Director: John Ford
Screenplay: Frank S. Nugent
Based on the novel by: Alan Le May
Starring: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, Natalie Wood, John Qualen, Olive Carey, Henry Brandon, Ken Curtis, Harry Carey Jr., Antonio Moreno, Hank Worden, Beulah Archuletta, Walter Coy, Dorothy Jordan, Pippa Scott, Patrick Wayne, Lana Wood, Robert Lyden
Country: United States
Running Time: 119 min
Year: 1956
BBFC Certificate: PG
American icon John Wayne appeared in around 170 films, many of which he was the star in, and around 20 of those were made with legendary director John Ford. It is the Wayne and Ford partnership that brought us some of the greatest westerns in cinema history. Stagecoach (1939), the ‘Cavalry Trilogy’ of Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and Rio Grande (1950), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Vance (1962). Their names alone conjure a variety of images for fans of western films.
But one film stands above all of these as the pair’s masterpiece and one of the all-time great westerns – and all-time great films period – a masterpiece that rewards repeat viewings. The film is The Searchers (1956) and as a huge fan of it, I jumped at the chance to review the new UK 4K edition from Warner Bros.
Screenwriter Frank S. Nugent adapted the 1954 book of the same name by Alan Le May for The Searchers, which follows Civil War veteran Ethan (John Wayne) who returns to Texas and his brother Aaron’s (Walter Coy) remote ranch.
Before too long a Comanche raiding party led by Chief Scar (Henry Brandon) kills Ethan’s family and abducts his young niece, Debbie (Lana Wood as the young version and Natalie Wood as an older version).
Ethan becomes obsessed with finding Debbie in a search that takes its toll on him, psychologically, during the five years it takes for him to finally track her down. Along the wat he is joined by his half-Cherokee adopted nephew Martin (Jeffrey Hunter), and Brad (Harry Carey Jr.), the fiancé of Ethan’s other kidnapped niece, Lucy (Pippa Scott).
Along the way the film will tackle some dark themes, including revenge, obsession, and racism – Ethan is incredibly racist and at one point considers killing Debbie if he finds her as he believes she has been ‘tainted’ by living with the Native Americans, whom he hates.
Those dark themes are the place to start. This is an unsettling psychological western that leaves plenty to the imagination – rags of clothes tell us all we need to know about one character’s fate in the aftermath of a house fire, for example, and a number of other elements are also implied.
Wayne’s Ethan is a deeply conflicted character and much more of an anti-hero than a standard hero. He certainly delivers some heroic moments and is a loving family man, but he’s also an overtly racist man, who doesn’t hide his utter hatred for Native Americans. Wayne’s portrayal of Ethan is my favourite of his performances and a career high for the actor.
From a visual perspective, The Searchers looks gorgeous, particularly the Monument Valley Vistas which looks astonishing in 4K. The film has great production and costume design, which all also shines in ultra high definition, and was filmed in VistaVision, which looks simply breathtaking at times.
There are a huge array of beautifully framed shots by cinematographer Winton C. Hoch – single characters on horseback set against rocky formations, closeups of characters and more beside. I particularly liked the symmetry of the opening and closing shots – the latter one of the most perfect and famous closing shots in cinema. It’s a symmetrical detail I hadn’t noticed on earlier viewings.
Other gorgeous shots include our heroes on horseback in the foreground and a group of Native Americans on horseback in the background, and all the sequences in Monument Valley, as well as some memorable imagery during scenes of snow.
The visuals also leave us with some dramatic visuals, the aforementioned powerful sequence of a burning house, and a child filmed against a gravestone before a Native American comes into shot, staring at her and using a horn to call in other Comanches to kidnap her.
It is all well-acted throughout, Wayne leading the way but ably supported by the rest of the cast. There are some particularly memorable female performances, despite this being a very masculine film for the most part, not least Natalie Wood as the grown up Debbie, and Vera Miles as Laurie the love interest of Martin. Scenes involving Laurie and Martin are a highlight. The pair sparring well with each other when they need to – Laurie doesn’t want Martin to join the continued search for Debbie but Martin is driven to do so – and at other times romantic, their love grounding the film.
Real Native Americans were cast as extras, which is progressive given the time the film was made, though German born white actor Harry Brandon portrays the Native American lead Scar. Whilst it tough to watch a white performer portraying a Native American in 2026, he does give a good performance and is certainly a strong presence throughout the film.
