In search of 'The Searchers' and the history behind the western

The bigger the fight between a screenwriter and a director, the better the picture. It's an arrant generalization but not necessarily an errant one. Look at Budd Schulberg's battles with "On the Waterfront," or Robert Towne's over the ending of "Chinatown," or most if not all the writers on director Otto Preminger's best movies — few if any of whom could stand ever to work with him again.

By David Kipen, Special to the Los Angeles Times

March 1, 2013