Look up “Westerns” in a cinema dictionary and 2 names tower above the rest: John Ford and John Wayne. In The Searchers, the duo’s 12th collaboration, these legendary artists achieve perhaps their finest moment in this epic story of an ex-Confederate soldier seeking retribution on rogue Native Americans who massacred his family. Following on the heels of this iconic classic, Wayne heads up a notable cast (featuring Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson) in Howard Hawk’s Rio Bravo. Wayne’s portrayal of Sheriff John T. Chance ranks at the top of his finest screen performances as he brings to life the fearless sheriff bound and determined to thwart a gang of ruthless desperados threatening the peace in a small frontier town.