John Ford’s The Searchers
An evening pause: A very detailed look at some of the behind-the-scenes history for one of John Ford’s best westerns, The Searchers (1956), starring John Wayne.
This isn’t my favorite Ford film. I prefer My Darling Clementine (1946). Nonetheless, The Searchers is still one of the best, and this short documentary will also give you a feel for the actual American culture of the time, a culture that cared about the truth and tried to treat people with respect.
If you want to watch but save time, you can set the playing speed at 2X normal and understand everything completely.
Hat tip Tom Biggar.
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Great film of course. My favorite Ford film is a tie:
The Informer (1935).
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
My favorite Ford/Wayne film is Donovan’s Reef.
When I saw this as a teenager (*not* in theaters; it came out well before I was born), I thought it was the ‘darkest’ Wayne film I’d seen. And while I own a copy, in some ways this is a difficult film to watch, despite it’s quality. Hard to go wrong with John Ford and The Duke.