The Searchers
Starring: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles
Director: John Ford
Writer: Frank S. Nugent
Producer: Merian C. Cooper, Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
The Searchers is a 1956 American epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas–Indian wars and stars John Wayne as a middle-aged veteran of the Confederate Army who, accompanied by his adopted, partially Native American nephew (Jeffrey Hunter), spends years looking for his abducted niece (Natalie Wood).
Trivia
- Parker has said retrospectively that this was easily his worst career reversal.
- Author Alan Le May's surviving research notes indicate that the two characters who go in search of a missing girl were inspired by Britton Johnson, an African-American teamster who ransomed his captured wife and children from the Comanches in 1865.
- Afterward, Johnson made at least three trips to Indian Territory and Kansas, relentlessly searching for another kidnapped girl, Millie Durgan (or Durkin), until Kiowa raiders killed him in 1871.
Filming Locations
- California
- Colorado
- Arizona
- Utah
- The film was shot in the VistaVision widescreen process.
- Additional scenes were filmed in Mexican Hat, Utah, in Bronson Canyon in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, and in Elk Island National Park.
Previous Showings
5 Runs • 4 Festivals
3,925 tickets sold
Original Billings: 1 run (June 6, 1956)
Original Run: June 6, 1956 (Wednesday - Wednesday)
All runs on record (5):
- June 6, 1956 (Wednesday - Wednesday)John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter
- September 9 - 12, 2000 · 1,241 ticketsSummer 2000w/ 3 Godfathers
- May 8 - 10, 2009 · 737 ticketsJohn Wayne Every Friday through Sunday in Mayw/ Fort Apache
- September 16 - 18, 2017 · 1,038 ticketsWarner Brosw/ Treasure of the Sierra Madre
- November 29 - 30, 2025 · 909 ticketsClassic Westernsw/ The Unforgiven