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“The Searchers” (1956)
C.V. Whitney Pictures, Warner Brothers Pictures
Directed by John Ford
Screenplay by Frank S. NugentFrom “The Searchers” by Alan Le May
Cinematography by Winton C. Hoch
Music by Max Steiner
Location – Partially filmed at Monument Valley, Utah
Starring John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, Natalie Wood, Henry Brandon, Harry Carey Jr.
The Technical Dimension
Especially in his westerns, Ford loved to create bustling, busy interiors full of life and feeling, and he was equally fond of positioning human figures, alone or in small, vulnerable groups, against vast, obliterating landscapes. A. O. Scott, The New York Times
The Technical DimensionStock Company
Frank Nugent (Writer) – 10 Ford filmsJohn Wayne - 14+ Ford filmsJeffrey Hunter – 3 Ford filmsVera Miles – 3+ Ford filmsWard Bond - 20+ Ford filmsJohn Qualen – 8 Ford filmsOlive Carey – 3 Ford filmsKen Curtis – 11+ Ford filmsHarry Carey Jr. - 9+ Ford filmsHank Worden – 8+ Ford filmsPatrick Wayne - 8+ Ford films
http://www.directedbyjohnford.com/performers.html
The Dramatic DimensionThe Introduction of the Anti-HeroInference
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/457977/Searchers-The-Movie-Clip-Texas-1868.html
The Dramatic DimensionThe Introduction of the Anti-HeroInference
Three year absence
Quantities of gold
The medal Ethan Edwards gives to Debbie is not a Confederate or Union Army medal. It is the Order of St. Guadalupe, the second highest award of the Mexicans at the time (equivalent to the Distinguished Service Cross), a French medal awarded to mercenary soldiers who fought between 1865 and 1867 for the Emperor Maximilian of Mexico. This medal implies Ethan served in the French Mexican Expedition during his mysterious three year absence and also explains his fluency in Spanish.Many Confederates went south after the war and as a Horse Artillery Sergeant (red SGT stripes with yellow britches stripes) he would have been highly paid.
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/457977/Searchers-The-Movie-Clip-Texas-1868.html
The Dramatic DimensionRacism as Character Trait
Is the film intended to endorse their attitudes, or to dramatize and regret them? Today we see it through enlightened eyes, but in 1956 many audiences accepted its harsh view of Indians.Roger Ebert
http://www.brentonpriestley.com/writing/searchers.htm
The Dramatic DimensionRacism as Character Trait
Ethan Edwards, fierce, alone, a defeated soldier with no role in peacetime, is one of the most compelling characters Ford and Wayne ever created (they worked together on 14 films). Did they know how vile Ethan's attitudes were? I would argue that they did, because Wayne was in his personal life notably free of racial prejudice, and because Ford made films with more sympathetic views of Indians. This is not the instinctive, oblivious racism of Griffith's ''Birth of a Nation.'’Roger Ebert
With a lot of blacks, there’s quite a bit of resentment along with their dissent, and possibly rightfully so. But we can’t all of a sudden get down on our knees and turn everything over to the leadership of the blacks. I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. I don’t believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people.John Wayne, 1971
The Socio-Historic DimensionFort Parker Massacre – May 19, 1836The 1836 Kidnapping of Cynthia Ann Parker (Naduah)Battle of Pease River
Cynthia Ann Parker – Kidnapped by a Comanche war party at the age of nine. Family and community viciously slaughtered.
Adopted by the Comanche, lived with them for 24 years
Married Chief Peta Nocona, bore three children.
Mother to Quanah Parker, last free Comanche chief
December, 1860 - Rescued at age 24 by Texas Rangers during a surprise raid at Pease River
Spent last ten years of her life refusing to adjust to white society, escaping once and being re-rescued.
Stands With A Fist
The Socio-Historic Dimension
Britt Johnson
Born a slave in Tennessee around 1840
Moved to Texas with his master Moses Johnson in the 1850s, where he was appointed ranch foreman with unlimited freedom to perform his duties and raise his own horses and cattle.
October 13, 1864 – The Elm Creek Raid. Kiowas and Comanche killed Johnson’s son, kidnapped his wife and two daughters.
Johnson sought after his family for months, until they were ransomed from the Comanche.
Johnson died in a Kiowa attack on his wagon train in 1871.
The Socio-Historic Dimension
The James Box FamilyIndian Peace Commission – 1868 Report
The testimony satisfies us that since October 1865, the Kiowas, Comanches, and Apaches have substantially complied with their treaty stipulations entered into at that time at the mouth of the Little Arkansas. The only flagrant violation we were able to discover consisted in the killing of James Box and the capture of his family in western Texas about the 15th of August 1866. The alleged excuse for this act is, that they supposed an attack on Texas people would be no violation of a treaty with the United States; that as we ourselves had been at war with the people of Texas, an act of hostility on their part would not be disagreeable to us.
The Socio-Historic Dimension
Battle of Washita River, November 27, 1868“Little Big Man” (1970) Arthur Penn
http://youtu.be/wBZkS0uYrpohttp://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/Little Big Man.mp4
The Socio-Historic DimensionNative American Perspectives
http://www.nativeamerican.co.uk/searchers.htmlNative American Reactions to the Searchers by Tom Grayson Colonnese
Are the westerns of the 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s to Native Americans what “Birth of a Nation” is or was to African Americans?
The Socio-Historic DimensionNative American Depictions
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/315565/Native-American-Images-On-Flim-Movie-Promo-Non-Indians-Part-One.html
The Socio-Historic DimensionNative American Depictions
http://youtu.be/_hJFi7SRH7Qhttp://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/How Hollywood stereotyped the Native Americans.mp4
The Socio-Historic DimensionNative American Depictions“Reel Injun” (2009) Neil Diamond
http://youtu.be/htyEJSEZYNUhttp://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/Reel Injun Trailer.mp4
The Socio-Historic DimensionNative American Depictions“Reel Injun” (2009) Neil Diamond
http://youtu.be/mTVWtlkXDSIhttp://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/Reel Injun Clip 1 Crazy Horse.mov
The Socio-Historic DimensionNative American Depictions“Reel Injun” (2009) Neil Diamond
http://youtu.be/Scp7VWJ5yzQhttp://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/Reel Injun Clip 2 Tragedy and Myth.mov
The Socio-Historic DimensionNative American Depictions
I don’t feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them (American Indians), if that’s what you’re asking. Our so-called stealing of this country from them was just a matter of survival. There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.John Wayne 1971
http://youtu.be/m6BA5cDSiAM http://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/Reel Injun Clip 3 The cowboy.mov
The Socio-Historic DimensionNative American Depictions“The West Wing – The Indians in the Lobby” (2001) Aaron Sorkin
http://www.flasharc.com/bqo 3:30 7:20 17:20 38:10
The Socio-Historic DimensionNative American Depictions“Cheyenne Autumn” (1964) John Ford
http://vimeo.com/13192460http://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/John_Ford_s_Indians Miscegination.mov
The Socio-Historic DimensionNative American Depictions“Peter Pan” (1953) P.J. Hogan
http://vimeo.com/13192460
Why does he ask you, "How?”Once the Injun didn't knowAll the things that he know nowBut the Injun, he sure learn a lotAnd it's all from asking, "How?”When did he first say, "Ugh!”In the Injun book it sayWhen the first brave married squawHe gave out with a big ughWhen he saw his Mother-in-LawWhat made the red man red?Let's go back a million yearsTo the very first Injun princeHe kissed a maid and start to blushAnd we've all been blushin' sinceYou've got it from the headmanThe real true story of the red manNo matter what's been written or saidNow you know why the red man's red!
The Genre Dimension
The American Film Institute defines westerns as “a genre of films set in the American West that embodies the spirit, the struggle and the demise of the new frontier.”
The Genre Dimension
CivilizationCommunityOrder
WildernessIndividualityChaosNatureSavages
HonorJusticeLaw
The Genre Dimension
http://www.helium.com/items/130765-movie-analysis-underlying-myths-in-the-searchers
The film is constantly contrasting the wilderness with the civilized homestead of the white settlers, the Indians who are thought of as primitive and savage, feel at home in the wilderness, whilst the whites do not. The white settler's way of life and traditions, are contrasted with that of the Indians, the ideas of villain and hero also arise, as do issues concerning the contrast between masculinity and femininity.
The Auteur Dimension“Directed by John Ford” (1971/2006) Peter BogdanovichThe Horizon
http://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/DBJF 2 Cut Horizon.mov
The Auteur Dimension“Directed by John Ford” (1971/2006) Peter BogdanovichIn One
http://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/DBJF 3 Two Rode.mov
The Auteur Dimension“Directed by John Ford” (1971/2006) Peter BogdanovichCinematography
http://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/DBJF 4 Under Protest.mov
The Auteur Dimension“Directed by John Ford” (1971/2006) Peter BogdanovichBlocking and Dialogue
http://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/DBJF 5 Blocking and Talking.mov
The Auteur Dimension“Directed by John Ford” (1971/2006) Peter BogdanovichPrint the Legend
http://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/DBJF 7 Print the Legend.mov
The Auteur Dimension“Directed by John Ford” (1971/2006) Peter BogdanovichAnn’s Theme
http://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/DBJF 8 Anns Theme.mov
The Auteur Dimension“Directed by John Ford” (1971/2006) Peter BogdanovichRitual
http://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/DBJF 9 Ritual.mov
The Auteur Dimension“Directed by John Ford” (1971/2006) Peter BogdanovichSentiment
http://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/DBJF 10 Sentiment.mov
The Auteur Dimension“Directed by John Ford” (1971/2006) Peter BogdanovichKate
http://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/DBJF 11 Kate.mov
The Auteur Dimension“Directed by John Ford” (1971/2006) Peter BogdanovichOne Man’s Vision
http://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/DBJF 12 One Man's Vision.mov
The Auteur Dimension“Directed by John Ford” (1971/2006) Peter BogdanovichResonance
http://mtmedia.mtsu.edu:8888/ebowen/DBJF 13 Resonance.mov
The Auteur Dimension“Directed by John Ford” (1971/2006) Peter BogdanovichResonance
Harry Carey John Wayne
Legacy
http://books.google.com/books?id=0tcCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA45&lpg=PA45&dq=the+searchers+stuart+byron&source=bl&ots=SlWD4J2agr&sig=s3c2FBEz-GrxEpKh7oBNmDJTxGY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3mN6T9qnJKbC2wXGy9iMAw&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=the%20searchers%20stuart%20byron&f=false
Inspired by or Homages to The SearchersAfter HoursClose Encounters of the Third KindThe Emerald ForestE.T.HardcoreThe Lion KingMona LisaParis, TexasStar Wars film seriesTaxi DriverUlee's Gold