anyone who says John Wayne couldn't act never saw The Searchers

I can listen to Scorsese talking about movies all day long. Just wonderful.

John Fords masterpiece, great actors, fantastic sound score and great performance from John Wayne, should have won an Oscar for this.

Sergio Leone will always be my favorite Western director, but I will always respect John Ford for his innovative style. No one shot movies like him before. He influenced Kurosawa so much, who then influenced and even mentored Scorsese, Spielberg, and others. Leone redefined the Western, but John Ford invented it.

Only John Wayne could play Ethan. Great performance and one of the greatest movies of all time.

John Wayne should have won the Academy Award for his performance in The Searchers. It’s a shame his best performance, as well as the film itself, didn’t get nominated.

The most powerful scene for me was when Ethan rides out of the box canyon after burying his niece. He does not tell them what has happened but he is clearly in shock. Great acting by Mr. Wayne. The most moving scene for me is the farmhouse scene where the Preacher and Captain while waiting for Ethan sees interaction between Martha and Ethan. A lot is said in that scene without any words spoken.

It was hinted in the film that Ethan was secretly in love with his brothers wife, the looks between them and his rage when her body was found in that shed and his absolute desperate search for little Debbie. It was believed by critics and film goers that little Debbie was his child or at least he suspected she was his child.

I would love scorese to do a western

I was lucky enough to see this on the Big Screen last year. A local old theater shows old movies now and then. and this was one of them. Its truly amazing on the big screen.

The Searchers is one of probably the top 5 or 6 greatest films of all time, and Ford's masterpiece. Too bad most of Scorsese's new generation of followers have probably never seen the film.

The opening and closing door scenes in the Searchers are famous, but watch the doors in every Ford movie and how the characters enter and leave through them, a prime example being in Stagecoach where the long hallway in the way station is the long existential door of life and death.

John Ford is Western. The Searchers, along with Hawk's Rio Bravo, is one of the greatest cinema jewels. Sergio Leone didn't make western but created a new genre.

Everytime I see the movie The Searchers, I come back with a different perspective. Maybe with age and time. But, my husband and I were discussing the possibility that Ethan is Martin Pauley's father. He told Martin "that was your mother's hair back there" when Scar shows them the hair of women. How did Ethan know her hair so well and happen to be the one to find Martin Pauley as a young child? One of the more interesting aspects of this movie is how their relationship changes and what these two men go through and an unrelentless search they each share.

I have been watching this movie same as Scorsese since I was 16 years old and I am now 76. I have seen it at least 8 or 10 times and and love it better each time. John Wayne, except for a few weak spots probably because of Fords insistence, did the best acting of his entire movie career. That is strictly my personal opinion. Wayne was a great entertainer, not much at acting but he came through in this one.

This is the Greatest American film director...ever...no gimmicks, just the use of aural and visual techniques that have you mesmerized along with superb editing and story telling!

Scorsese is a true film historian could listen to him all day...

Marty gives excellent insight for The Searchers. I love to listen to him talk about older movies and his appreciation of them. Marty is my favorite director of all time.

An excellent, concise commentary on a classic film.

He never mentions the true source of Wayne’s hatred. In the raid scene Debbie is sent to the graveyard to hide from the slaughter to come. She sits at her grandmothers tombstone. On the tombstone is the name of Wayne’s mother, 41 the age of her death, and the fact she was murdered by Comanches. Yes, Wayne obviously loved the wife of his brother. He found them both butchered in a storage shed, by the Comanches. So this is not a prejudice born of racial difference. It is a hate brought to him from loss at the hands of the group he hates. Is that justified? No. It does bring the question of how much hurt can a man take. Loss of mother. Loss of love. Loss of family. Loss of his civil war cause. Even possible loss of his freedom due to the death he may have caused before the film starts.

Which is the best western? What do you want me to do? Draw you a picture? As long as you live, don’t ever ask me more.

