"The Searchers," One Of The Best Films Ever
If you are a person to scoff at movies of the "Western" genre, please do not do so with this movie. This is a typical Western with cowboys and Indians, but it isn't a typical Western with just cowboys and Indians. The story is much deeper and it was directed by prominent American director John Ford, the son of Irish immigrants to the United States. Ford directed many movies, and two other great ones were "Stagecoach" and "The Grapes of Wrath," which was adapted to the screen from John Steinbeck's famous novel. John Ford also had much to do with putting actor John Wayne into the public mind, and keeping him there. For those unaware, Wayne was a super box office draw for decades, even in the last few years of his life. From various interviews and stories I've read about John Wayne and John Ford, it seems it was Ford who got Wayne to walk with that swagger he became known for. Wayne also eventually became the main spokesperson and symbol for the Republican political side of the acting profession, which also included James Stewart, Fred MacMurray, Maureen O'Hara and a number of others, although being a Republican in those days was not the same as being a Republican today, since there were actually liberal Republicans back then, and conservative, even downright reactionary, Democrats too. John Ford had been a big supporter of Franklin Roosevelt, although he also later supported Richard Nixon, but Nixon was no Ted Cruz, either. I'm uncertain about Ford's political affiliation, but he could have been a Democrat or a liberal to moderate Republican.
"The Searchers" was released in 1956 and I don't believe I saw it at the theaters back then, although my father, or sometimes my older brother, took me to see movies in those days, especially Westerns, which were very common and popular. I remember first seeing the movie on television back in the 1960s, but I'm uncertain of the year, and thus I also don't recall if I saw it in color, as black and white televisions were very common in the 1960s, and indeed, most regular television shows were still filmed in black and white until 1965 and 1966.
The movie is set a couple of years after the end of the Civil War and it involves Ethan Edwards, a bitter and unrepentant returning Confederate soldier, played by John Wayne. Shortly after his return to his brother's home, Indians attack the home when Ethan and Martin Pawley, played by Jeffrey Hunter, are away with other ranchers who have gone looking for some cattle thought to have been taken by Comanches. Pawley had been raised by Ethan's brother and his wife after the boy's parents had been killed in an Indian attack several years before. The two Edwards' girls, one essentially in her mid teens and one younger, are missing from the smoking ruins of the Edwards' farm, and Ethan and Martin set out to find them; thus they become, "The Searchers."
The picture deals with racism as the Americans view the Comanches as about as low a life form as one can go. Even the "good" characters are tainted by it, as Laurie, played by Vera Miles, says the girls should be killed, if they are found, because of their having lived with the Comanches. The main "hater" is Ethan, and the sad thing is, the ideas represented in a film from the mid 1950s could still be put into a film today, with some prominent Republicans in the real life Ethan role, and with the target being black or Latino Americans, instead of Comanches. When the head of the local rangers asks Ethan to swear an oath of loyalty so he can deputize him, Ethan refuses, saying he already took an oath to the Confederate States of America. Of course, a little fact like there was no entity called the Confederate States of America after the Civil War didn't trouble old Ethan any, he was going to stay the course. Do you see some parallels to some Republicans today? And Democrats should cringe too, because when "The Searchers" was released, people like Ethan were largely in the DEMOCRATIC PARTY, but at least Democrats changed, ceding many of their racists and haters to another political party, the .... well you know.
Ethan and his type are trying to stop change, including change that involves accepting people who are different from themselves. Ethan has contempt for his "adoptive" nephew, Martin, because he is part Cherokee. Ethan's bitterness and anger are so intense, he is bound and determined to kill his niece if he finds her, because, "she's been sleeping with a buck," a "Comanch," as he angrily and contemptibly calls the Comanches. Of course, the Comanches too were trying to halt change, to keep change from sweeping them and their way of life away, so they share a sort of common thread with the Ethans of the world, but the exact goals are competing, not common to the two sides.
The picture is absolutely stunning in its breathtaking scenery. In my opinion, John Wayne should have gotten an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Ethan, while although the film certainly has some of his Wayne persona, the character of Ethan is much deeper than Wayne's usual tough guy mannerisms and his no holds barred flag waving. If you haven't seen this film, I hope you'll watch it. It is on many lists as not only one of the greatest Westerns ever made, but also as one of the greatest films ever made.
