One of John Wayne’s many timeless classic Westerns, The Searchers (1956) by director John Ford is full of adventure and action with elements of racial conflict in a post-Civil-War time.
In The Searchers, confederate Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards (Wayne) sees the massacre of his brother’s family by men from the Comanche tribe, who also abduct Ethan’s young niece (Natalie Wood). Ethan sets out to hunt down the aggressors and bring them to justice. In his quest, he is accompanied by his adopted nephew Martin Pawley.
An interesting sequence of comic relief comes in the movie when Martin tries to buy a blanket from a Comanche tribe at a trading post. Due to language barrier, Martin ends up buying himself a Comanche wife instead of a blanket.
In this scene from the sequence, Ethan – who can understand the tribal language – enjoys watching Martin being lovingly followed by his “wife” whose name translates in English to “Wild Goose Flying in the Night Sky.” So what does Martin do when he has enough of the unwanted love? Watch and enjoy!
