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The Searchers genre evolution

by Critical Commons Manager

According to the model of film genres articulated in Thomas Schatz's 1981 book Hollywood Genres, this scene from The Searchers is an example of the refinement stage in the "stages of generic evolution" as seen in Hollywood Westerns. John Wayne, the archetypal cowboy good-guy of Ford's earlier Westerns here goes on a racist, black-hatted rampage that includes moments of "savagery" learned from his Native American rivals that fly in the face of white civilization.

John Wayne iconic reversal

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Wearing a black hat, John Wayne shoots out the eyes of a fallen Comanche

from The Searchers (1956)
Creator: John Ford
Distributor: Warner Brothers
Posted by Critical Commons Manager
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