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 | Spanish

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) | Norway:16 (1948) | Finland:S | Spain:T | South Korea:15 (DVD rating) (2002)

Filming Locations:

Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA

Company:

Argosy Pictures

Trivia:

Cinematographer Archie Stout and John Ford used infrared black-and-white film stock, developed originally for medical and scientific researches and which doesn't sense the blue and records that color as black, in many exterior scenes shot in the Monument Valley to enhance the clouds and the rock formations. Ford learned that technique from Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa that he worked with for The Fugitive (1947).

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Cpt. Yorke with Sgt. Beaufort first sets out to see Cochise he simply heads off on his horse in to the desert, taking no water or supplies (there are no packs on the two horses). This journey must be at least day each way as the whole of the US Cavalry has failed to find Cochise.

Quotes:

Lt. Col. Owen Thursday: Captain Yorke?
Captain Yorke: I'm Captain Yorke, sir. I bid you welcome, General Thursday.
Lt. Col. Owen Thursday: I'm not a general, Captain. A man is what he's paid for. I'm paid in the rank of Lt. Colonel.
Captain Yorke: I'd remembered you as a general from the war, sir.

Movie Connections:

Featured in I'm King Kong!: The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper (2005)

Soundtrack:

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

Very thoughtful, penetrating

Fort Apache

This beautifully shot western--the first in John Ford's so-called Cavalry Trilogy--about a fatuous Lieutenant (Henry Fonda) whose hubris seriously endangers an isolated frontier outpost, grabbed me by the throat in its quietly scathing indictment of military leaders who needlessly risk the lives of their soldiers to win vague notions of heroism for posterity.

Fonda's Lieutenant Colonel Thursday seems an obvious stand-in for General Custer and the film, despite its reputation, seems less derogatory toward Native Americans than keen to extol the virtues of honorable combat agreed upon between two forthright leaders. Note the penultimate scene, occurring after the massacre, in which Wayne, Thursday's successor, wearily addresses reporters eager to talk about Thursday's `legacy': A glossy portrait of the Lieutenant lords over the room, as Wayne discusses Thursday's merits, while looking out fondly at his battalion, their reflection superimposed over Wayne's gaze. This film is not anti-war, rather pro-service and pro-battle. It is not, however, supportive of egregious fronts to the sanctity of human life; a rather interesting contra-distinction, to be sure.