In a film widely regarded as one of John Wayne's best (as well as one of cinema's finest Westerns), The Duke plays a man who searches for his niece (Natalie Wood) who was kidnapped by Indians several years before. The film was widely controversial in its time for its portrayal of Native Americans (especially by John Wayne's Ethan Edwards) but overall, I believe (as do many modern critics) that the film actually takes a very even approach to the difficult subject. The one exception to this is the "marriage" between Edwards' traveling companion Martin Pawley and the Native named Look.
I have to say that as a genre, I don't really think I care much for Westerns. I've gone into both this and High Noon with high expectations as two of the supposedly finest Westerns ever produced, and I thought High Noon was boring and The Searchers overlong. The latter, though, had some great performances by Wood, Vera Miles, and especially Jeffrey Hunter as Pawley (Wayne was fine, too) as well as a couple of subplots that, at times, were much more interesting than the main "journey". (The fight scene that "interrupts" Vera Miles's wedding, for example, was pretty great, as was Martin Pawley's letter to her.)
I'll wrap up by saying that this is a movie that I might watch again, though I'd be in no big rush. Possibly I need some suggestions from the genre to give myself a greater appreciation. (The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly is on my to-watch list.)
Score: 7.5/10
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