Line #22 YMMV/TheSearchers


1	!!Due to shared titles, this page has been split into folders.
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5	[[folder:The John Wayne western movie]]
6	* AdaptationDisplacement: There was a novel? In fact, the novel has stayed in print because of the reputation of the film.
7	* AlasPoorScrappy: T'sala-ta-komal-ta-name/"Look" (Martin's homely Comanche trophy wife) is cringe-inducing in her ModernMinstrelsy....but you ''will'' feel bad when you see her corpse after she's massacred during a cavalry raid.
8	* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Did Look go to the Comanche camp [[TheMole to warn Scar]] of Ethan's approach, or did she try to get Debbie for Martin as a sign of her loyalty to him? Martin himself [[DiscussedTrope remarks]] that he's not entirely sure.
9	* AwardSnub: Received no nominations at the [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscars]]. Rather ironic, considering how the film is now viewed as a masterpiece by Creator/JohnFord, who was otherwise the most rewarded director in the Oscar's history. Of course this was a time when westerns were generally regarded as disposable entertainment, and none of Ford's westerns won him an Oscar.
10	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
11	** This was Music/MaxSteiner's only score for a Creator/JohnFord western, and his final collaboration with Ford overall, and he makes the most of it with a sweeping score that fits the film's epic scope to a T.
12	** Also the song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS-KeikPmFg The Searchers,]]" by the Sons of the Pioneers (it starts at 0:19).
13	* BrokenBase: The wedding scene is controversial. Is it pointless {{Padding}} mainly meant to give Creator/JeffreyHunter, Creator/VeraMiles and Ken Curtis something to do in the film? Or is it an effective BreatherEpisode that gives the audience some much-needed comic relief before the intense final act of the story?
14	* DracoInLeatherPants: Henry Brandon's handsome features and brooding performance as Scar has won him a lot of fans. They also note that the film presents Scar as Ethan's doppelganger and that the Comanches have justifiable FreudianExcuse for attacking settlers what with the whole encroachment on the land, racism and passive genocide.
15	* EpilepticTrees: A very popular fan theory posits that Debbie is not actually Ethan's niece, but his daughter, born out of an affair with Martha. Not only does the film seem to suggest some kind of deeper relationship early on between Ethan and his brother's wife, but Debbie's age is given specifically as eight, exactly the same amount of time Ethan had been gone for.
16	* EvilIsCool: The Comanches in the film (as played by the Navajo) and Scar are pretty awesome and cool foes. Creator/JohnMilius admitted on seeing the film that he totally [[RootingForTheEmpire rooted for the Comanches]], saying they were badass awesome warriors ("These are not jackals but Lions!"). He also admits "I wanted to be Scar".
17	* FairForItsDay: While the racism is ''meant'' to make the viewer uncomfortable, modern viewers are still going to be put off far more than the 1950s audience.
18	* GenreTurningPoint: It's a Western about racism; so what's the big deal? Well, the "big deal" is that it was ''the'' TropeBreaker for the older, shiny-white-good-guys version of TheWestern, and was so powerful that virtually every Western, and a huge number of films in general that followed, felt compelled either try to respond to it in ''some'' way to avoid being tacky, or to at least homage and acknowledge it. Also, it must be noted that in the classic era, [[FairForItsDay there were very few movies that actually deal with settler/native relations with the same kind of honesty]] and lack of BlackAndWhiteMorality, as noted by author Sherman Alexie.
19	* HilariousInHindsight:
20	** With Music/BuddyHolly borrowing Ethan's CatchPhrase for his SignatureSong, this exchange feels like the film is actually referencing the song.
21	--->'''Martin Pawley''': I hope you die!
22	--->'''Ethan Edwards''': That'll be the day.
23	** Charlie [=McCorry=]'s famous AnnoyingLaugh, "HAW-HAW-HAW," is identical to the recurring EvilLaugh used in ComicBook/ChickTracts. Reportedly, Creator/JackChick was, despite his strident fundamentalist Christianity, a major movie buff, so it may have actually been a ShoutOut.
