40 Guns to Apache Pass (1967)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

William Witney

Writers:

Willard W. Willingham (written by)
Mary Willingham (written by)

Release Date:

1 May 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Adventure | Romance

Plot:

The Apaches are on the warpath and the Army must defend them. Murphy's mission is to get a shipment of rifles...

Plot Keywords:

Rifle | Apache | Smuggling | Cavalry | Cowardice

Cast

Audie Murphy	...	Capt. Bruce Coburn
Michael Burns	...	Doug Malone
Kenneth Tobey	...	Cpl. Bodine
Laraine Stephens	...	Ellen Malone
Robert Brubaker	...	Sgt. Walker
Michael Blodgett	...	Mike Malone
Michael Keep	...	Cochise
Kay Stewart	...	Kate Malone
Kenneth MacDonald	...	Harry Malone
Byron Morrow	...	Col. Homer E. Reed
Willard W. Willingham	...	Trooper Fuller (as Willard Willingham)
Ted Gehring	...	Trooper Barrett
James Beck	...	Trooper Higgins
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Maurice Hart	...	Narrator (voice)

Runtime:

95 min | West Germany:93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #21321) | UK:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Lovejoy Buttes, Lancaster, California, USA

Company:

Robert E. Kent Productions

Quotes:

Col. Homer Reed: [to Capt. Bruce Coburn upon his successful delivery of needed rifles] For once, I'm *glad* you disobeyed orders!

Where is John Ford when you need him?...

Director William Witney is no John Ford. But it's doubtful that even the great Ford could have done anything with this lame western which has possibly one of the dullest screenplays ever written.

Saddled with bad material, it's no wonder that AUDIE MURPHY finds himself floundering about in a role that's so poorly written, he never has a chance. The actor himself admitted to being a "no talent" when it came to screen acting, and here he really gets his chance to prove it. The only other respectable performance in the film is given by KENNETH TOBEY, usually Mr. Nice, here cast as the bad guy who wants to sell rifles to the Indians and ends up in a heap of trouble when Audie decides to single-handedly take care of the situation and put Tobey and his cronies out of business. It takes more than an hour to get to this situation and by that time it's doubtful whether anyone was left watching.

Filmed in muddy color with some interesting background scenery the only thing to dwell on during long stretches of dull dialog, it's no wonder Murphy's career was in decline by the time he did this film away from his home studio, Universal. Unfortunately, a tragic plane accident took his life only a few years later.