The Searchers Page #3

Synopsis: The Searchers is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision Western film directed by John Ford, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May, set during the Texas–Indian Wars, and starring John Wayne as a middle-aged Civil War veteran who spends years looking for his abducted niece (Natalie Wood), accompanied by his adoptive nephew (Jeffrey Hunter). Critic Roger Ebert found Wayne's character, Ethan Edwards, "one of the most compelling characters Ford and Wayne ever created".
Production: Warner Bros. Pictures
  Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.
 
IMDB:
8.0
Rotten Tomatoes:
100%
PASSED
Year:
1956
119 min
1,461 Views


14INT. EDWARDS HOUSE - FULL SHOT - NIGHT

The family is finishing dinner -- and the scene is not

quite, but almost, a still-life. Loud in the room is the

pendulum tick of a Seth-Thomas clock on the mantel above

the fireplace -- in which logs are burning briskly. Ben

crouches near the fireplace, fascinatedly examining the

scabbard and sabre Ethan has brought home from the wars.

He tries to ease the blade just a bit out of its scabbard.

Aaron sits at one end of the hand-hewn table, Martha at

the other. At her right is Ethan, his fork scraping the

last crumb off his plate. Lucy sits at her father's right

and Martin at his left. Next to Martin is Debbie. In the

center of the table is the sorry remnant of what was once

a meal. Lucy and Martin have finished eating. Aaron is

sipping his coffee, and Martha -- her own plate largely

untasted -- is watching Ethan.

Ethan has shaved, changed his shirt. He straightens

contentedly and every eye is on him, expectantly.

ETHAN:

Good.

The clock rattles alarmingly -- the usual preliminary to

its striking; and then it bangs out the strokes like a

fire-alarm gong. Eight fast clangs.

AARON:

Ben! Deborah! Bed!

DEBBIE:

But I've got to help with the dishes.

MARTHA:

Not tonight...Ben, put that sword

back.

BEN:

It's not a sword, ma...It's a

sabre!

(moving to Ethan)

Did you kill many damYankees with

this sabre, Uncle Ethan?

ETHAN:

(matter-of-factly)

Some...

BEN:

How many damYankees, Uncle Ethan?

MARTHA:

Ben!...Martin, he'll sleep in the

bunkhouse with you tonight.

Martin nods and crosses to kiss Martha good night.

MARTIN:

Good night, Aunt Martha...Uncle

Aaron...

(he hesitates)

Good night, Uncle Ethan.

Ethan doesn't like being called Uncle -- as we must know

from the quick look he shoots at Martin. But he

acknowledges it.

ETHAN:

Night.

Ben reluctantly puts the scabbard away, turns to Ethan.

BEN:

Will you tell me tomorrow about

the war?

AARON:

The war ended three years ago,

boy!

BEN:

It did?...Then whyn't you come home

before now?

MARTHA:

BEN!...Go 'long with Martin. MARCH!

As Ben reluctantly heads out with Martin, Deborah crosses

to Ethan's side and studies him gravely.

DEBBIE:

Lucy's wearing the gold locket you

gave her when she was a little girl...

ETHAN:

Oh?

DEBBIE:

She don't wear it much account of

it makes her neck green.

LUCY:

(aghast)

Deborah!

DEBBIE:

(defensively)

Well, it does...But I wouldn't care

if you gave me a gold locket if it

made my neck green or not.

Ethan looks at her gravely.

ETHAN:

'Fraid I...

(then he remembers

something, rises)

Wait.

He crosses to where his pack is -- a side table or something

-- and burrows into it. Debbie is at his side.

ETHAN:

How about this?

It is a gold medal or medallion -- something appropriate

to Maximilian of Mexico -- suspended by a long multi-

colored satin ribbon.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote

Frank Nugent

Frank Stanley Nugent (May 27, 1908 – December 29, 1965) was an American journalist, film reviewer, script doctor, and screenwriter who wrote 21 film scripts, 11 for director John Ford. He wrote almost a thousand reviews for The New York Times before leaving journalism for Hollywood. He was nominated for an Academy Award in 1953 and twice won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Comedy. The Writers Guild of America, West ranks his screenplay for The Searchers (1956) among the top 101 screenplays of all time. more…

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