Fort Apache (1948)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Frank S. Nugent (screenplay)
James Warner Bellah (story)

Release Date:

9 March 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

In John Ford's sombre exploration mythologising of American heroes, he slowly reveals the character of Owen Thursday...

Plot Keywords:

Military | Last Stand | Fanaticism | Ambition | Cult Western

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

John Wayne	...	Capt. Kirby York
Henry Fonda	...	Lt. Col. Owen Thursday
Shirley Temple	...	Philadelphia Thursday
Pedro Armendáriz	...	Sgt. Beaufort (as Pedro Armendariz)
Ward Bond	...	Sgt. Maj. Michael O'Rourke
George O'Brien	...	Capt. Sam Collingwood
Victor McLaglen	...	Sgt. Festus Mulcahy
Anna Lee	...	Mrs. Emily Collingwood
Irene Rich	...	Mrs. Mary O'Rourke
Dick Foran	...	Sgt. Quincannon
Guy Kibbee	...	Capt. Dr. Wilkens
Grant Withers	...	Silas Meacham
Jack Pennick	...	Sgt. Daniel Schattuck
Ray Hyke	...	Lt. Gates (Adjutant)
Movita	...	Guadalupe (Col. Thursday's cook)

Also Known As:

War Party

Runtime:

125 min | West Germany:84 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | Iceland:L | West Germany:6 (nf) | UK:U | USA:Approved (certificate #12819) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:S | Spain:T | South Korea:15 (DVD rating) (2002)

Filming Locations:

Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA

Company:

Argosy Pictures

Trivia:

The Fort Apache fort, built for this production, stood for years. It was reused in dozens of productions, most notably the TV series "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin" (1954). It was located at the Corriganville Movie Ranch in Simi Valley, California. Today it is possible to visit this location, as it is now administered as a City Park in Simi Valley.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Col. Thursday leads a company "at a striking distance" from a repair patrol lead by Lt. O'Rourke. Sgt. Mulcahey is part of O'Rourke's patrol, but when the action shifts to show Col. Thursday's company in a saber charge against the Apache's there is a clear shot of Sgt. Mulcahey riding next to the flag bearer with his saber drawn. Note: this scene was duplicated from Col. Thursday's final charge against Cochise.

Quotes:

[the regiment has arrived near the Apache's encampment]
Lt. Col. Thursday: I propose, Captain Yorke, to deploy the men: two troops to the north, one to the east. You will then converge on the encampment.
Captain Yorke: I wouldn't do that, sir.
Lt. Col. Thursday: I'm not asking your advice, Captain. I'm merely stating.
Captain Yorke: The Apaches, sir, are neither to the north nor the east. Nor are they in their encampment. But if you'da been watching the dust swirls to the south, like most of us, you'd see that they're right there!
[points to the Apaches coming over the rise]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Splendor (1989)

Soundtrack:

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

We're sorry, Schultz; but there's no 'RUSTY' or 'RINTY' in this FORT APACHE!

THIS is the first of what many consider to be an outstanding Trilogy of Movies about the United States Cavalry in the Old West of American Frontier in those years of settlement and expansion that followed the American Civil War.

FORT APACHE (Argosy Pictures/RKO Radio Pictures, 1948) is possibly the one which is most closely tied to real happenings. Whereas RIO GRANDE (Argosy/Republic Pictures, 1949) and SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (Argosy/RKO, 1950) both concentrated on various aspects of life in "this man's Army" in a lonely outpost in unnamed Territories of the United States; it is FORT APACHE which most certainly mimics the real occurrences of those transitional years.

ALTHOUGH it is not heavy handed and obvious, the story clearly is a sort of fictionalized story of a massacre such as that suffered by the alliance of Indian Nations at the Little Big Horn in 1976. Known as CUSTER'S LAST STAND in all of our history books and in our popular fiction, it is a most memorable event to our American History and Mythology alike. This singular event, which incidentally occurred in the same year that Baseball saw the foundation of the National League,* is no doubt a singular event that rates right up there in Historical Importance with the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Boston Massacre, Lincoln's Assassination, Remember the Maine, the Lusitania's Sinking, Pearl Harbor, the Kennedy Assassination and 9/11.

MORE than the other two pictures, this FORT APACHE has a weightier cast. Costarring Henry Fonda; who makes a rare appearance as a non-sympathetic character (that's not a "Good Guy", Schultz!)*. Mr. Hank is a new Commanding Officer for Fort Apache, a real By-the-Book West Pointer. (Once again, "Pappy" Ford doesn't belabour the point and hit us over the head with the similarities to George Armstrong Custer.)

OTHERS prominently featured in the Cast ate: Miss Shirley Temple, Pedro Armindariz, George O'Brien, Anna Lee, Irene Rich, Dick Foran, Guy Kibbee, Mary Gordon and Ray Hike, among many others. Also appearing were a group of what We could call "John Ford Regulars". These are names such as: Ward Bond, Victor McLaglen, Grant Withers, Mae Marsh, Frank McGrath) Charley Wooster on WAGON TRAIN), Jack Pennick and Voice Over-Man Art Gilmore.

INCIDENTALLY, the Film has the distinction of being the introductory appearance of new comer, John Agar; who soon would become the first "Mr. Shirley Temple"!

WE rate it better than average; strictly being a cut above most Horse Operas or most any other movie, for that matter. Rating: ***

NOTE: * This Baseball reference is meant as a sort of barometer of both how long ago this occurrence was; as well as how relatively recent it actually was, historically speaking!

POODLE SCHNITZ!!