Saving the best for last, Warner Archive has closed out the year with the release of John Ford’s 1956 masterpiece, The Searchers on 4K UHD.

Released in May 1956, The Searchers became the no. 1 film at the box-office in its second and third weeks of release, ending up as the tenth highest grossing film of the year. Made at a time when western series and old movie westerns were at their peak on TV, the film was well-received by critics and audiences but was taken for granted by awards bodies weary of the genre at the time. The only western to receive Oscar’s attention that year was the modern western, Giant. By the 1970s, however, The Searchers was recognized as not only the greatest western of all time, but one of the greatest films of all time. Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese were among the newer directors who considered it one of their greatest influences. George Lucas all but stole the opening scene of Star Wars from it.

John Wayne, who often played a thinly disguised version of himself in his films, gave one of his most nuanced performances as the former soldier who returns to his Texas home three years after the end of the Civil War as attacks by a Comanche tribe are increasing. His brother, sister-in-law and their teenage son are murdered in such an attack and his two nieces (Pippa Scott, Lana Wood) are kidnapped.

A posse headed by Ward Bond is organized to look for the girls but is unsuccessful. Wayne and Jeffrey Hunter as an orphan raised by his brother set out on their own accompanied by the older niece’s boyfriend (Harry Carey, Jr.) whose sister Vera Miles is in love with Hunter. Their parents are played by John Qualen and Olive Carey (Harry’s real-life mother).

The long search lasts five years, by the end of which 8-year-old Lana’s character is now played by her 16-year-old sister, Natalie Wood.

The strong supporting cast includes Henry Brandon as Scar, the Comanche chief who kidnaps the girls and Hank Worden as a somewhat dimwitted old cowpoke with a fondness for rocking chairs.

Ford, who won Oscars for directing four of Hollywood’s greatest films, The Informer, The Grapes of Wrath, How Green Was My Valley, and The Quiet Man, was nominated just once for one of his westerns, 1939’s Stagecoach which gave Wayne his breakthrough role after ten years as a B-film star. The screenplay for The Searchers was written by Frank S. Nugent who wrote the screenplays for several Ford films including She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and The Quiet Man. Those two films and The Searchers were Wayne’s favorites of all his films. His role as Ethan Edwards in The Searchers was his favorite. He even named his youngest son Ethan after the character.

Nugent also wrote the screenplay for 1958’s The Last Hurrah for Ford who directed Spencer Tracy in one of his great late career roles. Hunter played Tracy’s nephew in that one.

Wayne’s oft-repeated retort of “that’ll be the day” in the film so impressed Buddy Holly that he wrote his signature song based on the phrase.

While many of the actors in the film were Ford regulars, two who were not had major roles in one of the biggest hits of 1958, the decidedly differentAuntie Mame. Henry Brandon (Scar) played Acacius Page, the teacher at the progressive school that Rosalind Russell enrolls her nephew Patrick in, and Pippa Scott (the older of the kidnapped girls) who plays Russell’s secretary who becomes Patrick’s wife.

It goes without saying the presentation of The Searchers on 4K UHD looks and sounds better than ever. The only extra on the disc is Peter Bogdanovich’s previously recorded commentary. The accompanying remastered Blu-ray features the commentary and several documentaries on the making of the film and its place in film history.

Speaking of Bogdanovich, the Criterion Collection has released a 4K UHD upgrade of his 1973 hit, Paper Moon for which Tatum O’Neal won an Oscar for playing a tough orphan opposite her father, Ryan O’Neal as a Bible-hawking conman.

The release is another winner from Criterion. Extras include another previously recorded commentary by Bogdanovich as well as several documentaries on the making of the film.

The Golden Globes are next Sunday, January 5. Here’s where you can see the nominees:

Best Picture Drama nominees Conclave and Dune: Part Two are both available on Blu-ray as well as on streaming platforms. Conclave is on Peacock while Dune: Part Two is on Max. The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, Nickel Boys, and September 5 are in theaters only at this point.

Best Picture Musical or Comedy nominee Challengers is available on Blu-ray. It is also streaming on Amazon Prime. Emelia Pérez is streaming on Netflix. The Substance is streaming on Mubi as well as Pay-Per-View. A Blu-ray release is scheduled for late January. Anora and Wicked are available on Pay-Per-View. A Real Pain will be released on Blu-ray on February 4.

Among films nominated in the acting categories aside from those already mentioned, A Different Man for which Sebastian Stan is nominated for Best Acgtor – Musical or Comedy is available on Blu-ray. Saturday Night for which Gabriel LaBelle is nominated in the same category will be released on Blu-ray on Jan 7. Kinds of Kindness for which Jesse Plemons is also nominated in the same category is available on Blu-ray and is streaming on Hulu.

Maria for which Angelina Jolie is nominated for Best Actress – Drama is streaming on Netflix. Lee for which Kate Winslet is also nominated in the same category is streaming on Hulu. Nightbitch for which Amy Adams is nominated for Best Musical or Comedy is also streaming on Hulu.

Happy viewing.