Sixty Grit said...
My feelings about "The Searchers" are a little complicated Sixty. Although it is probably the most artistic and "deep" of the John Wayne and John Fork collaborations it is not my favorite. It is the Western most cited by the intelligentsia and the movie auteur's as their favorite Western which is enough to give me pause. It is a complete work and the absolute fruition of Ford's talent but it is flawed in many ways. But what piece of art doesn't have it flaws? (Well except for Angie Dickenson)
The reason it was shot in Monument Valley is because it was John Fords personal presevre. Where he was most comfortable shooting his movies. Away from the onerous hand of studio supervision. They lived in tents and had no running water or toilets. So the big wigs stayed away. It was supposed to mimic the Llano Estacado or great desert plain of west Texas where the Comanche ruled in the days of the frontier. Of course it was much dryer and desolate but it was just a convention of the time. Like filming in front of a backdrop or wearing a white hat if you were a good guy.
The story of the movie is one of redemption. Of love turning to hate and back to love again. Of the ties of family that bind even the loner and the outside with chains of love. It is a tale of endurance and perservance and stubborness born out of a sense of obligation and loyality. It is a tale of what America once was and will never be again. Much more now than in the days it was filmed. That America and those Americans are gone forever. It is an ode to an era that has passed and will not return. And like Ethan Edwards all we can do is turn our back and walk out into the darkness of the night.
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We were in Southern Utah last week as we drove home from San Diego. It was my 4th visit, but the first for my bride and another companion. I've been in every state but a few. Southern Utah is w/o question the most uniquely beautiful. We left from Vegas, drove through Zion, and spent a night @ Bryce Canyon. We then drove the historic Highway 12 through Robber's Roost[Butch and the boys hideout] and then spent a night in Moab. We have great photos but nothing like seeing it for real. I would venture to guess 99% of Americans have not been to see this cathedral made by God, water and wind. It's a damn shame.
Thanks for the answer, Troop. I thought that the end of the movie, where Duke walks away, was great.
A few years ago I was in Vegas on business, rented a red Mustang convertible and drove, sometimes at 100 mph, up to Zion, through the park, then where 9 intersects 89, turned left, and went to Bryce. Back in '76 I turned right at that intersection and went to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. So many choices, so many wonderful things to see, so little time.
On my way back to Vegas I drove through Dixie National Forest and in to Cedar City. That was stunningly beautiful. I miss the west, but doubt if I will get out that way again.
Sixty, you are so correct. Cedar City is a town I've stayed in a couple times. I like the quiet beauty of that town. I've driven the route you've taken[w/o a covertible and @ a slower speed!]. If you drive north on 89 you drive through Circleville..Butch's hometown. That's if you're into Butch; although there's not much to see there.
Whay won't you get out that way again??
That America and those Americans are gone forever. It is an ode to an era that has passed and will not return.
I love Monument Valley too. It reminds me of the very last family vacation road trip I took with my dad in '94 before he got really sick and died the following year.
The new O'Callaghan-Tillman memorial bridge at Hoover Dam is quite an accomplishment. It fits the whole motif very well, even though the dam is Art Deco style). You're allowed to walk on it too, which if you're slighly acrophobic is quite a thrill.
OMG, funny! Today is my daughter's 40th birthday, the one who is in Afghanistan. The military, censored a picture of my son in law bending over mooning her! Hey censored his butt!HAHAHA.
She actually had a little surprise party given for her with a real cake.
"ARMY CENSORS MOON"
Aimee broke the news to me this morning.
I just have to say one word.
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!
Happy Birthday to your daughter, and may God guide and protect her.
Yes, Happy Birthday to your daughter Allie and I hope she can stay safe until her tour of duty is over.
And if you want to post any photo's of the pillow fights they have over there in the lady's barracks...well go right ahead.
I suppose in Afghanistan they would have an "I Dream of Jeanie" thing going on. Just sayn'
The shits of it is that they can't send pictures electronically, any pics she takes will have to be printed, sent home , then scanned. She comes home for her sisters wedding in September.
Blake it would be the Marines that censored the moon, bummer, it was funny.
spinelli, did you go into Arches National Monument, just outside Moab? Never fails to knock me out. I was on the verge of buying a single wide on its own 2 acres in a nice neighborhood very close to downtown Moab for 80 grand! No lie. This was more than ten years ago. Didn't do it. Biggest mistake of my life. Now Moab is completely changed, 200 K the absolute bottom of the market for a tiny house in a tiny yard. Say la vee.
ricpic, We did indeed go to Arches. I thought I fucked up when I learned I booked our itinerary in Moab on Jeep Safari Week. It's a bunch of folks in Jeeps driving off road. However, since we were there midweek it wasn't bad. Arches was a new experience for me. I've been to the other canyons but Moab is a must as is Arches. Don't kick yourself in the ass, ricpic. Hindsight is 20/20.
