Westerns Week

Ah, the Duke. Christened Marion Morrison, John Wayne’s legend was carved in the epic red rock of Monument Valley by John Ford, and The Searchers was the height of their collaboration. Swapping the black and white morality of their earlier films (they first worked together in 1928, when Wayne was an uncredited extra on Four Sons) for a deeper cautionary tale, The Searchers sees Wayne’s aging Civil War vet obsessed with finding his niece (Natalie Wood) who’s been abducted by Indians. The Duke’s swagger dominates, towering over Ford’s sweeping landscapes, and his final moment, loping away from the family homestead into the wilderness, is the height of poignant Western cinema.

Check out the John Wayne triple-bill, starting at 11.20am on Saturday 14 Nov: Hondo (1953), The Searchers (1956) and True Grit (1969).