I saw it 10 years old and it gripped me, again and again over the years. He discribes it perfectly.

John Wayne is the ultimate actor, people see him as a real figure. Later they say , " Well John Wayne is not really this bad as hero superman character." This is how good of an actor he was , he took you away in his characters, didn't he?

My take is that Ethan has a PhD in PTSD. He fought for the Confederacy and then was told he could amble back home since his team had surrendered. All that violence, killing and buddies dying was for..................naught! That has to bring out all the repressed anger and hatred within his DNA way before his obsession with vengeance for what the Comanche had done.

Marty could talk about cinema 24/7. And he probably does.

I remember that it had the same effect on me.One of my favourite westerns.

Martin will always be one of my favorite if not my favorite directors because not only does he make spectacular period pieces and gangster movies, but at the core of him is a die hard movie fanatic. He loves movies like the people who watch his films do and that’s why his movies are so damn good.

At the time they made the movie, they knew the history. ( That information is contained in book's) they were being generous. One of the greatest movies of all time! !!!!!

I think you have to watch the movie several times to understand the magnitude of how great it is probably top 5 with battle ship potemkin and others

Searchers is the best western ever made. 2nd is Once Upon a Time in the West. epic. IMO. Afi had it as the highest rated western in their top 100 films at #11 I believe...

This is one of my favorite westerns, and seeing one of my favorite directors talk about it is fucking great!

This movie is for Wayne what Treasure of Sierra Madre is for Humphrey Bogart, both were leading men who gave the best performance of their careers playing their darkest characters.

Laugh if you will, and it's not a Wayne Western, but my personal favorite among Ford and Wayne collaborations (And all time favorite movie for years in fact) remains 'The Quiet Man'. I hesitate to use the expression 'Charming', but it is all of that in every possible way. Every once in a while a spark of absolute brilliance in film making comes together, and The Quiet Man is just a make you feel good, entertaining movie. Was it among the greatest movies ever made...no, but it sure came together for all the cast an crew who were involved. Most of those acknowledge it as their best effort in their careers. You'd have to climb to another level altogether to achieve the 'Greatest' level in movie making, and until someone can equal the power of the 1959 classic 'Ben Hur' that title shall forever be the Greatest man has ever put on film.

This is my all time favorite movie, john Wayne at his best close behind this masterpiece is they were expendable another masterpiece

Interestingly enough some of Wayne's better in depth roles was when he played older men i.e. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, True Grit and yes the Searchers.

Scorsese and Tarantino talking films is the best!

Every time he names a movie I have to pause it so i can it to my Netflix.

First time hearing Scorsese talking and he sounds different then I thought he would. Also this film is on my list to see.

Well done to all the commenters on this video. I've rarely seen a group of more well thought out and measured responses to an astonishing film. Give yourselves a pat on the back and keep it up.

Theres a very subtle hint as to why Ethan hates the Comanches and its in the scene where little debbie hides away from the raid on their house. When she's hiding in the graveyard you catch a quick glimps at her Grandmother's grave (Ethan's Mother) and on her tombstone it says she was murdered by comanche. That plus the killing of his brothers family shortly afterwards. Ethan isnt a racist, he's hellbent on redemption

I saw the Searchers for the first time ever last year. Such a great movie. Also too it’s packaged on Blu Ray for $12 with The Green Berets and The Cowboys.

It is interesting to hear Marty mention the films The Big Knife and Kiss Me Deadly because both of those films were directed by Robert Aldrich.

my fave movie ever

one of my 10 all time favorite films. Goodfellas is on my list too.

I've always been more of a Clint Eastwood kind of western guy, but this is a great film.

In my opinion, 3 stand out westerns, The Searchers, High Noon, and Unforgiven all individuals struggling with their own demons.

Favorite line, "Brethern, leave us go amongst them!".

I love The Searchers

Where can I watch the full video?

It truly is The Great American Film..

