The Searchers (1956)

John Ford's epic western The Searchers tells the story of several men looking for a captured relative. Shortly after the film begins, a group of Indians raids a house, killing all the women except a little girl who they take hostage. Over the course of many years, the protagonists attempt to get her back. I was expecting this film to be fairly interesting, but found the plot to be quite dull.

The star of the film is John Wayne. Wayne comes off as somewhat psychotic during the film, but I wasn't particularly impressed. I found Humphrey Bogart's character in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre to be far more dynamic and better acted. The rest of the cast has some big names like Vera Miles and Natalie Wood, but none of them leave any sort of lasting impression.

Overall, I was very disappointed in this film. The American Film Institute calls this the greatest western ever made. If this film is indeed the best American western ever made, that says little of the ability for the Americans to make western films. I find every western of Sergio Leone's to be far superior especially The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly which betters this film on every level. This has John Wayne so fans of him might want to watch, but I thought this was awful as did contemporary critics.

50/100
F

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