The Searchers: From Novel to Screenplay

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As a requirement for Social Science 4319 at York University, this website will attempt to compare and contrast a novel and a film called The Searchers. The novel was originally released in 1954 by well-known author Alan LeMay and its film version in 1956 by the acclaimed director John Ford. The film version stars John Wayne and is regarded as one of the greatest films of the western genre. The film has won numerous awards including, top one hundred American movies by the American Film Institute in 1998, as well as nominations from the Directors Guild of America in 1956 for John Ford's work. It is interesting to note the many differences between the novel and the film in terms its plot, as well as its ideological positioning on racism. Pat Miller (2001), a scholar from Valdosta State University states,

"It might be a classic comic line to say that Alan Le May's 1954 novel The Searchers and John Ford's 1956 film version of it are exactly alike except when they are different"(Miller 2002: 315).

It is these differences that I will be focusing on, as I will attempt to distinguish between what Chatman calls kernels and satellites. According to Chatman (1978), kernels are narrative moments, which force the plot into one or two possible paths. The novel and the screenplay have similar kernels attached to them but their satellites are different. Satellites are the minor events that occur in the narrative. Satellites simply elaborate on the kernels but cannot do any damage to how the plot plays itself out.

In terms of its context, a film is different from reading a novel in many ways. A film is a series of images projected at 24 frames per second. Films produce different effects on the audience as opposed to if someone is reading a novel. Films use sound, music and landscapes to give the story a certain mood and ultimately a different meaning. A film and a novel may have a similar narratives but their discourse is different. According to Grossberg (1998) "discourse refers to the way a story is told in a particular text" (Grossberg 1998: 165). Alan LeMay's novel and John Ford's film are two different texts that produce meaning in two different ways. It is in this way that a film and a novel project a totally different meaning to the audience.

Additional Links

John Ford's Biography

Alan LeMay's Biography

Justin De Clercq