Legend

Orson welles in his interview call john ford a poet.all his movie are very poetic.

Funny, Mr Scorsese, I first saw Raging Bull when I was in the 8th grade back in 1981

Great interview Just curious as to when this was recorded

Ford was exceptional, able to build the myths and expose the misery of the nation at the same time, all through an entertaining movie.

The greatest American film ever made .

I like how he glosses over the murder of his brothers family and the kidnaping of the female children as a valid motivation to hate.

The scene where Travis shoots out the eyes of the Indian, to me, doesn't show that his hatred goes beyond the grave, it shows that he knows his enemy. The American Indian often mutilated their enemies in some way so they would know them is the here after.

It's not unreasonable to assume that John Wayne's Ethan single handily inspired Scorsese's filmography. Almost all of Marty's film's are stories of anti-hero's or even flat-out despicable characters who are often searching for redemption or redeem themselves unintentionally.

Terrific film

Marty got depressed after New York New York. Then he made Raging Bull. He's a sensitive guy like us all. I loved Silence. A knockout. "Hey why don't you lower the jukebox?"

Nobody comes as close as Ford did in depicting the people who lived in the Civil War era, they were close enough in time to it to know some of them in old age and certainly to have been brought up by the stories and legends left. The character of Ethan in the Searchers is so true to life of the civil war veterans, tough as nails, or they would not have survived it, a natural cunning, and having to carry the sorrow of the suffering they had seen yet in the end just enough humanity to pass down to the next generation. I consider that the greatest generation, if not for them their descendents never would be able to fight WW2. It was America’s Heroic Epic.

I like to watch Martin Scorsese talk about other directors.

The day that Maestro Scorsesse will pass, cinema will die a little.

Also listen to "The Searchers" by the Sons of the Pioneers. This is the song in the movie, listen to all of it closely. It is Ethan that is song about.

Ford basically invented the Western genre along with others during the silent era, then elaborated it starting with Ringo, then questioned fundaments of the genre with The Searchers and in the end deconstructed it with the "myth" end of Liberty Valance. I cant Think of a Lot, if any directors, with so Big contributions to a particular genre.

I liked John Wayne in this movie. I think it's understandable if you see the character history.

As tragic as it is that Gene Siskel couldn't give his thoughts on the 1990s in film, I will admit that Marty made for a great substitute on Roger Ebert's "Best of the Decade" show.

We started on about the Searchers and by the end

The Searchers, The Wild Bunch, and The Good, The Bad and, the Ugly are the three greatest westerns ever made.

There is no doubt ethan had relationships with the mothers of both martin and debbie ,whether he is the parent of one or both is unclear. In both cases he lost them to comanche raids.

Best film ever !!

This dude makes me wish the Columbia House DVD club still existed.

The problem with Scorsese's arguments of Racism stems from the fact that before Ethan leaves for the Civil War, he had witnessed a massacre of Martin's family, who we believe to be very good friends of his. They make a point of showing that Ethan was clearly traumatized by the brutal murders. So much so that he didn't even want to see Martin, because he was reminded of the horrible things done. The movie makes clear that his hatred isn't for all Indians as it showed through out the years they were trading with other tribes and making contacts within those tribes. Ethan's hatred is for the Comanche in particular, because of his awful past with them killing and raping. The scene with the rock was after they murdered his family, and the Indian who died on the war trail was clearly someone who participated in those murders and rape. The hatred of Comanche Tribes was a historical prejudice that was held by all Texans, Tejanos, and other Indian tribes in Texas. Everyone agreed, no matter the color of your skin, that the Comanche were evil and everyone, and I mean everyone, wanted them dead. So much so that other tribes helped the Rangers and Army hunt them down and wipe them out for good. I think Scorese needs to pay a lot more attention to the movie, before talking about it in terms of racism.

I smell this film differently

every 5 minutes of scoresese talking, i come out with 10 movies i need to watch

❤

How many of philosophy in movie you want?

