The Searchers (1956)

Ranked #15 in Sight & Sound Greatest Movies Poll.

In this revered Western, Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) returns home to Texas after the Civil War. When members of his brother’s family are killed or abducted by Comanches, he vows to track down his surviving relatives and bring them home. Eventually, Edwards gets word that his niece Debbie (Natalie Wood) is alive, and, along with her adopted brother, Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter), he embarks on a dangerous mission to find her, journeying deep into Comanche territory.

This John Ford production is undoubtedly one of the greatest Westerns ever made.

Hollywood Reporter

[The Searchers is] Ford’s greatest western, with John Wayne as the relentless adventurer Ethan Edwards.

Chicago Tribune