family massacred, and then 15 minutes later he's laughing and making wisecracks. He yells on the verge of tears after finding his neice raped and killed, and then suddenly he's in a good mood again as if nothing ever happened. This seemed to be an early example of the family-friendly, everybody-turns-out-alright-in-the-end type of film that may have been a prototype for Spielberg and his disciples.
The plot also seemed to meander about a bit, with only the loose guide of Wayne's search for the girl giving it direction here and there. There were a few shining moments though, like Ford's use of a rapid camera truck towards a character as they make a realization (later copied by Scorsese), some steady tracking shots on John Wayne riding his horse through an indian village wreaking havoc, and also some well-framed sunset silhouettes and whatnot, but ultimately the film felt fake and contrived.
The only other classical Western I've seen is Rio Bravo, and based on my initial viewing of The Searchers, I prefer Rio Bravo. Despite its flaws, this was still a well-made and probably groundbreaking film, most likely considered the pinnacle of the Western genre, and a nice John Wayne performance, and for that, it must be commended.
