Glenn Frankel’s brilliant book on the making of John Ford’s iconic film, The Searchers, reveals plenty about Ford and the cultural aspects of the Fifties. The Searchers tells the story of a 5-year search for a girl that had been kidnapped by the Comanches. Alan LeMay’s book,The Searchers, based on the true story of Cynthia Ann Parker’s captivity with the Comanches which began in 1836, became one of the best Westerns of the 1950s. LeMay sold the movie rights under the condition he wouldn’t have to write the screenplay for the notoriously difficult John Ford. Frankel’s book tells the story of Cynthia Ann Parker’s 24-year captivity, then how Alan LeMay came to write his book based on Parker’s story, and finishes with a detailed story of how The Searchers was made. Incredibly, The Searchers received NO Oscars in 1956! Anyone who’s interested in classic Westerns and movies should read this book. GRADE: A
I am reading that right this minute. Great minds, I guess.
Patti, I learned a lot about John Ford and movie making from this book.
I read another review of this yesterday. I’ve been a fan of THE SEARCHERS for a long time – of course, this is supposedly where Buddy Holly got the phrase “That’ll be the day” for the song – and will definitely read it. We watched it again a year or two ago.
Sounds really interesting, another one I may need to insert into my Summer Reading Plan, which keeps getting interrupted (started 4th Judge Dee this morning). I haven’t seen this film in a long time, would you recommend watching it before the book, or after? This sure sound like one Cap’n Bob would enjoy.
Rick, I watched THE SEARCHERS before I read the book. Everything was fresh in my mind then.
Jeff, you will love THE SEARCHERS: THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN LEGEND. Frankel did a great job showing how the movie was made . Very detailed!
Of course, George Lucas ‘quoted’ a famous scene from THE SEARCHERS in STAR WARS.
Jeff, Spielberg was influenced by THE SEARCHERS and John Ford, too.
The film is a long time favorite(own a DVD of it). Ths book sounds interesting and may need to add it to my growing TBR piles(both paper and ebook piles as it is).
Randy, you will enjoy THE SEARCHERS: THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN LEGEND. Anyone interested in film history would learn a lot from this book.