Picture is from Warner Home Video, 50th Anniversary Edition
WORD HISTORY:
Search-This word, closely related to both "circle" and "circus," goes back to Indo European "sker," which had the notion of "curve, bend." This gave Ancient Greek "kirkos," which meant "circle," and it was borrowed by Latin as "circus," which meant "circle." This produced the verb "circare," which literally meant, "to go around in a circle," but the actual meaning of which was "go about, travel about." This gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "cerchier," which meant "travel about looking for something." The word was taken to England by the Normans where it became "sercher," and it was borrowed into English in the early 1300s as "serchen," before it assumed its modern form. The noun "searcher" was derived from the verb seemingly a bit later in the 1300s.
"The Searchers" was released in 1956 and I don't believe I saw it at the theaters back then, although my father, or sometimes my older brother, took me to see movies in those days, especially Westerns, which were very common and popular. I remember first seeing the movie on television back in the 1960s, but I'm uncertain of the year, and thus I also don't recall if I saw it in color, as black and white televisions were very common in the 1960s, and indeed, most regular television shows were still filmed in black and white until 1965 and 1966.
The movie is set a couple of years after the end of the Civil War and it involves Ethan Edwards, a bitter and unrepentant returning Confederate soldier, played by John Wayne. Shortly after his return to his brother's home, Indians attack the home when Ethan and Martin Pawley, played by Jeffrey Hunter, are away with other ranchers who have gone looking for some cattle thought to have been taken by Comanches. Pawley had been raised by Ethan's brother and his wife after the boy's parents had been killed in an Indian attack several years before. The two Edwards' girls, one essentially in her mid teens and one younger, are missing from the smoking ruins of the Edwards' farm, and Ethan and Martin set out to find them; thus they become, "The Searchers."
The picture deals with racism as the Americans view the Comanches as about as low a life form as one can go. Even the "good" characters are tainted by it, as Laurie, played by Vera Miles, says the girls should be killed, if they are found, because of their having lived with the Comanches. The main "hater" is Ethan, and the sad thing is, the ideas represented in a film from the mid 1950s could still be put into a film today, with some prominent Republicans in the real life Ethan role, and with the target being black or Latino Americans, instead of Comanches. When the head of the local rangers asks Ethan to swear an oath of loyalty so he can deputize him, Ethan refuses, saying he already took an oath to the Confederate States of America. Of course, a little fact like there was no entity called the Confederate States of America after the Civil War didn't trouble old Ethan any, he was going to stay the course. Do you see some parallels to some Republicans today? And Democrats should cringe too, because when "The Searchers" was released, people like Ethan were largely in the DEMOCRATIC PARTY, but at least Democrats changed, ceding many of their racists and haters to another political party, the .... well you know.
Ethan and his type are trying to stop change, including change that involves accepting people who are different from themselves. Ethan has contempt for his "adoptive" nephew, Martin, because he is part Cherokee. Ethan's bitterness and anger are so intense, he is bound and determined to kill his niece if he finds her, because, "she's been sleeping with a buck," a "Comanch," as he angrily and contemptibly calls the Comanches. Of course, the Comanches too were trying to halt change, to keep change from sweeping them and their way of life away, so they share a sort of common thread with the Ethans of the world, but the exact goals are competing, not common to the two sides.
The picture is absolutely stunning in its breathtaking scenery. In my opinion, John Wayne should have gotten an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Ethan, while although the film certainly has some of his Wayne persona, the character of Ethan is much deeper than Wayne's usual tough guy mannerisms and his no holds barred flag waving. If you haven't seen this film, I hope you'll watch it. It is on many lists as not only one of the greatest Westerns ever made, but also as one of the greatest films ever made.
Picture is from Warner Home Video, 50th Anniversary Edition
Search-This word, closely related to both "circle" and "circus," goes back to Indo European "sker," which had the notion of "curve, bend." This gave Ancient Greek "kirkos," which meant "circle," and it was borrowed by Latin as "circus," which meant "circle." This produced the verb "circare," which literally meant, "to go around in a circle," but the actual meaning of which was "go about, travel about." This gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "cerchier," which meant "travel about looking for something." The word was taken to England by the Normans where it became "sercher," and it was borrowed into English in the early 1300s as "serchen," before it assumed its modern form. The noun "searcher" was derived from the verb seemingly a bit later in the 1300s.
Labels: American Indians, anger, conservatism, English, etymology, French, Greek, Irish-Americans, Jeffrey Hunter, John Ford, John Wayne, Latin, movies, Native Americans, racism, Vera Miles, westerns
posted by Randy at 4:13 PM
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