Can anyone explain to me why The Searchers with John Wayne is supposed to be a great film?
Thin plot, laughable scenery, lousing acting (featuring ludicrous “Injuns”), etc.
Per Wikipedia, “since its release, it has come to be considered a masterpiece, and one of the greatest and most influential films ever made” and goes on to list the various awards, etc. it has won.
I don’t see it, can someone explain?
You can’t explain Art.
I don’t consider it to be that great. I think at the time it was made it was a more serious Western than was typically made, both more serious dramatically and in the subject matter. I don’t consider the performances stellar though, pretty wooden acting throughout.
It’s definitely overrated. Here’s a good explanation as to why it has so much acclaim, as well as pointing out the many flaws.
I’m not a fan. Ford and Wayne did far better things (She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Stagecoach), but The Searchers just tries to hard to be Important. Because it kicks you in the groin with its meaning, people think it says something.
It’s OK, but if I’m looking for a great western, there are so many others to choose from, both from Ford and from Howard Hawks.
I’m curious to know how scenery can be “laughable”…especially for something that was shot on location. Do you go to Monument Valley and say “Ha! You call that scenery?? I mock your buttes and mesas!”
Agree. Especially the aforementioned She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.
Enlightening article, thanks.
I thought it looked phony. Maybe it was the Technicolor. Or the Vista Vision.
the actor wayne director hawkes were at the top during that time and the racial aspect was timely and it was based on a very well received book … that of course the screenplay left out 90 percent of …
I only subjected myself to the movie once, 10 years ago, but here’s what I recall about the scenery:
Certain scenes are shot on spectacular locations, others backlot and/or artificial sets. So, within one sequence, we might see some actors on their obviously studio stage of a cabin’s back porch, and then cut to their view of the real sunset in Monument Valley. The obvious fakeness of one against the obvious real beauty of the other was jarring to say the least.
Additionally, there is very bad continuity with scenes going from dusk to high noon in moments and so on.
I’ve hated the movie from the first time I saw it. And the thing I hate most is the main point.
Wayne spends what, two years tracking the girl, with his only plan to kill her because she’d had sex (in reality, raped) with Indians. He couldn’t rescue her, he couldn’t kill the “injuns” that took her, he couldn’t just let it go, nope, he HAD to kill her. That’s right out of Muslim stereotype #1 - honor killings as a standard b behavior.
Even if he changed his mind at the end, I can’t forgive Wayne’s character. The rest of the problems pale in comparison.
You’re not supposed to forgive his character. He is completely outside civilization, an exile from a world that’s progressing without him. The final iconic shot of him in the doorway solidifies this. Everyone (including the audience) is inside the house, but for him to come in at that point would be a transgression. The rest are celebrating but he walks away, framed visually as a loner and outcast.
It’s a butte.
No, it’s a mesa.
And it’s a beaut.