Directed by: John Ford
Starring: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, Natalie Wood, John Qualen
John Ford’s The Searchers (1956) is a film that tends to be discussed today either in attempts to grapple with its status as a possibly racist work or, less interestingly, as the blueprint for Star Wars (1977). Setting aside the latter, I doubt it’s possible to reach a conclusion as to whether or not The Searchers is racist, simply because I think it’s impossible to conclude whether or not John Ford was racist. Certainly there are racist elements in Ford’s films (including this one), but Ford also made the very nonracist Sergeant Rutledge (1960) and Donovan’s Reef (1963), which goes beyond racial tolerance to depicting complete acceptance. Ford and his work are finally too complex to allow for easy pigeonholing. The question really is whether you assume that Ford or the film endorses the undeniably racist attitudes of the John Wayne character—and that’s a huge assumption that seems to me to not hold much liquid in light of the direction the film takes.
Wayne’s character decidedly hates the Indians, and he does a number of truly unconscionable acts in the course of the film (like killing off buffalo so the Indians will starve). Moreover, his plan to put a bullet in the head of his kidnapped niece (Natalie Wood) if he finds her—because she’s been “sullied” by the Indians—is utterly repellent (it verges on Birth of a Nation-level racism). But this is not how the film plays out, and in the end, Wayne’s character finds himself alone, shut off from familial ties. He’s become an anachronism in a world that’s outgrown his viewpoint. In this regard, the film strikes me as a statement on the passing of racism, not an endorsement of it. In any case, it’s a powerful piece of filmmaking—one of Ford’s best works—and I’d urge anyone who hasn’t seen it to do so—and decide for themselves what the film is or isn’t saying.
The Hendersonville Film Society will show The Searchers at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville. (From Asheville, take I-26 to U.S. 64 West, turn right at the third light onto Thompson Street. Follow to the Lake Point Landing entrance and park in the lot on the left.)
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As an aside, this film is available in HD DVD and is among the most visually impressive films so far released in that format. When I first played it, the image from my large screen hi def LCD monitor was absolutely stunning. Regardless of what one feels about the movie itself, the hi def version is show-off quality. |
 Oct 31, 2007 at |
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Even without HD the 50th anniversary edition of the film is gorgeous! |
Oct 31, 2007 |
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This is actually one of my favorite movies. It asks a lot of questions, and the hero of the movie is a scoundrel. Absolutely a wonderful movie. Also, I don’t see where people get the whole “Star Wars inspiration” thing from I don’t recall there being any farting muppets in the film. |
 Nov 01, 2007 at |
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John Wayne tried to sneak them in, but Ford cut them out of the final version. |
Nov 01, 2007 |
