Fort Apache (film)

Last updated

Fort Apache
Fortapache1948.jpg
Spanish-language theatrical release poster
Directed by John Ford
Written by Frank S. Nugent
Based on"Massacre"
1947 story The Saturday Evening Post
by James Warner Bellah
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Archie Stout, ASC
Edited by Jack Murray
Music by Richard Hageman
Production
company
Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • March 27, 1948 (1948-03-27) [1]
Running time
125 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2.1 million [2]
Box office$3 million (US rentals) [3]

Fort Apache is a 1948 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda. [4] [5] The film was the first of the director's "Cavalry Trilogy" and was followed by She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950), both also starring Wayne. The screenplay was inspired by James Warner Bellah's short story "Massacre" (1947). The historical sources for "Massacre" have been attributed both to George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn and to the Fetterman Fight. [6]

Contents

The film was one of the first to present an authentic and sympathetic view of Native Americans. In his review of the DVD release of Fort Apache in 2012, The New York Times movie critic Dave Kehr called it "one of the great achievements of classical American cinema, a film of immense complexity that never fails to reveal new shadings with each viewing" and "among the first 'pro-Indian' Westerns" in its portrayal of indigenous Americans with "sympathy and respect". [7]

The film was awarded the Best Director and Best Cinematography awards by the Locarno International Film Festival of Locarno, Switzerland. Screenwriter Frank S. Nugent was nominated for best screenplay by the Writers Guild of America.

Plot

After the American Civil War, highly respected veteran Captain Kirby York is expected to replace the outgoing commander at Fort Apache, an isolated U.S. cavalry post. York had commanded his own regiment during the Civil War and was well-qualified to assume permanent command. To the surprise and disappointment of the company, command of the regiment was given to Lieutenant Colonel Owen Thursday. Thursday, a West Point graduate, was a general during the Civil War. Despite his Civil War combat record, Lieutenant Colonel Thursday is an arrogant and egocentric officer who lacks experience dealing with Native Americans, and in particular local tribes with their unique cultures and traditions.

Accompanying widower Thursday is his daughter, Philadelphia. She becomes attracted to Second Lieutenant Michael Shannon O'Rourke, the son of Sergeant Major Michael O'Rourke. The elder O'Rourke was a recipient of the Medal of Honor as a major with the Irish Brigade during the Civil War, entitling his son to enter West Point and become an officer. However, the class-conscious Thursday forbids his daughter to see someone whom he does not consider an equal and a gentleman.

When unrest arises among the Apache, led by Cochise, Thursday ignores York's advice to treat the tribes with honor and to remedy problems on the reservation caused by corrupt Apache agent Silas Meacham. Thursday's inability to deal with Meacham effectively, due to his rigid interpretation of Army regulations stating that Meacham is an agent of the United States government, so entitled to Army protection (despite his own personal contempt for the man), coupled with Thursday's prejudicial and arrogant ignorance regarding the Apache, drives the Apaches to rebel. Eager for glory and recognition, Thursday orders his regiment into battle on Cochise's terms, a direct charge into the hills, despite York's urgent warnings that such a move would be suicidal. Thursday relieves York and orders him to stay back, replacing him with Captain Sam Collingwood.

Following Thursday's orders, York spares the younger O'Rourke from battle. Thursday's command is wiped out. Only a few soldiers who were on the ridge where Captain York is positioned survive. Thursday himself survives, but then returns to die with the last of his trapped men. Cochise spares York and the rest of the detachment because he knows York to be an honorable man.

Several years later, a now Lieutenant Colonel Kirby York commands the regiment. Meeting with correspondents, he introduces Lt. O'Rourke, now married to Philadelphia Thursday with a young son. A reporter asks Colonel York if he has seen the famous painting depicting "Thursday's Charge". York, about to command a new and arduous campaign to bring in the Apaches, while believing that Thursday was a poor tactician who led a foolhardy and suicidal charge, says it is completely accurate and then reminds the reporters that the soldiers will never be forgotten as long as the regiment lives.