Finally, the great composer Max Steiner provides a gorgeous score, equal parts beautiful and dramatic, that underscores key moments perfectly.
The Searchers is a dark western that only gets better with age. Now 70 years old, the film is a landmark in cinema, featuring a career best performance by John Wayne, some of the best cinematography of all time in the Monument Valley sequences, and an iconic final image. It is not afraid to tackle some very dark themes, making it an uncomfortable watch at times, yet also featuring some rip-roaring adventurous sequences. Quite simply, the film is a masterpiece.
Film: 
The Searchers is available now on limited edition dual-format 4K UHD and Blu-ray and steelbook from Warner Bros. The picture quality is out of this world. Detail is incredibly fine and the colours are rich. There’s a remarkable depth of field and clarity and the vistas of Monument Valley look almost 3D like. For me it is one of the best looking 4Ks on the market. The audio is also brilliant, everything sounding beautifully clear.
Introduction by Patrick Wayne
Commentary by Peter Bogdanovich
The Searchers: An Appreciation
A Turning of the Earth: John Ford, John Wayne and The Searchers
Behind the Cameras segments
Theatrical trailer
Theatrical trailer for The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford
The extras, including the audio commentary, are only available on the Blu-ray. There are no extras on the 4K disc. All of the extras from the 2024 US release are ported over, except for the two new extras for that release, a one-minute newsreel segment on the film’s original premiere in Chicago and 12 minutes of outtakes. It’s a shame these two extras aren’t on the UK release, but the archival pieces that are included are uniformly excellent.
The archival audio commentary by the late Peter Bogdanovich is outstanding. Filmmaker and writer and film historian Bogdanovich was incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about cinema and he shares loads of background to the actors and filmmakers involved on the track, including Ford who he knew for the final 10 years of Ford’s life. Bogdanovich looks at the film through the eyes of a filmmaker, looking at some of the shots used too. A film school in a commentary.
The rest of the extras open with an archival two-minute intro from Patrick Wayne, the son of star John. Patrick would appear in more than 10 films with his father, including this one. It’s a nice, though brief, piece.
The Searchers: An Appreciation is an archival piece running for just over 30 minutes. In it filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Curtis Hanson and John Milius share why the film is so important to them. Their memories of seeing the film for the first time are a particular highlight. Scorsese, for example, shares how he first saw it as a teenager. They also cover some of the key moments. It’s a strong piece, which is to be expected given who is involved.
A Turning of the Earth: John Ford, John Wayne and The Searchers runs for 33 minutes. The archival piece contains some brief outtakes and archival footage throughout, lots of narration and audio interviews and gives a good overview of the making of the film. The archival footage is the strongest part of the documentary – seeing the sets created in Monument Valley is fascinating. It’s a great piece.
Four Behind the Cameras segments are also included. These are from a 1956 TV series taking viewers behind the scenes and introducing them to actors. The four included on the disc focus on actors Jeffrey Hunter and Natalie Wood, showcase Monument Valley and allow us to see the production being set up. They can be played separately or as one 21-minute piece. The black and white segments are nostalgic and fun. We don’t get much beneath the surface of any of the areas of focus but they are a nice inclusion.
The theatrical trailer runs for three minutes and gives a decent overview of the film with some striking captions, the like films of the era often used, to sell it.
The final extra is a letterboxed one-minute teaser trailer for The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford, a film I really enjoyed upon its release and the teaser reminded me that I am long overdue a rewatch of it.
Finally, a note on the packaging. The film is released in a beautiful steelbook in which the orange sky shines on the cover. It’s a gorgeous collectible.
Warner Bros have provided an excellent edition for the UK 4K UHD debut of John Ford’s masterpiece, The Searchers. The outstanding restoration is the highlight and one of the best 4K presentations I’ve ever seen, with the picture looking phenomenal and almost 3D like in places, and the audio also sounding brilliant. Warner don’t port over the two new extras – a newsreel and outtakes – from the film’s US 4K bow in 2024, but do carry over the rest of the archival extras, which are all of the highest quality. Standouts include a brilliant audio commentary and two insightful documentary features which together run for over an hour. It’s a great release of a landmark movie.
Disc/Package: