Directed by John Ford
Executive Producer: Merian C. Cooper
Associate Producer: Patrick Ford
Screenplay by Frank S. Nugent
Based on the novel by Alan Le May
Cinematography: Winton C. Hoch
Film Editor: Jack Murray
Music by Max Steiner
Cast: John Wayne (Ethan Edwards), Jeffrey Hunter (Martin Pawley), Vera Miles (Laurie Jorgensen), Ward Bond (Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnson Clayton), Natalie Wood (Debbie Edwards), John Qualen (Lars Jorgensen), Olive Carey (Mrs. Jorgensen), Henry Brandon (Scar), Ken Curtis (Charlie McCorry), Harry Carey Jr. (Brad Jorgensen), Antonio Moreno (Emilio Gabriel Fernández y Figueroa), Hank Worden (Mose Harper), Lana Wood (young Debbie Edwards)
I am 100% positive that John Ford’s The Searchers is the finest motion picture ever made. (Sorry, Orson. Sorry, Al.) There are movies I like better, for sure, but there’s no better-made film than this one… just as sure as the turnin’ of the earth.
Being the Greatest Movie Ever Made, The Searchers deserves an equally-superior video presentation. Thanks to Warner Archive, that’s exactly that it gets.
Out of all the times I’ve seen The Searchers, probably more than a hundred, most of them were via a pristine 16mm IB Technicolor print. Of course, there’s an obvious leap in clarity from that print to the negatives used for Warner Archive’s new 4K/Blu-Ray set — and a to-be-expected variance from the lab. But I know what this film’s color is supposed to look like, back when people saw it in real Technicolor — which is why I hated the earlier Blu-Ray so much.
There’s a thing that happens sometimes with new scans/transfers of older movies, and it drives me nuts (plus, it’s flat-out wrong). They end up with an ugly, yellow-ish tint to them. That was what ruined the old Searchers Blu-Ray and plagued a few releases of The Good, The Bad And The Ugly — and from what I’ve heard, may have screwed up the latest version of Hitchcock’s To Catch A Thief (1955).
I’m so happy to report that the color on this latest disc of The Searchers is perfect, exactly as I remember from all those viewings on film. It’s bright where it needs to be; pitch black in all the right places. Certain colors really stand out from the sand and the sky — not just the usual Technicolor red. As much as John Wayne faces Scar in his search, he’s also against the land itself. The American West is a major character here, and its importance is made all the more obvious through Ford and Winton C. Hoch’s masterful use of color.
VistaVision was maybe the best of the many widescreen processes that came along in the 50s, and with The Searchers, both the Blu-Ray and the 4K demonstrate just how much sharper it was than your typical film. It’s absolutely stunning here. If you’ve seen recent Blu-Rays of VistaVision pictures like The Tin Star (1957), North By Northwest (1959) or One-Eyed Jacks (1961), you know what I’m talking about. With VistaVision’s deep focus, Monument Valley seems to really go on forever.
The extras have always been a nice part of any previous edition of The Searchers, and they’ve been brought along to the Blu-Ray here. I love the commentary from Peter Bogdanovich — it’s like he knew all the questions we had about the film and made sure they got answered. The old promotional pieces and outtakes are fascinating.
The Searchers is an essential American film, especially for those of us who love Westerns. Warner Archive has come through with a 4K/Blu-Ray worthy of its stature, and I’m so grateful to them for it.
50 Westerns From The 50s.