John Wayne in "The Searchers" (Warner Bros., 1956)
“The Searchers” (Warner Bros., 1956). I caught a screening of this exceptional film at the Turner Classic Movies Classic Film Festival last weekend. John Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, a Civil War veteran who is hell-bent on finding the Comanche Indians that kidnapped his young niece and brutally murdered his brother and family. The film, set in Texas (but with Monument Valley in Utah and Arizona serving as its spectacular backdrop), is a complex study of racism, revenge and reconciliation. Considered by many to be one of the best Westerns ever made, I was completely awestruck by it. The landscape, the themes, and the remarkable performance by John Wayne have made this film one that I’ll never forget. Watch this movie. Also stars Jeffrey Hunter, Ward Bond and Natalie Wood. Written by Frank S. Nugent. Directed by John Ford. “That’ll be the day.”
Stanford Clark 