Cast

Note: At the time of filming, Shirley Temple and John Agar were married in real life.

Production

Screenplay

The Irish theme to the background of some of the troopers may be a nod to the service on both sides during the Civil War, as does the recruit who had allegedly served under Nathan Bedford Forrest. The role of Sergeant Major Michael O'Rourke (and his son) may be a thinly disguised tribute to Patrick "Paddy" O'Rorke, killed leading the 140th New York Volunteer Regiment in a desperate charge to shore up the right flank of Strong Vincent's Brigade on Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg, July 2, 1863.[ citation needed ]

Filming

Some exteriors for the film's location shooting were shot in Monument Valley, Arizona. [8] The exteriors involving the fort itself and the renegade Apache agent's trading post were filmed at the Corriganville Movie Ranch, a former Simi Hills movie ranch that is now a regional park in the Simi Valley of Southern California.

Reception

The film recorded a profit of $445,000 [9] (equivalent to $4,510,000in 2023 [10] ).

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in its 2008 AFI's 10 Top 10: Nominated Western film. [11]

Other rankings

Fort Apache is commonly ranked among the most significant films of the "cowboy/western" genre, including: [12]

Additionally, the principal actors were ranked (for this and their other films):

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ward Bond</span> American actor (1903–1960)

Wardell Edwin Bond was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 200 films and starred in the NBC television series Wagon Train from 1957 to 1960. Among his best-remembered roles are Bert the cop in Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and Captain Clayton in John Ford's The Searchers (1956). As a character actor, Bond frequently played cowboys, cops and soldiers.

<i>F Troop</i> American TV comedy (1966–67)

F Troop is a satirical American television Western sitcom about U.S. soldiers and American Indians in the Wild West during the 1860s. The series originally aired for two seasons on ABC. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965, and concluded its run on April 6, 1967, with a total of 65 episodes. The first season of 34 episodes was broadcast in black-and-white and the second season was in color.

<i>Rio Grande</i> (1950 film) 1950 film by John Ford

Rio Grande is a 1950 American romantic Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. It is the third installment of Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy", following two RKO Pictures releases: Fort Apache (1948) and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949). Wayne plays the lead in all three films, as Captain Kirby York in Fort Apache, then as Captain Nathan Brittles in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and finally as a promoted Lieutenant Colonel Kirby Yorke in Rio Grande. Rio Grande's supporting cast features Ben Johnson, Claude Jarman Jr., Harry Carey Jr., Chill Wills, J. Carrol Naish, Victor McLaglen, Grant Withers, the Western singing group the Sons of the Pioneers and Stan Jones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apache Wars</span> Conflicts between the U.S. Army and native Apache tribe (1849–1924)

The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States Army and various Apache tribal confederations fought in the southwest between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. After the Mexican–American War in 1846, the United States inherited conflicted territory from Mexico which was the home of both settlers and Apache tribes. Conflicts continued as white colonizers came into traditional Apache lands to raise livestock and crops and to mine minerals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank McGrath (actor)</span> American actor and stunt performer (1903–1967)

Benjamin Franklin "Frank" McGrath was an American television and film actor and stunt performer who played the comical, optimistic cook with the white beard, Charlie B. Wooster, on the western series Wagon Train for five seasons on NBC and then three seasons on ABC. McGrath appeared in all 272 episodes in the eight seasons of the series, which had ended its run only two years before his death. McGrath's Wooster character hence provided the meals and companionship for both fictional trail masters, Ward Bond as Seth Adams and John McIntire as Christopher "Chris" Hale.

