from Warner Bros.
Directed by
John
Ford
Starring
John
Wayne (Ethan Edwards)
Jeffrey Hunter (Martin Pawley)
Vera Miles (Laurie Jorgensen)
Ward Bond (Reverend Captain Samuel Johnson Clayton)
Natalie Wood (Debbie Edwards (older))
John Qualen (Lars Jorgensen)
Olive Carey (Mrs. Jorgensen)
Henry Brandon (Chief Scar)
Ken Curtis (Charlie McCorry)
Harry Carey Jr. (Brad Jorgensen)
Antonio Moreno (Emilio Figueroa)
Hank Worden (Mose Harper)
Beulah Archuletta (Look)
Walter Coy (Aaron Edwards)
Dorothy Jordan (Martha Edwards)
Pippa Scott (Lucy Edwards)
Patrick Wayne (Lieutenant Greenhill)
Lana Wood (Debbie Edwards (younger))
Pipe Line Begishe (Comanche)
Exactly Sonnie Betsuie (Comanche)
Danny Borzage (Accordionist at funeral)
Ruth Clifford (Deranged woman at fort)
Pete Grey Eyes (Comanche)
Feather Hat Jr. (Comanche)
Nacho Galindo (Mexican bartender)
Jack Tin Horn (Comanche)
Harry Black Horse (Comanche)
Away Luna (Comanche)
Robert Lyden (Ben Edwards)
Cliff Lyons (Colonel Greenhill)
Peter Mamakos (Jerem Futterman)
Mae Marsh (Woman at fort)
Bob Many Mules (Comanche)
Jack Pennick (Private)
Chuck Roberson (Ranger at wedding)
Smile White Sheep (Comanche)
Many Mules Son (Comanche)
Percy Shooting Star (Comanche)
William Steele (Nesby)
Chief Thundercloud (Comanche chief)
Billy Yellow (Comanche)
Written by
Frank S. Nugent
Alan Le May (novel) |
 After marauding
Comanches kill his brother's family and kidnap their youngest
daughter, bitter, morally ambiguous Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards
(John Wayne) sets forth on a desperate quest to find his niece,
Debbie (Natalie Wood), and save her from the "savages."
In tow, however, he has young Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter),
the adoptive son of the dead family. Their quest leads them hundreds
of miles over several agonizing years of dead ends and double-crosses.
As it becomes clearer that Debbie is living among the Comanches
peacefully and has little memory of white society, Ethan resolves
not to rescue her, it seems, but to save her from the disgrace
of miscegenation by killing her. An epic story and dense, richly
layered characterization combine with Winton C. Hoch's lush cinematography
to create a vivid tapestry of post-Civil War America. Ethan's
tight-lipped racism and willingness to shoot a man in the back
dramatically upends Wayne's heroic archetype. Based on the novel
by Alan LeMay.
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