Scorsese's love of movies is contagious. I could listen to him all day.👍

I JUST WATCHED THE SEARCHERS FOR THE FIRST TIME 😌

Masterpiece western

Who is King David’s Lord in Psalm 110:1?

It s John & John see what yeah Marty chiil

Of course, even a casual read of the Comanche depredations over more than a half century in Texas, of which The Searchers is based on, will go miles in explaining & justifying Ethan's attitudes.

I hope Marty's around for another fifteen years at least. His contributions to cinema are priceless. He's the greatest American filmmaker alive, the best (in my opinion) of the New Hollywood era and (for me) the second greatest American/English-Language filmmaker of all time. Stanley Kubrick will always be number one in that book.

I hope that when I die God will allow me to gather at the river with John Wayne, Clark Gable, Bing Crosby, Robert Taylor, Alan Ladd, Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum, Jeff Chandler, Charlton Heston, John Ireland, Ward Bond, John Ford, Harry Carey, Hank Worden, Audie Murphy, Lex Barker, Randolph Scott, Andy Devine, John Qualen, Paul Fix, Tony Curtis, Olive Carey, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Olivia de Havilland, Jean Simmons, Jean Arthur, James Cagney, James Arness, Gary Cooper, James Stewart, Donna Reed...

The way he describes this movie reminds me of the way Tarantino described some of spaghetti westerns. Tarantino has this stupid hateboner on Ford.

He talks about Racism,but the term "racism" didnt even exist in Ethan's time. The word came into widespread usage in the Western world in the 1930s, when it was used to describe the social and political ideology of Nazism, which saw "race" as a naturally given political unit. So,No one in Ethan's time would have been called Racists.

Thought goodfellas not winning an Oscar a disgrace. Have now learned the searchers was not nominated in any category. Wtf.

Why was it normal to start in the middle?

The part where he shoots out the indian's eyes they showed the indian's eyes were missing. I remember seeing it years ago then they cut it. I guess they thought it was too scary for us kids.

Breaking Bads finale is inspired by The Searchers

I swear to the honesty it's the only movie recommend by Scorsese i didn't like. I just didn't i tried but failed. It means originality is a real thing not that the movie was not maybe i watched it too late

This guy vastly over simplified the Ethan Edwards character to fit what he wanted it to be, other than how nuanced it actually is.

Hey Marti,injuns slaughtered his brother and family and kidnapped his niece. He had a right to be filled with rage and hate. No racism involved,just vengeance.

Ethan gave his soul to survive only to find out in the end he could not fit into the world because of what he had become to survive.

This was one of Waynes best performances. It is arguably one of the closest to his true political leanings. Later in life The Green Berets was a more blatant depiction of his politics. I love John Wayne and I like both of the movies I mentioned. I just don't agree with most of his politics - especially when it comes to race and ethnicity.

Wayne played the Racist anti-hero very well

Yes. People who don't think John Wayne could act - should watch The Searchers. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Searchers The thing Scorsese doesn't seem to get here - is that the Indians and Settlers did things to each other that made many of them hate. At the beginning of the movie, iirc, Natalie Wood's family - is slaughtered by the Indians - and she is taken captive. Her father was John Wayne's brother. So - the man has a very personal stake in getting revenge on the Indians. This type of thing was not a one time occurrence - but an on going war between the whites and the red man. One of the things a lot of people don't realize - is that there were twice as many Whites killed as there were Indians in the American Indian Wars. The bit about kidnapping is accurate. The Indians had a high childhood mortality rate - and so - were always on the look out for ways to increase their numbers. Thus - it was common practice among the Indian tribes at war with each other - to steal each others children - and to kidnap the other tribes women and put their wombs to work increasing their own numbers instead of their enemies. When the Whites came along - the Indians largely treated them the same way they'd treated each other - but - the Whites had more power coming along behind them and weren't going to put up with that. .

Best Movie Ever Made