Random House Webster's Dictionary defines art as "the quality, production, expression, or realm of what is beautiful or of more than ordinary significance." No one would argue that John Ford's The Searchers qualifies as art in that it is a beautifully shot movie, making Utah's Monument Valley look incredibly majestic and beautiful. What truly qualifies The Searchers as art however, is contained in the second half of that definition. That is, the film covers ground which could most definitely be considered to be "more than ordinary significance."
Art can also be subjectively defined by how much it is appreciated. The Searchers has been used, and I'm sure will continued to be used, as an inspiration to some of today's greatest filmmakers and screenwriters such as Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Paul Schrader and John Milius. This paper will cover issues that will demonstrate why The Searchers should be considered a true work of art, as established by both of the definitions I have given above.
In order to establish The Searchers as being a work of "more than ordinary significance," one must look at all the different themes that it deals with. These issues are so deftly handled by John Ford, one must could very closely to see if they are even there. This film is delivered as a very simple picture with a very simple story. But within this very simple story are many universal themes that have resonances back to biblical times.
These resonances begin with the simple fact that Ethan Edwards' (John Wayne) brother (Walter Coy) is named Aaron, the brother of Moses, and carry over to the similarities between Ethan and Moses. Moses, after wandering the desert for years, finally managed to lead his people to the Promised Land, and yet was still unable to enter once they reached it. Ethan is likened to Moses in that he wandered across America and parts of Canada for years, was finally able to rescue Debbie (Natalie Wood), and yet was still unable to settle down inside the house with the rest of the her family and friends.
The resonances of the story continue on into the works of Homer's Odyssey and Vergil's The Aeneid capturing the essence of the mythic figure of "The Searcher."
As I was saying before that the picture is a simple one on the surface, it is, in actuality, a film is so complex, that it would be impossible to deal with all its intrinsic themes here. Instead, I will attempt to focus on one particular issue that Americans can most identify with today, the issue of racism.
Back in 1956, race relations between whites and blacks were very strained. It was the time of both Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and of Malcolm X. It would have been very difficult to get a picture made that dealt directly with the extremely volatile issue of racism. Instead, John Ford used his directing strength in the Western genre to his advantage and managed to make a picture about racism without actually making a picture about racism. A very difficult task to be sure, but his success in doing so makes The Searchers that rare work of "more than ordinary significance."
The first thing to look at is the genre used to convey Ford's message. By making this picture a Western, and setting it nearly one hundred years before it was produced, Ford made it much more easier to comment on the social atmosphere of the time. People would be so quick to be offended when they saw cowboys and indians fighting, whereas seeing whites and blacks fighting would strike many a chord in the American viewing public.
The first time we see Ethan Edwards as being a racist of sorts, it is in his dealings with Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter), the man who would accompany him in his search for little Debbie. Though not overtly mean or malicious toward Martin, he is constantly putting Martin down for being one-quarter Cherokee, by calling him such seemingly innocuous names such as, "halfbreed," "blankethead," and "chunkhead."
Though the rest of Ethan's family was able to take Martin in and care for him, regardless of his bloodline, Ethan seems to be able to have no love in his heart for someone who is not completely white. Throughout the film, Ethan degrades Martin not only through his insults, but by trying to stop Martin from coming with him on the search. This can be demonstrated by when Ethan arranges for Martin to stay behind with the Jorgensen's and help them run their cattle along with Ethan's. This is also shown by Ethan trying to annoy Martin as much as he can, such as at their camp out after meeting with Jerem Futterman (Peter Mamakos). Ethan continually builds up the fire at Martin's behest, and then even goes so far as to mockingly tuck Martin into bed.
