The exceptionally insightful critic Stuart Byron once famously asserted that “in a broad sense it can be said that all recent American cinema derives from John Ford’s The Searchers” – and it just so happens that this was amongst the first pieces of film criticism I read as an adolescent. It is something that has lingered in my mind as I’ve grown on my journey through cinema, and has only become more relevant, despite it being noted nearly fifty years ago. It is most certainly without question that this is amongst the most influential works of cinema in a global sense, inspiring so many artists (including yours truly, who used the opportunity of a family trip to a ranch during my teenage years to pull together a very crude remake using paltry resources, just to see if it was possible), and becoming arguably the best important American film ever produced. For this reason alone, it feels like a perfect opportunity to revisit this masterful film, made only more fitting considering that it was released seventy years ago, and today marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America, making this an endlessly appropriate choice to mark the occasion. As one of Ford’s true masterpieces (which is certainly saying something, considering many view him as the most important American filmmaker of his generation – I’m often agnostic to a lot of his canonical works, but it seems impossible to deny the influence he’s had on the industry and its development over the past century), The Searchers is nothing short of a marvel – a brilliantly-constructed work that takes the premise of a former Union soldier returning home, only to find his family under attack by violent Comanche warriors which leads him and his cohorts on an odyssey that lasts years to find the surviving daughter, into something far more nuanced than just the usual run-of-the-mill western that has often shaded in how general audiences view the genre. Decades since its release, we find that The Searchers has not only resisted any sign of irrelevance, but has aged extraordinarily well (except a few issues relating to some of the characterisation of the film’s primary antagonist), being as compelling and enthralling today as it was seventy years ago, proving that some works of art most certainly earn their almost celestial reputations, and can often skirt around perfection so closely that even mere words seem insufficient to describe the sheer scope and brilliance that went into the creation of these works.

There was a point in time when it seemed like the western was the most prominent genre in American filmmaking (as well as having a massive influence globally, with the rise of spaghetti westerns and other similar movements), and where one couldn’t throw a dart without striking someone who was involved in the creation of a western in some way. It’s understandable, considering they tended to be very inexpensive to make for the most part, and audiences flocked to see them, making them enormously profitable. Therefore, why is it that The Searchers feels so different to most of the other popular westerns being produced at the time? There are countless answers, but one that drew me in more than usual on this recent rewatch was how it is actually a much more complex film than many may imagine based on a cursory glance. To be fair, Ford was never one to peddle in trivialities, so nearly everything he made (even his more lightweight affairs) tended to be heavily steeped in complex meaning, which ultimately proved to be the primary reason he became such an important filmmaker. As hyperbolic as it may sound – and keep in mind I am not one to be blindly faithful to the director, as there are a few questionable films scattered throughout his career – you cannot explore the history of cinema without considering Ford, not only from a technical standpoint, but also in terms of the themes he was willing to interrogate, long before it became fashionable to look at certain ideas through a more critical lens. The Searchers is, at its core, a deeply American story, not only in the sense that it is about a very particular period in the construction of the country (being set just after the American Civil War), but also in how it casts a very wide thematic net, covering subjects such as the country’s colonial past and the contentious relationship between the First Nations people and those who descended from the settlers. It’s a fascinating and often shocking depiction of the violence and cruelty asserted by both sides, and while it may not have been intended (since there are very clear imbalances between how the two warring factions are portrayed – Wayne and his cohorts as brave, valiant men, whereas their Indigenous adversaries are painted with far less compassionate strokes), there is a lot to be said about how The Searchers is a very stark portrait of the lingering violence of imperialism, which makes it far more resonant once we look beneath the surface and interrogate the core themes that drive this story forward.

To add to these ideas, we find that The Searchers is more than just a story of America at a particular point in time, but also a fascinating deconstruction of culture, particularly those relating to masculinity. What I have found to be a fruitful endeavour, albeit one that can sometimes be a bit tricky to get right, is retrospective analyses of older films, where a classical text is viewed through a contemporary lens. It is doubtful that Ford or screenwriter Frank S. Nugent (who had the unenviable task of turning Alan Le May’s novel into a complex, moving screenplay) were intending to dissect the subject of masculinity and the role it played in establishing the roots of American culture – but it’s not enough to rely on intentions when we can see these ideas embedded deep within a work, albeit not purposefully. The character of Ethan Edwards is one of the most complex in the director’s oeuvre – he is a man who is fiercely proud of his service to his country, but far from blind to the very clear problems that plague it. He’s someone who has never subscribed to the idea of being unconditionally in support of the decisions of those in power, and instead actively pursues his own path in life, regardless of the cost. Every one of these characters, whether Ethan or his posse, or the adversaries whom they spend half a decade pursuing, is an extremely complex man, each driven by their steadfast belief in accomplishing a particular goal, by any means necessary. This ties in brilliantly with the broad socio-cultural elements of the story, with the idea of these men driven to madness and violence simply because they feel impelled to achieve something being the root cause of many of the darkest chapters in American history. Ford may present it as a bold, vibrant western about one man’s relentless quest to save the innocent young girl from the violent native population who killed her family and took her hostage (which is in itself a troubling concept, but its important to still critically engage with these stories and how different populations were perceived at the time – as uncomfortable as it may be from a modern perspective, these are essential to understand where the culture was at the time), but there’s a darkness lingering beneath the surface of this film that makes it so much more intriguing than many may have expected at a cursory glance, proving that there’s much more simmering beneath the surface than we’d expect.

