The movie tells the story of Ethan, a veteran, who embarks on a long journey with his nephew in search of his niece who was taken by Indians. In the process of searching, the movie shows the ferocious massacre of whites and Indians against each other and the profound racial discrimination.
Director Steven Spielberg once said that when he hit a bottleneck in his filmmaking, this film was one of the four movies he had to see (the other three being Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life, Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai, and David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia) in order to get back to his original vision.
1956 / USA / Drama Western Adventure / John Ford / John Wayne Jeffrey Hunter
Edson Edwards (John Wayne), a veteran of the American Civil War, returns to his home state of Texas after the war and arrives at his brother’s ranch in hopes of reuniting with his loved ones.
Edson has always had a crush on his sister-in-law, keeping that affection only in his heart.
However a Comanche raid shatters Edson’s heart’s desire completely.
During this Indian attack, Edson’s brother and sister-in-law were both killed, and his niece Debbie (Natalie Wood) was plundered, her life and death uncertain.
In order to avenge his beloved sister-in-law’s death and to find Debbie’s whereabouts, Eason embarks on a grueling search accompanied by his brother’s adopted son, Martin (Jeffrey Hunter).
It takes five years and thousands of dollars in bounty money to locate Chief Ska, but Edson’s hatred for the Indians and his near madness makes Martin question his uncle’s real reason for searching for Debbie, and Martin even fears that Edson will kill Debbie, who has been assimilated by the Indians.
