Watching the best western movie ever made...

[WCGreen]

The John Wayne John Ford The Searchers, is a tale of a man searching for his niece who was abducted by what was called renegade Indians.

It's a mature movie in that it shows how vengeance and retribution can eat at a man's soul no matter the reason behind all the anguish.

The last scene in the movie, when John Wayne comes back to civilization, he can't cross over to settlement, is gut wrenching.

In a way it's a story as old as we are, one that shows how a man is altered by war, how a man's soul is torn away, how old soldiers just fade away, tossed aside by civilization that doesn't want to be reminded of all that trouble, all that violence, all that loss...

TCM has the movie. Jeffrey Hunter is in it, the actor that gave us Captain Pike on the Star Trek pilot.

The movie takes in the whole southwest and, as Ford always did, that landscape becomes a character in his screen play.

I'm not a great big fan of John Wayne, but this movie rises above all his other Movies, including The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Shootist and True Grit.

That's it...

[HopeHoops]

1. I was thinking "Blazing Saddles".

[Ptah]

2. Excellent review, WCGreen.

I wish I could sum up a fine example of drama as well as you did.

[Paladin]

3. My Preference Is "Red River"

Best Western, best John Wayne movie. "The Searchers" is a good one, though.......

[vaberella]

4. Best Westerns ever made are Gun Fight at the O.K. Coral, Magnificent Seven, or Westward the Women.

My favorite John Wayne films are...anything with Maureen O'Hara---particularly The Quiet Man, Rio Grande, and McLintock! However I am a big fan of El Dorado. I love love love and adore Robert Mitchum.

[RebelOne]

22. Best western of all time is "High Noon." n/t

[retread]

5. It would be hard to beat The Ox-Bow Incident (Henry Fonda). n/t

[WCGreen]

17. That is very good film, just watched it again last year, but I was put off a little

by it's heavy moralization. Just a little heavy handed.

[AsahinaKimi]

6. This..

[TuxedoKat]

7. I've never seen it

but it sounds really good. Westerns from that era were generally good.

[Major Nikon]

8. That one is better than most

The cinematography is what really makes it a great movie.

[TuxedoKat]

9. Have you seen "The Big Country"

with Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, and Burl Ives? That one has great cinematograpy too. Good story too.

[Major Nikon]

15. Oh yes

I love older movies and I love Burl Ives. I wish he had done more westerns. He was the best part of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as far as I'm concerned.

[WCGreen]

18. that one is one of my favorites...

Peck is usually very good in every movie. But in this one, he stood tall.

[TuxedoKat]

19. Yes

I'm very partial to Gregory Peck, great actor, but he also because he reminds me of my dad, in looks and personality.

[Equate]

21. My favorite Gregory Peck novie,

The Guns of Navarone.

Great supporting cast, especially David Niven.

[WCGreen]

24. Anthony Quinn, as well...

[Equate]

25. Didn't mean to leave him out

excellent performance.

[WCGreen]

26. one of my favorite movies....

My Dad took me to see that movie when I was a kid...

[fishwax]

10. it is, indeed, a great final scene

[WCGreen]

16. Wayne ave it all for this one...

I think this one is where he pulled out all the stops. He was mean, driven, and a real prick. His character was bitter about the war and all that he knew he would miss...

This is his best performance.

[begin_within]

11. I like that one scene with the two separate trails, one of wagons, the other Indians

That's my most lasting image of that movie.

[Curmudgeoness]

12. "Best" and "John Wayne"

cannot possibly be used in the same paragraph.

[jmowreader]

13. Does it address Mr. Wayne's draft dodging?

[Walk away]

20. I hate it when someone calls him a "Real Patriot" or a "Great American"

A great American doesn't shirk his duty by using a joke of an excuse while others go off and risk their lives. Then poor Lew Ayres, who really was a pacifist, volunteers and risks his life as a Medic in battle zones and he is vilified because he "won't fight".

Wayne spends the next few decades acting as if he actually did something heroic instead of being the biggest coward of all time. During the Viet Nam war he vilified other peoples children because they abstained on principle and egged youngsters on to die for no good reason while wearing a Green Beret costume.

From all accounts he was a maudlin drunk but he must have been a fine actor because he was a far cry from the heroes he portrayed.

My pick for one of America's all time crappy people! I can't watch even one of this hypocrite's films.

[JonLP24]

14. I hate the fictional OK Corral movies

Plus the true story isn't that significant compared to other stories even in the same state. Someone should do a truthful movie about Canyon Diablo & the shootout they had. Much more interesting.

[Motown_Johnny]

23. Have you ever read "Soul Catcher" By Frank Herbert?

If not, I suggest you do.