MovieChat Forums > The Searchers (1956) Discussion > About that Silly Subplot

About that Silly Subplot

posted 8 years ago by GeorgeBailey
7 replies | jump to latest

One of the criticisms about The Searchers is the silly and comical subplot involving Marty and Laurie and the wedding.

I initially agreed with that criticism, but now I'm not so sure. Those scenes provide a counterpoint to the intense and bitter quest of Ethan to recover Debbie. But notice that even though Debbie is gone, life for most of the community goes on and HAS to go on. You simply can't live in that kind of intense angst and anger for 5 years w/out it taking a toll on you.

So life goes on. And life is often silly and farcical. Suitors come to call, couples get engaged. Rivals brawl. And generally everybody at some point gets annoyed and acts like an idiot.

So I've come around to appreciating the frontier farce that plays opposite to the intense and dark quest. I enjoy it on its own terms and don't demand that it match the tone and mode of Ethan's quest.

But it also serves a larger purpose. At the end, we're given a scene of domestic bliss. Martin and Laurie will marry. Debbie is returned home. But as Debbie's uncertain and haunted final gaze indicates, it might not be a happy life for her.

And as for Ethan. That kind of domestic life is not for him. A dark wall and an impassable doorway stands between him and a role in that kind of story. So he ends, seemingly trapped in his own half of the story, unable to bridge the gap.

[–] buddyboy28 8 years ago

The sub-plot is about Martin and Laurie but it's almost like a flashback into Ethan's past. An hindsight into a similar scenario that happened between Ethan and Martha years ago.

If Martin doesn't end up with Laurie, he's likely to end up just like Ethan.

To me, Ethan becomes an even more sympathetic and tragic figure because of the sub-plot.

[–] tbonesays 8 years ago

Is that bit bout Ethan and Martha in the film or the book?

[–] GeorgeBailey 8 years ago

It's very subtle. There's the moment that Ethan and Martha share just before Ethan goes off at the beginning of the film and the fact that the first person Ethan looks for when entering the house is Martha.

[–] cfwente 8 years ago

In addition: the demure way she escorts Ethan into the house at the very beginning -- backing into the doorway like a young girl holding her dress self-consciously to each side; the way she folds Ethan's coat in the privacy of a side room while the Reverend glances her way then looks back again, intimating he's seeing something private and very personal that he shouldn't see; the long look Ethan gives to Martha when he helps her to lift the lit lamp from the fireplace mantle; her anxiety when Ethan and his brother talk about money. There's really quite a lot there providing signals of an earlier mutual love on both their parts -- still smoldering.

[–] tbonesays 8 years ago

I got that (because I read it here). I was just curious why people think Martin's subplot is mirroring Ethan's.

[–] vestdennis 8 years ago

Very astute observations from al of you. This movie is complex and while dark, Ford also realizes a touch of humor is needed to allow the viewer to exhale.

[–] vinidici 8 years ago

Those who are in the "John Wayne can't act and always plays himself" crowd need to chew on how nuanced and layered Wayne's performance is in THE SEARCHERS.

IMHO, Wayne's work in TRUE GRIT was great, but his Oscar amounted to a "Lifetime Achievement" award; whereas his performance in TS (and SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON) was probably the most Oscar-worthy in his career.

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