There are few partnerships between a director and an actor more captivating than that of Ford and John Wayne, who reunite once again to bring The Searchers to life on screen. While both men did exceptionally great work on their own, one could argue that they brought out the absolute best in one another – no one knew how to extract all the nuances of Wayne’s acting style better than Ford, and very few actors were able to infuse the director’s characters with as much human authenticity and raw humanity. It’s a monumental pairing that defined film history and remains one of the most important in the history of the medium – and The Searchers is the absolute apex of their collaborations. As both Ford’s greatest film and Wayne’s finest hour as a performer, they’re both doing exceptional work, finding the complexities lingering beneath the surface in a truly impressive way. Wayne was not known for his versatility as an actor, but he most certainly did make the most of the broad archetype that he usually tended to play, and Ethan Edwards is maybe the best example of how he may have only been able to play a single note throughout his career, but he absolutely mastered it. There is a reading of The Searchers that positions it as a portrait of a man being driven to the edge of madness by his obsession in finding his niece, which causes him to spiral into a kind of psychosis that consumes him, to the point where he eventually loses his entire grasp on reality and cannot ever assimilate back into the kind of domestic life he dreamed of returning to while fighting in the war (which makes the bittersweet ending slightly more complex), and even if this was not the intention, Wayne still portrays Ethan as a man constantly on the verge of eruption. He’s surrounded by a terrific supporting ensemble, consisting of familiar faces like master character actors Ward Bond, John Qualen and Henry Brandon, as well as the always delightful Vera Miles (one of the last remaining cast members we have left) and a very young Natalie Wood, who may only have a small part, but she leaves an enormous impression. The Searchers belongs almost entirely to Wayne, but it’s a collective effort, and the same dedication to character development is found throughout all these wonderful performances.

The sentiment “they don’t make them like they used to” is often used as shorthand for misguided nostalgia that holds disdain for contemporary art and attempts to uphold the past as some perfect beacon of creative expression. The Searchers is a film that I tend to revisit at least once every few years, and in each subsequent viewing, I find something new to celebrate and become further convinced that this is one of the most perfectly-crafted films ever made. There’s a special joy that comes in watching a film and then trying to find where it was filmed, only to find that it was primarily shot on location rather than in studios. The way Ford captures the rugged terrain of Arizona, Utah and California (all of which are intended to stand in for Texas) is beyond stunning – the gorgeous cinematography by Winton C. Hoch makes every frame look like a detailed painting, the expansive landscapes being colourful, vibrant and almost so beautiful that they border on unrealistic, which only makes the fact that it was shot on location even more astonishing. Ford was a master of composition, and there’s not a single frame in The Searchers that feels out of place, proving his belief that a picture tells far more of a story than any piece of writing ever could. Just looking at the film and how it is put together feels inspirational, since Ford and his collaborators were driven by nothing other than the desire to tell this stunning story in as much vibrant detail as they could. It’s incredibly compelling, and everything from the most exhilarating action sequence where the protagonists engage in a battle with their enemies, to something as small as a baby buffalo running away into the distance, adds to the overall experience of a film that never abates in its pursuit of something much deeper than anything else being produced at the time. In addition to the visual component, there’s an extraordinary score composed by Max Steiner, which blends old-fashioned southern hymns with energetic, pulsating compositions that make this one of the most immediately recognisable western scores in film history, a difficult feat to accomplish considering how this was regularly one of the areas in which these films tended to be most notable. Every aspect of The Searchers, on either side of the camera, is brilliantly developed, creating a bold and enthralling work that allows this striking story to be told as thoroughly as possible, while also retaining the excitement and enthusiasm audiences often have for films in this genre.

Many have debated whether any film can be considered perfect, with both sides having very relevant points about their specific beliefs on the matter. However, while I do often tend to side with those who believe that the nature of art means that nothing can ever truly be entirely free of shortcomings (even if they’re minor), The Searchers genuinely feels like it comes dangerously close to absolute perfection, formally and conceptually. Few films inspire such a reaction in the viewer, where we are both enraptured in the sheer beauty of the production (it is an extraordinarily well-made film) but also provoked by the subject matter, which may seem like a relatively straightforward western about a group of brave men rescuing a damsel in distress, but is covertly a harrowing story of American imperialism and how it was built on a kind of rugged masculinity that can cause someone to spiral out of control when it is not appropriately handled, or when it is allowed to devolve into absolute madness. Much of this isn’t spoken about when discussing The Searchers, since it is a film that does veer towards the idealistic more than the cynical, but it is a fascinating reading that only makes the film so much richer and more interesting, especially when we assess it from a contemporary perspective, revealing how this film, produced seventy years ago, remains entertaining and resonant, evoking a strong reaction and allowing us to see the subject matter from many different perspectives. It’s a wonderfully captivating film that feels genuinely bold, being beautifully filmed (the power of the imagery is worth the price of admission alone – I can’t recall the last time I found myself so drawn into a film I’ve probably seen a dozen times by this point), and intellectually far more engaging than we may have expected from a seemingly very simple western. Bold without being pretentious, challenging without being unintelligible, and beautiful in how it captures the very essence of the human condition in a truly entertaining way, there’s no other way to describe The Searchers as anything other than a complete masterpiece.