When she begins to become melancholy again and moodily plays a few bars of he sorrowful tuneSend Word to Mother, he asks her a test question.It explored the themes of Catholic guilt regarding sin, and family ties being torn apart by unpredictable crime violence, in a violent and hot-headed male world of Italian-American losers, loners, outsiders and low-lifes (using vulgar and obscene swear words).He ascended the stairs, noticing a blood-stained carpet in the children""s room.In the master bedroom, he saw a bloody, grisly murder scene (with stains on the walls, bedding and carpets), and recorded his findings into a hand-held ape recorder, about the deranged killer""s skillful mode of entry into the house, the killer""s description ("blonde hair, strong, size 12 shoe imprint, blood AB positive"), and the mode of murder.The film""s major tagline echoed the search:"he had to find her...he had to find her"The main characters were briefly described on one of the film""s posters:ETHAN - Whatever it took - he""d find her!DEBBIE - Somewhere out there - she was captive!LAURIE - Her heart wanted to wait - and couldn""t!MARTIN - He started the search as a boy - and ended it a man!CLAYTON - The Good Book in one hand - and a gun in the other!John Wayne, the "Duke," had already played many major roles in numerous westerns in his career, includingThe Big Trail (1930),The Spoilers (1942), Howard Hawks""Red River (1948),and The Fighting Kentuckian (1949), and had appeared in five previous Ford westerns, including:Stagecoach (1939),3 Godfathers (1948), Fort Apache (1948),She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), andRio Grande (1950)-- and would appear in a few more, including:The Horse Soldiers (1959)andThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962).