The Searchers (1956)
John Ford has many great films to his credit with formidable names like Stagecoach, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Young Mr. Lincoln, My Darling Clementine and The G****s of Wrath among others. And he has won many Oscars too. But the most admired piece in his filmmaking career, The Searchers was not even considered for a single nomination by the Academy. Telling the story of John Wayne as a middle-aged Civil War veteran and Jeffrey Hunter as his nephew searching for the abducted niece, this film explored the theme of racial prejudice and ***ism shot in the gorgeous untamed wilderness and touched a deep chord with a generation of filmmakers including David Lean, Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, Steven Spielberg, Jean-Luc Godard, Wim Wenders, and George Lucas among others.