THE SEARCHERS

I was going to begin my vintage movie night with "Bunny Lake is Missing" but Hubs and I stumbled on "The Searchers" earlier and decided it would be a good thing to spend the afternoon watching.  It was on the Turner Classic Movie channel and was introduced by Ben Mankewicz.  Ben described it as possibly being the best western ever created.  I would have to disagree with him on that.

It is the story of a Confederate soldier (John Wayne) returning to his brother's home after the Civil War.  Shortly after his arrival there was an Indian attack which claimed the life of his sister-in-law, one niece and one nephew and the kidnapping of his youngest niece, Debbie (Natalie Wood).  It took years of hunting and Indian fighting but he eventually found his niece and brought her home. 

The movie was supposedly set in Texas but I am pretty sure it wasn't filmed in Texas.  If I had to guess, I would say Arizona, Montana or possibly Utah.  I have only seen a bit of West Texas but this just didn't look right. 

The cast was a big name cast -- John Wayne, Vera Miles, Natalie Wood, Ward Bond, Jeffrey Hunter.  However, with all those big names, the acting, for the most part of atrocious.  I don't know why half the movies John Wayne is in seem like comedies when they are clearly not. A bit of trivia here, his wife lives here in Fort Worth.

It was a good movie in spite of all the over-acting.  I have always loved westerns and this was always at the top of my list.  Maybe it is because I always thought Natallie Wood made a cute Indian!