24	** The main villain being nicknamed as ''Scar''... [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 sounds familiar?]]
25	* HypeBacklash: Inevitable due to being held up as the greatest western ever.
26	* MemeticMutation: The scene where the American troop walks around the canyon surround by the Comanches.
27	* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler: Ethan attempts to cross it when he almost kills his niece for marrying a Comanche; he doesn't follow through when he's hit with an arrow.]]
28	* {{Narm}}: Oh, Lord. Let us count the ways....
29	** The ''atrocious'' way Lucy Edwards sets her jaw before screaming bloody murder when she realizes that Comanches are approaching the homestead (when a simple OhCrap expression would have been much more effective).
30	*** The vast majority of the actors, in fact, easily come across as ChewingTheScenery and at times shouting out lines. It kinda says something that Creator/JohnWayne is the most ''subtle'' of the cast.
31	** The first time we see Henry Brandon as Scar. He is ''obviously'' wearing make-up.
32	** The actor playing the Indian corpse early on picked a quite unfortunate moment to take a deep breath.
33	* RootingForTheEmpire: You'd been forgiven for cheering for the Chief Scar and the Native Americans, especially after hearing that Scar also had a living family who was killed by an opposing race and recalling that our "hero" is no better than Scar.
34	* SpecialEffectsFailure: A bunch, but most prominently, the "dead" Comanches who are clearly breathing.
35	* ValuesDissonance: While the film was FairForItsDay in its progressive attitudes toward racism, it's still a Western made in 1956, so there are a few aspects that modern audiences would find "problematic."
36	** The AccidentalMarriage sub-plot would be considered in bad taste today. The Comanche sell a plump woman of their tribe to Martin for a hat, and she's enthusiastic to be bought by a strange (though handsome), itinerant white man who doesn't speak her language and for whom she's an AbhorrentAdmirer. The whole thing is PlayedForLaughs, basically being a prank Ethan pulls on naive Martin by not clueing him in to what was happening in the negotiation, and with her as a ButtMonkey who even gets kicked down a hill when she tries to lay beside her new husband. That said, her obvious fear when the subject of Scar is brought up and her ultimate fate make her a sympathetic figure.
37	** Mose acts out a few very stereotypical "hooting Indian" imitations that are played for lighthearted comedy but come across today like a DeadHorseTrope.
38	* VindicatedByHistory: The film was a box-office hit in its day but not regarded as anything more than a typical John Wayne potboiler, at least in America (the French, especially Creator/JeanLucGodard, [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff really liked it]]). Critics generally felt Ford was wasting his time doing Westerns. One particularly clueless reviewer dismissed ''The Searchers'' as being "for children". Even Ford fans like Lindsay Anderson were skeptical about it. It wasn't until the rise of the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood that its reputation grew, starting with a scene in Creator/MartinScorsese's 1967 film ''Film/WhosThatKnockingAtMyDoor'' where the lead character (played by Creator/HarveyKeitel) enthuses about it. Creator/PaulSchrader, Creator/JohnMilius and Creator/GeorgeLucas also cited it as an important film that had great influence on their work.
39	* TheWoobie: Martin Pawley. He's mocked by the film's hero for being part Indian, rarely gets any respect, got used as hair for an Indian trap, he rarely gets any time with his girlfriend, she found her own love interest while he was away, and his sister nearly got killed by Ethan multiple times. Though he can also qualify as an IronWoobie depending on your views.
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42	[[folder:The British 1960s band]]
43	* PoorMansSubstitute: The band were often accused of being copies of Music/TheBeatles, although, due to the large amount of British boy bands that were part of the British Invasion, '''every''' band that was not The Beatles were accused of trying to be The Beatles.
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Context YMMV / TheSearchers