You may be thinking of “The Searchers” in which he plays a “racist” avenger - some consider it his finest performance. Now in “Hondo”, he plays a half-breed. My favorite of his films is “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.”
Yep, I drew a blank on “The Searchers”. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence was fantastic. I don’t know if my favorite isn’t “The Quiet Man” though because of all of the great supporting roles. Even his lesser movies like “Big Jake” are among those which, like the “Godfather”, I can just watch over and over.