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"Injun will chase a thing till he thinks he's chased it enough. Then he quits. Same way when he runs. Seems like he never learns there's such a thing as a critter that'll just keep comin' on. So we'll find 'em in the end, I promise you. We'll find 'em. Just as sure as the turnin' of the earth." Ethan Edwards
Played By: John Wayne
Film: The Searchers
Why He's On The List: Cinema's archetypal loner, Ethan's complexities lie in his war-ravaged attitude to life (he fought for the Confederate army), and a deeply entrenched racist attitude to Native Americans. Obviously this creates a problem when a war party comes through and murders his brother's family - except for Ethan's niece Debbie, who is abducted. Many people believe The Searchers itself to be racist, and to a point it is, but it's important to draw the distinction between Ethan's character and the overarching attitude of the film (which essentially isn't).
Finest Hour: His family is re-united, but ever the outsider, Ethan cannot join them, and instead returns to the wilderness.
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John Wayne as Ethan Edwards |
