The Searchers Quotes

Context

This line is spoken by Ethan Edwards, played by John Wayne, in the film The Searchers, directed by John Ford (1956).

In this classic Western, cowboy Ethan Edwards (the iconic John Wayne) is searching for his niece, Debbie, who was kidnapped by Comanche Indians. But he's not looking to save her. He wants to kill Debbie, because if she has slept with an Indian man, well, she deserves the death penalty by his standards, and he's going to be the one to dole it out. Sounds like she's safer with her kidnappers!

When Edwards finds Debbie (Natalie Wood), he chases her, catches her, and…surprisingly, says "Let's go home, Debbie." He doesn't kill her! Why the change of mind? It's been a source of debate among film buffs for over half a century.

Where you've heard it

You've heard this if someone is telling Debbie (or Deborah) to go home. Or maybe they're talking to a delicious oatmeal cream pie at the grocery store, in which case they'd say, "Let's go home, Little Debbie."

Additional Notable References

• Here's an academic paper about The Searchers.
• And here's Roger Ebert's review.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

This isn't pretentious. Killing her would have been pretentious (and hypocritical). Debbie needs to go home.