Other instances of Ethan's racism include using Comanche as a derogatory term (pronounced Comanch), much in the way the "nigger" was used in the 1950's and still to this day unfortunately, shoots at the Indians while they are retreating. One of the most important actions that Ethan takes to demonstrate his racism takes place when he attempted to kill Debbie when she come to tell Ethan and Martin to leave. Throughout the movie to this point, he was consumed with saving little Debbie. Upon seeing her in the hut, and realizing that she is no longer "little," that she has grown into a woman, he now wants to kill her. It seems that in showing this new-found anger, Ford is demonstrating the much of what Ethan's racism is based on, is sexuality. Once Ethan realizes that Debbie has most likely engaged in sexual acts with either Scar (Henry Brandon) or other Comanche, his need to rescue her becomes overshadowed by his hatred toward her.
However, the most interesting thing about this movie, in my opinion, is not how it depicts racism, and how racism stretches over generations and cultures, but how it depicts how stupid and ignorant racism really is. Ford uses a skillful director's touch to subtly demonstrate the senselessness and stupidity of racism and discrimination.
The most important things Ford does to dispel the notion of racism is showing how similar people in general are even though they come from different races and cultures. Ethan Edwards is very hateful toward the Comanche, and yet he is very much like one of them. He is very knowledgeable on Comanche lore, knowing to shoot the eyes of a dead Indian out so that its soul will be forced to wander in between the winds forever. He knows the language of the Comanche very well, shown as when he speaks directed to Scar during their great confrontation. He also commits a uniquely Indian act by scalping Scar after he is killed by Martin while rescuing Debbie. This overall likeness between Ethan and the Comanche goes to demonstrate how petty the differences are between Ethan and the Indians, and how he has no real basis for those feelings toward them.
Ford also demonstrates the Indians similarities to white people by the mere act of casting Henry Brandon as Chief Scar. For a director who normally uses real Indians in his films, Ford intentionally casts a white man with blue eyes, to further demonstrate that no matter the difference in color or culture, we are all human beings. This is even a line in the film, delivered by Mrs. Jorgensen (Olive Carey). She also goes on to say that "someday this country's gonna be a fine place to be." That is in response to Lars Jorgensen's (John Qualen) claim that it's the petty differences between races and cultures that makes America such a difficult place to live in. "Oh Ethan, this country..." he says to him, in a tone of shame and disappointment.
In putting a foreign character such as Jorgensen into the film, Ford continues a pattern of making the characters in the film act as microcosms of American society. Jorgensen is the immigrant, disappointed that the American dream wasn't all it was cracked up to be, Scar is the minority, in this case black people, continually degraded and discriminated against. Ethan is the old southerner, still stuck in the days of slavery where, the minority wasn't just subservient, but was also considered to be less than human. Martin is who we all should hope to be, a person to whom color nor culture matter, where family comes first and is of the ultimate importance in his life. He even goes so far to refuse to be Ethan's lone heir, disagreeing with his racist beliefs. That Ethan is more willing to leave to his possessions to what he had called a "halfbreed" earlier, rather than to a blood relative whose only crime was to adopt a new culture, is also very telling in and of itself.
Another means by which Ford demonstrates the foolishness of racism takes place when Martin and Ethan meet up with the cavalry to see if any of the captives that they have rescued turn out to be Debbie. The three girls shown seems to have been unable to adjust to the Indians way of life and have therefore been rendered quite insane. The depiction of these girls in my estimation is quite unrealistic and bordering on ludicrous. Certainly no one would actually turn out this way if suddenly thrust into an unfamiliar culture. Surely there would be difficulties, but I can't imagine anything so difficult that these children would grow mad because of it. This is done quite on purpose by Ford, in my estimation. By giving us a very unrealistic depiction of "culture clash," Ford further shows that the differences between cultures really isn't that wide, and shows that any one who actually believes that way is the truly ignorant one.
Ford doesn't just bombard us with images showing America as being a place whose promise was wasted due to the rampant signs of racism and discrimination. Quite the contrary in fact. First, there's the quote by Mrs. Jorgensen which I have discussed earlier. The truly important sign that there is hope is contained in the most poignant scene in the entire film. When Ethan takes Debbie into his arms and takes her home. Ford shows that no matter how grounded people are in their beliefs and their culture, there is always hope for them to open up their hearts and their minds to others, no matter how different they are.
