This movie didn't really resonate with me. It has an okay story, and great landscape visuals, but the portrayal of the native Americans is worthless, many of the performances are over the top (in a bad way), and there's nobody in this movie you can really relate to.
John Wayne stars as Ethan Edwards, a Cival War veteran (for the Confederates), who returns home several years after the war's ended, still wearing his uniform (as he does throughout the film). We suspect he's been up to no good, based on the fact that he pays his brother Aaron (Walter Coy) with a sack full of freshly-minted, uncirculated American dollars. Also he's a jerk.
Why is the movie called The Searchers? When Indians abduct his niece Debbie (played first by Lana Wood, then as a teenager by Natalie Wood), Ethan sets off in pursuit, aided primarily by Martin (Jeffrey Hunter). Martin is a part-Indian (one-eighth, he claims) boy who was raised as a son by Aaron and considers Ethan an uncle. Ethan does not, however, consider Martin his nephew, and repeatedly reminds him that they share no blood relation. Basically, I guess, Ethan is a racist who hates Indians. He can speak some Comanche, which helps somewhat in their search, but not that much, since it takes them five years before they finally catch a glimpse of Debbie.
Ethan might make a more convincing character if he was played more as the racist jerk he is. But with John Wayne in the role, he just seems a bit curmudgeonly. Throughout the movie it just feels like the dramatic action in the script (rape, murder, love, revenge) isn't quite matched by the actors' performances. I guess this is a factor of the genre and the time when the film was made, but it still doesn't work for me.
Although I haven't read it, I could believe that the book is actually a decent book, although I have doubts that it's any fairer in its treatment of Native Americans. The main Indian antagonist, a chief named Scar, is played by Henry Brandon. You might have guessed that he doesn't have a drop of Native American blood in him (in fact, he was born in Germany). Many of the other Indian characters appear to have been played by Native American extras, which is something. But they are portrayed as one-dimensional, universally brutal raiders and scalpers, whose only activities seem to be raping and murdering white people. The only Indian character who rises above this is Martin's accidental wife (he thinks he's trading for a blanket, but purchases a wife instead), "Luk,"played by Beulah Archuletta. Even she is an ambiguous character, since we're not sure if she is a help to Ethan and Martin, or a Comanche informant.
The landscapes are scenic and nice to watch, and overall the story gives an interesting view of the dangers and fears that the pioneers certainly had to deal with. But I just don't think I'll be watching this movie again for fun. I never thought I was a Charlie Chaplin fan, but then I saw some Chaplin movies and realized I liked him a lot. I never thought I was a John Wayne fan, and after seeing The Searchers, I'm not changing my mind.
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