Captain Apache (1971)

A Native American born US Army officer, Captain Apache, investigating a murder, uncovers a presidential assassination plot.

Director:

Alexander Singer

Writers:

Philip Yordan (screenplay), Milton Sperling (screenplay)

Stars:

Lee Van Cleef, Carroll Baker, Stuart Whitman

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lee Van Cleef	...	Capt. Apache
Carroll Baker	...	Maude
Stuart Whitman	...	Griffin
Percy Herbert	...	Moon
Elisa Montés	...	Rosita (as Elisa Montes)
Tony Vogel	...	Snake
Charles Stalmaker	...	O'Rourke (as Charles Stalnaker)
Charly Bravo	...	Sanchez (as Charlie Bravo)
Faith Clift	...	Abigail
Dee Pollock	...	Ben (as D. Pollock)
Dan van Husen	...	Al (as Dan Van Husen)
Hugh McDermott	...	Gen. Ryland
George Margo	...	Sheriff
José Bódalo	...	General (as Jose Bodalo)
Elsa Zabala	...	Witch

Storyline

During the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant, the full-blooded Native American US Army Cavalry officer, Captain Apache, finds himself entangled in a well-planned conspiracy, while on a mission to investigate the death of the Indian Commissioner, Harry Collier. With his sole clue being the victim's cryptic dying words, "April Morning", Captain Apache will soon cross paths with the tough arms-runner, Griffin, as everyone around him who knows something about the puzzling case, eventually, ends up murdered. Is there an intricate plot and an even greater scheme of corruption behind those hideous killings? As the bullets start flying, the inquisitive Captain will shortly find out how deep the conspiracy goes.

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Plot Keywords:

president | presidency | locomotive | native | indian | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes the Wild West was murder.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Mystery | Thriller | Western

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Certificate:

GP

Details

Country:

UK Spain

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

27 October 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

Captain Apache

Filming Locations:

Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Benmar Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Second of two westerns in a row that Lee Van Cleef made for British production company Benmar Productions. Producers Irving Lerner, Bernard Gordon and Philip Yordan were involved with both movies.

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Goofs

After Captain Apache is captured by Griffin's men outside the telegraph office he's taken to a run down stone building. Behind the building, in the upper right corner of the screen you can see some sort flashing neon sign or billboard in the distance.

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Quotes

Capt. Apache: It's the spirit that dances, not the man - Indian proverb.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue:

"THE ONLY GOOD INDIAN IS A DEAD INDIAN" Paleface Saying

"THE ONLY GOOD PALEFACE IS A DEAD PALEFACE" Indian Saying

"LOVE THY NEIGHBOR" Source Forgotten

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Connections

Featured in Trailer Trauma (2016)

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Soundtracks

April Morning
Sung by Lee Van Cleef
Music by Dolores Claman
Words by Richard Morris
Guitar solo Juan Márquez (as Juan Marquez)

User Reviews

Lee Van Cleef Minus A Mustache, Singing

Alexander Singer's "Captain Apache" of 1971 is often regarded as one of the worst Eurowesterns ever made. I am a Spaghetti Western enthusiast, and I've seen many many Eurowesterns (I won't call this a Spaghetti Western, since it's not an Italian production, and neither the director nor the supporting actors are Italian) and I agree that Captain Apache is certainly a bad movie, although I would not go so far to call it one of the worst Eurowesterns. It actually has some very funny moments, and if you regard it as a comedy more than a Western that is supposed to deliver suspense, gunplay, atmosphere whatsoever, it will definitely entertain.

Lee Van Cleef is one of my favorite actors, this movie provides the exceptional opportunity to hear Van Cleef sing. His singing qualities are terrible, he sings two songs in this movie "April Morning" and the main theme, "Captain Apache". While "April Morning" is very funny to her because it sounds so damn terrible when Lee Van Cleef sings, "Captain Apache" is far from good, but not that horrible, since he doesn't sing but just speaks the text in this one.

Van Cleef doesn't have his trademark mustache in this one, he plays a native American army captain, Captain Apache, and is constantly referred to as 'redass' by other characters in this movie. The only other Spaghetti Western Regular in "Captain Apache" is José Bólado, whom Spaghetti Western fans should know for his role in Sergio Corbucci's masterpiece "Django" of 1966. I also recognized Dan Van Husen, who played one half of a pair of flamboyant, idiotic (and hilarious) twins in this, I had seen him in "Light The Fuse... Sartana Is Coming" and in "Cut Throats Nine".

All things considered, "Captain Apache is a bad film, if you consider it as a Spaghetti Western and expect qualities like great style, a cool score, suspense and gunplay or interesting Antihero characters. It works as a comedy, however, and I don't even think that most of the hilariously stupid elements were unintentional. I personally think that the director was quite aware that he was directing a very cheesy flick, and he probably tried to compensate the unintentional comedy factors by adding (admittedly cheesy) humor that was quite intentional. I don't have the slightest doubt that Lee Van Cleef was 100 % aware that this would be one of his worst, if not his worst film, and he took it with a sense of humor and tried to make the best out of it.

I recommend "Captain Apache" to Eurowestern fans, simply for the fun factor and for the opportunity of hearing Van Cleef sing. People not familiar with the Spaghetti Western genre, avoid this, and watch the genre masterpieces with Lee Van Cleef such as "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly" (one of the greatest movies ever made and my all-time favorite), "For A Few Dollars More", "The Big Gundown", "Day Of Anger" or "Death Rides A Horse" instead.

Don't expect anything that could be taken seriously, but I still recommend this to my fellow Spaghetti Western fans, just for the heck of it. Lee Van Cleef is always worth the time. 4/10