John Ford's The Searchers is back in a new restoration and making the rounds at revival theaters. This was probably John Ford's best film since The Quiet Man and probably his last masterpiece.
Ford certainly had his high and low points during the 1950's but with this film he finally had his best story in years, Ford as was his custom loaded up the cast with a lot of his favorite actors, the famous John Ford stock company as it was called. Ford also had John Wayne as the lead. Ford and Wayne had been working together since Ford's silent film days.
Just as important as the cast was Ford's film crew. Winton C. Hoch wsa a master technicolor cameraman who had worked on and off with Ford. At times Hoch and Ford had a fairly stormy relationship since Hoch was a perfectionist when it came to cinematography but the results were certainly worth it. Writing the screenplay was Frank S. Nugent who had worked with Ford starting in the 1940's. Most importantly was the producer Meriam C. Cooper who found the property, raised the money for the production and brought Ford into it. What all these men had in common was their ability to deal with the cantankerous and a times abusive director. not always an easy task.
Ford filmed much of The Searchers in Monument Valley Arizona a location he was very familiar with. By this time in his career he knew every place that would feature the best locations while filming. The on location photography is certainly spectacular.
Although The Searchers is a western, the themes of racism, the treatment of Native Americans and miscegenation are present in the film. In one of the only times in his career John Wayne played a racist. This was fairly tough stuff for the 1950's. In many ways The Searchers was a career peak for John Ford who probably should have retired after this film but continued to work into the 1960's
The Searchers is not a perfect film but it is a great one. The running time is 119 minutes.
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