A John Ford masterwork that's rich and spacious, just like the gorgeous western countryside that splashes every backdrop. John Wayne plays a flawed centerpiece, a grizzled former soldier with a chip on his shoulder and a strange, conflicted relationship with his extended family. As usual, cool confidence and raw masculinity seep from his pores and he takes hold of each scene with a pair of strong, old cowherder's hands. This is a film that rewards an active imagination, as there's much going on between the lines that, without being spelled out, brands the cast with an unusual level of depth and detail. Unspoken histories flesh out most every character, allowing even generic walk-ons to mosey into the picture at most any moment and cast ripples throughout the entire tapestry. It can be slow at times, and the casting of a very obviously non-native actor to lead the stereotypical enemy Comanche tribe doesn't sit well, but both such faults can be generally chalked up to the dated eccentricities of that era. Take the time to soak it all in, to look deeper than the superficial story, and you'll find a wealth of spoils.

In most movies, what you see is what you get. Everything of significance is either depicted visually or is revealed to us through dialogue or narration. This is especially so in Westerns, which tend to have simpler plots and less complicated characters. But "The Searchers" is an exception, for there seems to be much in this movie of significance that is concealed from us. And just as the idea of searching consists of looking for something, of wanting to see what cannot presently be seen, so too is wanting to see and not being able to see a recurring theme of this movie. Ethan will not let Martin see the results of the massacre; Ethan shoots two bullets into the eyes of a dead Comanche so he will wander forever without being able to find his happy hunting ground; when Brad wants to know if Lucy, with whom he was in love, had been raped, Ethan yells, "Do I have to draw you a picture?"; and Martin accidentally gets himself a squaw, whom he inadvertently nicknames "Look."

But there are things we do not get to see in a more figurative sense, as when we use the word "see" to mean "understand." We keep getting the sense that there is more to this story than the movie is telling us, at least explicitly, for it does leave us some tantalizing clues. For example, it is peculiar that an Indian hater like Ethan would be able to speak "Comanch," as he puts it. It is not as though when he was in high school, he might have opted to take a course in Comanch instead of Latin. This has caused some to speculate that he might once have been married to a Comanche squaw, from whom he learned the language, before the murder (and presumed rape) of his mother turned him into an Indian hater.

The first time I saw this movie, I figured that Martha and Ethan had once been in love, but that Ethan was not ready to get married and settle down, and so she married Aaron on the rebound, which she soon came to regret. In most movies, there would eventually have been a scene in which their past relationship would have been made explicit, but we never get such a scene in this movie, because Aaron and Martha are massacred by the Comanches early on, and the relationship between Ethan and Martha is never even alluded to after that.

The second time I watched this movie, I noticed that Aaron is hostile to Ethan. When Ethan asks about a deserted ranch that he saw on his way back, Aaron says that they decided to clear out and went back to chopping cotton. Then Aaron says that before the war, when Ethan had his own ranch, he could see that Ethan wanted to clear out too, and he asks him why he didn't (implying that Ethan should clear out right now). Martha expresses dismay and Ethan takes offense.

Now, if we assume that Ethan had once been in love with Martha, who then married Aaron, it would be strange that he would stick around if he also was tired of trying to make a living on his ranch. He would then have had two reasons for clearing out, for it can be downright unpleasant to see the woman you love married to another man, especially your own brother. But if, on the other hand, Ethan and Martha fell in love after she married Aaron, and they started having an affair, then his sticking around would make perfectly good sense. And Aaron, suspecting as much, would naturally feel animosity toward Ethan.

And once we accept the idea that Ethan and Martha had an affair, the next thing that occurs to us is that Debbie might be his daughter and not just his niece, for she is just the right age to have been conceived before he left for the war. The idea that Ethan wanted to kill Debbie because she had been defiled by the Indians was already bad enough when we thought she was his niece. Once we accept the idea that Debbie is his daughter, the tone of the movie really becomes dark and disturbing.

When Ethan, Martin, and Brad come across some tracks going off into a canyon, Ethan says he will check it out. This is followed by what seems to be an unnecessary conversation about firing a shot as a signal as to where Brad and Martin will be, wherein Ethan responds that they have to be quiet, and he will meet them on the other side. When Ethan catches up with them, he sits on the ground and digs his knife into the dirt. Later, we learn that he found Lucy in the canyon, and that she had been raped. Now, if Ethan is determined to kill Debbie because she has been defiled, then we have to acknowledge the possibility that Ethan found Lucy alive and killed her for the same reason. If we grant that interpretation, then that explains the conversation about not making noise. Because he could not risk firing a shot, Ethan would have had to kill Lucy with his knife. And his digging the knife into the dirt could be explained as an obsessive desire to clean the blood off it.

In other words, it is possible to interpret this movie in a way that makes it darker and more disturbing than it already is, but such an interpretation could not be made explicit, owing to the Production Code in force at that time. But then, this movie could not be made at all today, because Indians have been replaced by Native Americans, who have not raped or scalped anyone for a long time.

This might just be John Ford's most famous Western film, though right off the top of my head, I actually liked all of his so-called "cavalry trilogy" films even more. It's still an excellent film and is well worth your time.

The single best aspect of this film is the cinematography. In this respect, it is exquisite--a true work of art with color film. While more modern films do have color that is a bit more realistic, no film (other than Ford's SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON) can come close to equaling the gorgeous and "better than life" landscapes. Through the use of filters and choosing the best times to film, there are several amazing scenes that just can't be equaled--such as the opening scene where the lady opens the door and looks out at an oncoming John Wayne. The shot is framed beautifully and evokes a gasp at the colors and perfection of the shot. Also, throughout the film, there are so many different camera shots in wide variety of conditions--from dry and dusty to rainy to showy--like a wonderful tapestry of the West.

Now as for the rest of the film, the plot is amazingly simple, but still manages to engage the viewer. While this film doesn't have the very best John Wayne performance, it is among his better ones and is, in my opinion, better than his much acclaimed role in RED RIVER. Wayne is tough and mean and pretty unlikable throughout the film, but he also shows some change and growth as a character. In a way, I actually would have liked it if Wayne HADN'T changed--this would have made a very, very powerful ending--leaving a couple interesting possibilities (such as his killing his niece or being killed by Jeffrey Hunter's character to stop him). The other characters are fine in the film and it's nice to see that most of the Indians in the film really are Indians (a trademark of most Ford Westerns).

An excellent film, but there are still other Ford Westerns and a few non-Ford Westerns that surpass it (such as THE BIG COUNTRY). Well worth a look.