10 Greatest Unspoken Movie Plot Points

John Ford's classic 1956 western The Searchers stars John Wayne as grizzled Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards, who returns home after an eight-year absence only to find that his niece Debbie (Natalie Wood) has been kidnapped by Native Americans.

Though the film never confirms it, there are many allusions that Debbie isn't Ethan's niece but in fact his daughter.

The "evidence" includes the clear intimacy between Ethan and Debbie's mother Martha (Dorothy Jordan), and the fact that Debbie is eight years old when Ethan returns home, which coincides with Ethan coming back after eight years away.

It would also explain why Ethan ends up pursuing Debbie quite so tirelessly, that he wouldn't rest until his daughter was found one way or another, and why he would rather kill her than see her living as an Indian.

All in all this reading of the film recontextualises Ethan's journey in a fascinating way, presenting to us a man able to play the role of fatherly protector and "save" his flesh and blood, but unable to stay at home, settle down, and become a permanent paternal figure in Debbie's life.

And so, with his job done, Ethan heads back out into the wilderness, leaving Debbie with the family she knows.