Moab is pretty nice. Arches is spectacular.
St. George is okay. I really liked the valley that Panguitch is in, but I would never live in Utah. As a non-Mormon I am an outsider, and as a southerner, I cannot stand winter. Boy do they have winter out there.
Looking at the map I see all the places I have been over the last 40+ years - I am glad I got to see so much of the west - it is truly a beautiful place.
From Kansas west to the Pacific, from Cabo San Lucas to Vancouver Island, all the mountain ranges and volcanoes, the valleys, the big sky, sudden storms, dust storms, I have seen a lot.
I used to bicycle the northern Cascades, rode my bike up Mt. Adams, skied on Mt. Hood, picked cherries in The Dalles, been to Pendleton, drove through the lava flows outside Boise, been to Mt. St. Helens, Weed California, bicycled Death Valley, have seen petroglyphs all over the place, mined amber and crystals in Mineral City Washington, hiked the back country in the Sierra Nevada, drove all over various Indian Nations, have seen roads that run straight as a string for 20 miles or more, have seen bald eagles near the Grand Tetons, skinny dipped in various mountain lakes, drove rental cars like a moonshiner on gravel roads, have driven across the country so many times I didn't need a map to get from one coast to the other.
Have been up in the Rockies in winter, driven through passes in every mountain range I could find, have seen hobos riding in box cars on long trains crossing the wide open spaces.
Have flown across the country maybe 100 times, and it even looks good from 35,000 feet. Saw Devils Tower, that was cool. Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi in flood stage, Arizona when it was on fire, have seen it all.
Now I am happy to stay home. When I want a big adventure I drive two counties away. That's a thrill, I'm gonna tell you what!
Sixty: This land is your land...
Thanks, Chickie, but one of the states I have missed, so far, is Woody's home state of Oklahoma. Had things gone just a bit differently I would be living on a portion of a farm passed down from an original Sooner. One hundred and sixty acres does not end up being much after 4 generations.
I have also never been to Wisconsin. It's lovely, I hear. Too far north for my delicate constitution now.
I used to swim in the ocean in Maine. Went to Provincetown MA back in '61. Have been to Key West, too. Jones Beach. Skipped Fire Island. No reason to totally straight up the gay places.
One time I rode my bicycle up 17 (I know, right) to a religious ghost town in the Santa Cruz hills, maybe it's called Beehive now, then rode Skyline boulevard through Sky Londa, then all the way to route 92. Rode down to Crystal Springs reservoir, which was formed in the '06 quake and is now the terminus of the water that comes from Hetch Hetchy in Yosemite and provides drinking water to the whole SF peninsula. Stayed on Skyline all the way up to where it intersects 1, then caught a ride up to a friend's house in Pacific Heights. Oh yeah, good times.
We used to race up the steepest hills and canyons we could find - Kings Mountain road, Tunitas Creek road, La Honda road, Pescadero Creek road, Mt. Diablo - an unrelieved 10 mile climb with an 18% grade at the top, up and over Mt. Hamilton - you can see Yosemite from the top of that one, and a friend reminded of one epic ride we had - we rode up Mt. Umunhum back when it was illegal to go up that road at all. Oh yeah, good times.
Also rode up Mt. Mitchell, the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi, and one time rode up South Mountain in Maryland - that was kind of spooky - place was covered with "installations" of some sort.
Oh yeah, another time while bicycling around the Catoctin mountains I turned into a driveway - I knew what it was, but just wanted to see how far I could get - next thing you know a flat gray Plymouth sedan with dog dish hubcaps was 2 feet off my back tire. Yeah, I was on the grounds of Camp David. I turned around, waved, and rode away.
Well said. It is a flawed work but it is one of my favorite Duke movies (although I really like most he was in). I am sucker for the redemption theme. Ford would have shot the whole thing on location, but the studio was cheap and lots of the scenes were sound stage (and look it).
Hollywood liberals love it for its racism theme (and certainly that is there) but the movie would be a one liner and suck if that was all there was to it. It is what trooper said, about family and deeper themes.
And ndspinelli, I love driving through southern and eastern Utah.
Do you have a special bovine driver's license?
@Sixty
Ford uses doorways throughout the film as metaphor for choice, are you in or out? With me or against me?
Ford's final shot of Ethan framed in the doorway is one of the most famous shots in film.
Tarantino uses the same framing when The Bride limps off from the trailer.
Spleiberg pays homage to the shot in Saving Private Ryan and David Lean in Lawrence of Arabia.
Heck, even Buddy Holly picked up on Ethan's most repeated catchphrase; that'll be the day.
(yes, I'm baaaack)
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