ARLady, if you've ever got the time, go to this website for more on 'The Searchers' -
[url]http://www.filmsite.org/sear.html[/url]
It's got a 3 or 4 page analysis of all the scenes, the important dialogue, and it's almost as if you're watching the movie as it explains the action in much detail.
It managed to make me rethink a couple of scenes - I just thought I remembered what was said, and I missed a lot of connections that were obvious when I read this analysis.
Well worth the effort.
You do know about the final scene, when Ethan Edwards is framed by the doorway of the Jorgensen cabin? John Wayne struck a pose that was forever thereafter associated with him - grabbing his right elbow with his left hand.
The 'kicker' of the scene is that is the very pose that Harry Carey, Sr., as a silent film star, had become famous for in the 1920s. Harry Carey, Sr., died during the filming of this film, and his old friend, John Wayne, struck the now-familiar pose in his honor! The widow Mrs. Carey, Sr., was on the movie set that day and when the Duke unexpectedly struck that pose in the doorway, she remarked that she almost fainted from the emotion of the moment.
Heck, I almost fainted from the emotion of the moment when I typed that![:D]
BTW, Harry Carey, Jr., played the part of Martin Pawley (Ethan's 'half-breed' nephew), and the foster brother of Debbie Edwards - played by sisters Lana Wood (as a child) and
Natalie Wood (as a young lady).
Eric The(ISureHopeIHaven'tBoredYou!)Hun[>]:)]