Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

Through Dallas, Ringo is rewarded in a way for his heroic action in Lordsburg. Ford leads the viewer to
believe that he and Dallas will live out their lives together at Ringo’s stead in Mexico. When Ringo is
describing the home that he and Dallas could make together he describes it as “a real nice place with trees,
grass and water, and a cabin half built. A man could live there, and a woman.” His notion of what makes a
good place for him and Dallas does not include a lively town or an affluent home. Instead he offers her an
open wilderness where they can be free to live together outside suffocating society. Ringo’s idealized home
is still being built. Ford shows the dream of the free individual succeeding in life, and finding a successful
place outside civilization, one where he can find love and independence at the same time. As Ringo and
Dallas ride away to their new lives together Doc states that he believes he and the Marshall are “saving them
from the blessings of civilization”. Ultimately the town is evil and suffocating and the wilderness is free and
moral. Individuals are considered heroes to be revered and while they do not have a place in regular
civilization, it is because they have trancended common society. The half built house they are traveling to
will not become a flourishing new civilization. It is impossible for them to live in a society. They cannot be
the base of a new moral society because in the context of the film a moral society is impossible. Wayne as
Ringo is something to be admired in Stagecoach, his incessant individuality is his greatest strength and what
ultimately keeps society safe from itself.
The Searchers
Film historians and critics consider The Searchers to be John Ford’s masterpiece, and is seen as one of
the best western films of all time. Filmed in 1956 it is the high point of the career for both Ford and Wayne.
It was Ford’s first western film in five years; a return to the genre he loved most. (Eckstein 1) At the center
of this film is Ethan Edwards (John Wayne). The story follows Ethan’s seven year search for his niece
Debbie, captured at the age of nine by Comanches who killed the rest of her family. Rather than searching
to save her, Ethan intends to kill his niece because she has been “tainted” by living with the Indians.
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