Due to his popularity as the genre’s leading star, many may wonder what John Wayne’s all-time favorite Western actually was. With so many thought-provoking horse operas to choose from (and so many stars who managed to push the genre forward), the answer must be a good one. Well, it is, only it may not be the answer you’d expect. According to the Duke, the best Western ever made is actually the John Ford film The Searchers, the 1956 picture that starred Wayne as Ethan Edwards. Westerns were never the same after this flick — and for good reason.
John Wayne Was Asked to List the Five Best Movies of All Time
Back in 1977, just after Wayne made The Shootist, and before his death two years later, The People’s Almanac asked the Duke to list the five best motion pictures of all time. In 2011, Heritage Auctions managed to secure a copy of the original letter to Wayne and his signed responses. In order, the Duke listed A Man for All Seasons, Gone With the Wind, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Searchers, and A Quiet Man as his five choices. While Wayne starred in both of the last two films, The Searchers is, perhaps surprisingly, the only Western on the list. Though Wayne played parts in plenty of different genres, it was the Westerns of the 1950s and the 1960s especially that set him apart, forg ing him as the cowboy hero that all of America looked up to, even if that hero was very flawed.
It’s clear why Wayne considered The Searchers to be the best Western out there. The sheer craftsmanship of director John Ford combined with the Duke’s trademark flare gives The Searchers a presence that few Westerns can compete with. Of course, the story itself is particularly profound, following a man (Wayne) hell-bent on a mission to retrieve his niece from a Comanche raiding party that took her from her home and family. Edwards becomes obsessed as he travels across the Wild West in search of his kin, and violence ensues as he and his companion Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter) wander the desert for years. It’s hard to understate the effectiveness of The Searchers, which, in only 119 minutes, puts you through some of the most emotionally engaging material you’ll find in the genre.
John Wayne Gives One of His Best Performances in ‘The Searchers’
The film’s dazzling cinematography, complex characters, and crisp direction make it impossible to replicate, and who would even have the guts to try? Of course, Wayne’s performance is what really brings the whole thing home, so it’s understandable that the Duke would consider this the best the Western has to offer. Though one could argue that Wayne doesn’t have much range as an actor, The Searchers puts his talents to their best use. Known so often as the face of the Western genre, Wayne leans into those clichés while simultaneously refusing to let them define him. Ethan Edwards is the hero, yes, but he’s a deeply flawed, broken, and haunted individual who cannot always see past his own lived experience — maybe reminiscent of the genre itself.
The Searchers holds a 87% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and frankly, that seems too low. No Western has made quite the impact on the genre at large as The Searchers has, and while one might argue that Shane comes close, it’s this John Ford/John Wayne collaboration that remains so often at the forefront of the genre. In fact, it was one of the very first motion pictures ever preserved by the United States’ Library of Congress. That alone speaks to its power as a film, as well as Wayne’s as an actor. Maybe it’s a little arrogant to consider your own movie the best of its genre, but in John Wayne’s case, it’s hard to argue. The Searchers can speak very clearly for itself.
The Searchers is available to rent on Prime Video in the U.S.