Heartwarming / The Searchers

• Martin speaking to Debbie for the first time in five years is a very touching moment.
  Martin: Debbie, Debbie, Debbie, don't you remember? I'm Martin, I'm Martin, your brother, remember? Debbie, remember back. ...I do you remember how I used to let you ride my horse? And tell you stories? Oh, don't you remember me, Debbie?
  Debbie: I remember, from always. At first I prayed to you: "Come and get me, take me home." You didn't come.
  Martin: But I've come now.
  • Followed up on later when he sneaks into her tent in the middle of the night before the Calvary raid, and she enthusiastically wants to go with him, implying her earlier refusal was really a subtle warning they were about to be attacked.
  • When Martin immediately stepped between Ethan and Debbie when Ethan pulled out his gun.
  Martin: No you don't, Ethan! NO YOU DON'T!
• The best part is at the end when Crusty old Ethan, turns out to not be such a bad guy after all.
  "C'mon, Debbie. Let's go home."
• Real Life examples:
  • Beulah Archuletta (Look) was found crying in one of the tipis by John Wayne in between shooting scenes. When Wayne asked her why she was crying, she responded that she was going to miss her son's wedding because she was filming her scenes at the time. Wayne stopped production of the film for a few days and flew her to California so that she could attend the wedding.
  • John Ford was known for his terrible temper and his habit of playing cruel practical jokes on his cast and crew, but he was unusually kind to Patrick Wayne during filming. It was Patrick's first important part and in the biography, Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford by Scott Eyman, he recalled that Ford "was crazy about me...Everyone had their day in the barrel, but I was always spared that. Which was good and bad. I wasn't exactly the most popular person on the set. Everyone was getting reamed but me...He handed everything to me...Remember, he was the only director I'd worked for at that point, and I figured that this was the way pictures were made. And I had my real father standing there watching me in the scene. I wasn't acting scared; I was scared."

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