Monument Valley Technicolor John Wayne Great Film # 15
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The Searchers 1956 —
I came to appreciate this movie after many viewings. I didn't want to like ANY John Wayne movie all that much, but then I saw gems like Tie a Yellow Ribbon, Rio Bravo, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Shootist and then there is this; the ultimate John Wayne classic with Wayne giving an atypical performance. It's a downright risky one because it is very difficult to like Ethan Edwards. He's a racist who truly despises Indians and is being eaten alive by the believe that his kidnapped neice (Natalie Wood has been raped by a savage. He is conflicted between rescuing her and killing her.This kind of depth in a western? And not an Anthony Mann directed Western (which are for the most part brilliant by the way) but by John Ford? Ford topped himself in just about every way with this his best film.. There are several images in this film that you will never forget. Ford's cinematographer Winton C. Hoch masterfully frames Monument Valley in glorious saturated Vista Vision Technicolor. Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles and Ward Bond are quite good as well. And then there is Wayne. . . his walk, his posture, framed here as part vengeful monster, part hero, a man to be feared; hated perhaps. Long before the revisionist Westerns of the late 60s and early 70s, Ford and Wayne created this remarkable achievement, this masterpiece of film.
#15 on my Greatest Films list
The Searchers 1956 Directed by John Ford
The Searchers 1956 is recommended by ChrisJarmick
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