The Searchers

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The Searchers

1956

1h 59m

Western

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

87%

Tomatometer

103 Reviews

88%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

In this revered Western, Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) returns home to Texas after the Civil War. When members of his brother's family are killed or abducted by Comanches, he vows to track down his surviving relatives and bring them home. Eventually, Edwards gets word that his niece Debbie (Natalie Wood) is alive, and, along with her adopted brother, Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter), he embarks on a dangerous mission to find her, journeying deep into Comanche territory.

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Critics Consensus

The Searchers is an epic John Wayne Western that introduces dark ambivalence to the genre that remains fashionable today.

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Jean Yothers

Orlando Sentinel

03/25/2024

The story is appealing, the action is exciting and the expanse of scenery in VistaVision and Technicolor is truly awe-inspiring.

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Helen Bower

Detroit Free Press

03/25/2024

Ford has achieved an extraordinary effect. There is the sense of time passing, yet the picture never drags. There is continued action, yet the picture conveys in almost leisurely fashion the life of isolated families in the remote early West.

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Jack Moffitt

The Hollywood Reporter

03/25/2024

[The Searchers] is undoubtedly one of the greatest Westerns ever made. For sheer scope, guts and beauty I can think of no picture... to compare with it. In it John Wayne delivers a performance that tops his great performance in The High and the Mighty.

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

2d

4/5

…like it or not, cinema history is littered with a dozen great John Wayne movies, and John Ford's The Searchers is surely up there with the very best of them...

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Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

Aug 25

4.5/5

Even with its deeply uncomfortable racial politics, The Searchers remains one of cinema’s most important Westerns—a film whose artistry and legacy endure, even as its darker themes continue to spark debate.

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David Reddish

CBR

05/05/2025

4/4

The Searchers isn’t just the greatest Western ever to hit screens. It’s one of the greatest movies ever made.

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Nick P

@RT29616493 Jul 19

Wayne’s best performance, greatest western of all time.

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Garrett B

@gmoney637 Jul 16

It is a well- crafted western feature featuring a solid cast.

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Mike J.

@MikeJN2022 Jun 11

Vastly overrated. Probably considered great in 1956, but doesn't hold up well 70 years later.

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Christian K

@ckacar Jun 1

Would love to see a nicer print of this, the technicolor landscape was incredible. While it remains a typical western setup, it is much more focused on Wayne's character as being problematic and in the wrong than the other famous films of the era and genre.

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Mark U.

@UKE11 Apr 17

Bad acting. Dumb story line. So many better Westerns. John Wayne’s son is atrocious. Natalie Wood is an afterthought. The guy who played the priest in the quiet man literally uses the same line. “what in the Sam Hill”. Ridiculous

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Al A

@RT36830200 Apr 7

Truly one of the best movies every made, and even more compelling as the years pass. A complex study of the human condition that doesn't conform to convention. Hollywood could never make this movie in 2026 without polluting it with agenda and virtue signaling.

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John Ford

Director

John Wayne

Ethan Edwards

Jeffrey Hunter

Martin Pawley

Natalie Wood

Debbie Edwards (older)

Vera Miles

Laurie Jorgensen

Ward Bond

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Synopsis

In this revered Western, Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) returns home to Texas after the Civil War. When members of his brother's family are killed or abducted by Comanches, he vows to track down his surviving relatives and bring them home. Eventually, Edwards gets word that his niece Debbie (Natalie Wood) is alive, and, along with her adopted brother, Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter), he embarks on a dangerous mission to find her, journeying deep into Comanche territory.

Director: John Ford
Producer: C.V. Whitney
Screenwriter: Alan Le May, Frank S. Nugent
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Warner Brothers
Genre: Western
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 16, 1956, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 24, 2008
Runtime: 1h 59m

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