The Enduring Legacy of
John Wayne in,
"The Searchers"
Video Courtesy of Lucas Cavanaugh
John Wayne's portrayal in the 1956 Western masterpiece The Searchers was directed by the famed Director John Ford. The film remains one of American cinema's most profound and iconic explorations of vengeance, frontier warfare and redemption. Wayne stars as Ethan Edwards, a hardened Confederate Civil War veteran who embarks on a relentless quest to rescue his niece, Debbie (Natalie Wood), a victim of an Indian attack who is abducted by Comanche raiders who massacre his brother's family. Debbie is stolen away but not forgotten by the settlers and family who loved her. The years pass across the harsh Texas frontier, as Ethan and Martin (Pawley) Debbie's half-brother, played by Actor Jeffrey Hunter, search for multiple seasons and years to find Debbie. Martin and Ethan find themselves frequently locked in a war of words, loyalty and morals, as the navigate a very rough hostile environment, trying save their kin folk. As the film delves into Ethan's love of family, and burning anger blurs the lines of peace in a difficult time as he seeks to recover his lost and endangered family member. Ford's brilliant eye and vivid Technicolor landscapes of the deserts of the "American west" and Wayne's intensity, lights the fire of a tale beyond typical Western films.
Ethan's journey is fraught with moral ambiguity; his initial intent to kill Debbie, viewing her as "tainted" by her captors, evolves into a forgiving Christian act of mercy. This culminates in the film's unforgettable final scene, a masterstroke of visual storytelling that cements Wayne's iconic status. As Ethan returns with the rescued Debbie and miraculously reunites with her adoptive family inside the Jorgensen homestead, Ethan then lingers in the doorway, framed by the wooden threshold like a humble man and a knight of old. The camera captures Wayne's weathered face in profile, with left arm gripping his right arm. A nod to Actor Harry Carey. John Wayne's massive silhouette dwarfed by the vast, unforgiving desert beyond. Ethan perhaps too scarred by war, on the frontier and in the civil war, fades into the background like so many patriots and hero's of the past have done and men with stoic character hold their anguish on the inside. A God given right.
G.C. Stevens