What to some might be considered a simple film, as I have stated before, is as you now can see, a film that deals quite frankly with most of the most terrible problems plaguing America, both in 1956 as well as today. The fact that this film does it in such a suave an inconspicuous manner, definitely makes it, in my mind at least, a work of "more than ordinary significance."
As I mentioned in the beginning of this paper, art is also measured by exactly how much it is appreciated by people both in and out of the medium of the art. In this case many modern filmmakers and filmgoers have gone only to give The Searchers the praise that it so richly deserves. The filmgoers praise however seems to be given second hand, seeing as how most filmgoers aren't familiar with the film and yet love so much all those other movies since that have been based on it.
As Byron (1979) mentions in his article "The Searchers: Cult Movie of the New Hollywood," the greatest American filmmakers of our day have used it as an inspiration in their own films. Steven Spielberg with Close Encounters of the Third Kind, George Lucas with Star Wars, Michael Cimino with The Deer Hunter (not exactly one of the greatest filmmakers of our day, but certainly one of the greatest films of our day), and Martin Scorsese, with just about every one of his pictures, none more so than Taxi Driver.
Scorsese is very frank about his love for The Searchers, and isn't shy about using it in his pictures. He uses a long conversation about the film as a vehicle to have the two main characters (Harvey Keitel and Zina Bethune) in his first feature film, Who's That Knocking at My Door?, meet. He then uses an actual clip of the film (a fight scene between Martin Pawley and Charlie McCorry, played by Ken Curtis) in his breakout movie, Mean Streets. He then collaborates with another admitted fan of The Searchers, Paul Schrader, and they go on to make Taxi Driver, a film that on the surface couldn't be more different from The Searchers, but in many ways is actually The Searchers Revisited.
Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) is very similar to Ethan Edwards in that, they are both loners, war veterans from the defeated side, and most importantly are consistently "misunderstood by others" (Famiglietti, 1995). This misunderstanding is a general feature of the Western hero, or in this case the anti-hero. As put by Robert Warshow (1992): "The Westerner at best exhibits a moral ambiguity which darkens his image" (Mast, 458).
The most obvious similarities between The Searchers and Taxi Driver can be seen simple by looking at the basic characteristics in the storylines of each. As I already have shown Travis Bickle can be likened to Ethan Edwards. Sport (Harvey Keitel) can be likened to Scar, in that he is one of the objects of Travis' rage and hatred. Iris (Jodie Foster) is the woman-child that Travis is trying to "rescue" from Sport. This likens her to the Debbie character. This was indeed done by Paul Schrader on purpose.
While the other filmmakers such as Spielberg and Cimino have denied drawing upon The Searchers for inspiration, Scorsese and Schrader, the screenwriter of Taxi Driver, and director/screenwriter of Hardcore, another picture likened to The Searchers, have been quite open about the role the film has played in their lives.
When the world's most renowned filmmakers see the endearing universal qualities in a picture such as The Searchers, and feel so adamantly about its worth as a work of art, that they themselves choose to pattern their own work around it, one can't help but wonder if maybe there really is something about this picture that makes it stand out head and shoulders above the rest.
Famiglietti, Ben. "The Western Revisited in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver." obtained via the World Wide Web: http://www.film.queensu.ca/Critical/Famiglietti.html. Queen's University Film Studies, December 1995
Lawrie, Katherine. "Hero, Text, and Ideology in John Ford's The Searchers." obtained via the World Wide Web: http://www.film.queensu.ca/Critical/Lawrie2.html. Queen's University Film Studies, December 1995
Mast, Gerald, Marshall Cohen, and Leo Braudy, editors. Film Theory and Criticism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Sarris, Andrew. "Andrew Sarris on The Searchers." Film Favorites Spring 1971: 58-61.
Schrader, Paul. Schrader on Schrader & Other Writings. Ed. Kevin Jackson. London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1990