The creative partnership of director John Ford and actor John Wayne wasn’t limited to cowboy flicks, but it undeniably defined the Western as a genre for heroes in white hats, sitting high in the saddle. Then they demolished their own mythology with The Searchers, a bleak tale of a Confederate veteran trying to find some semblance of redemption in his multi-year quest to rescue his kidnapped niece (Natalie Wood) from the Comanche. Yet Ford subverts expectations, turning Wayne into a figure of soulless vengeance. It’s a story as morally challenging as cinematographer Winton C. Hoch’s depiction of the Old West is beautiful. – Richard Whittaker