<i>Major Dundee</i> 1965 film

Major Dundee is a 1965 American Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, Jim Hutton, and James Coburn. Written by Harry Julian Fink, the film is about a Union cavalry officer who leads a contentious troop of Army regulars, Confederate prisoners, and Indian scouts on an expedition into Mexico during the American Civil War to destroy a band of Apaches who have been raiding United States bases and settlements in the New Mexico territory. Major Dundee was filmed in various locations in Mexico. The movie was filmed in Eastman Color by Pathécolor, print by Technicolor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Doucette</span> American actor (1921–1994)

John Arthur Doucette was an American character actor who performed in more than 280 film and television productions between 1941 and 1987. A man of stocky build who possessed a deep, rich voice, he proved equally adept at portraying characters in Shakespearean plays, Westerns, and modern crime dramas. He is perhaps best remembered, however, for his villainous roles as a movie and television "tough guy".

<i>She Wore a Yellow Ribbon</i> 1949 film

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is a 1949 American Technicolor Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne. It is the second film in Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy", along with Fort Apache (1948) and Rio Grande (1950). With a budget of $1.6 million, the film was one of the most expensive Westerns made up to that time. It was a major hit for RKO. The film is named after "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", a song popular with the US military.

<i>Sergeant Rutledge</i> 1960 film by John Ford

Sergeant Rutledge is a 1960 American Technicolor Western film directed by John Ford and starring Jeffrey Hunter, Constance Towers, Woody Strode and Billie Burke. The title was also used for the novelization published in the same year. Six decades later, the film continues to attract attention because it was one of the first mainstream films in the U.S. to treat racism frankly and to give a starring role to an African-American actor. In 2017, film critic Richard Brody observed that "The greatest American political filmmaker, John Ford, relentlessly dramatized, in his Westerns, the mental and historical distortions arising from the country’s violent origins—including its legacy of racism, which he confronted throughout his career, nowhere more radically than in Sergeant Rutledge."

James Warner Bellah was an American Western author from the 1930s to the 1950s. His pulp-fiction writings on cavalry and Indians were published in paperbacks or serialized in the Saturday Evening Post.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myron Healey</span> American actor (1923–2005)

Myron Daniel Healey was an American actor. He began his career in Hollywood, California during the early 1940s and eventually made hundreds of appearances in movies and on television during a career spanning more than half a century.

<i>The Deserter</i> (1970 film) 1970 film

The Deserter, also known as The S.O.B.s and The Devil's Backbone is a 1970 Italian-Yugoslav American international co-production Western film produced by Dino De Laurentiis. It was directed by Burt Kennedy and written by Clair Huffaker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis H. Carpenter</span> 19th and early 20th-century US Army brigadier general

Louis Henry Carpenter was a United States Army brigadier general and a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions in the American Indian Wars.

<i>Only the Valiant</i> 1951 film by Gordon Douglas

Only the Valiant, also known as Fort Invincible, is a 1951 American Western film produced by William Cagney, directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Gregory Peck, Barbara Payton, and Ward Bond. The screenplay was written by Edmund H. North and Harry Brown, based on the 1943 novel of the same name by Charles Marquis Warren.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Shannon (actor)</span> American actor (1890–1964)

Harry Shannon was an American character actor. He often appeared in Western films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard B. Cushing</span>

Howard Bass Cushing was an American soldier during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars, who was killed by the Apache during a campaign in Arizona Territory. Cushing was five foot, seven inches tall and described as "spare, sinewy, and active as a cat" with "keen gray or bluish green eyes." His physical stature and reputation as an Indian fighter made him renowned throughout the young American southwest immediately following the end of the Civil War.

<i>The Last Outpost</i> (1951 film) 1951 film by Lewis R. Foster

The Last Outpost is a 1951 American Technicolor Western film directed by Lewis R. Foster, set in the American Civil War with brothers on opposite sides. This film is character actor Burt Mustin's film debut at the age of 67.

<i>They Rode West</i> 1954 film by Phil Karlson

They Rode West is a 1954 American Western film directed by Phil Karlson. It reunites the stars of The Caine Mutiny, Robert Francis and May Wynn. It also stars Donna Reed and Philip Carey. Based on the story Wood Hawk by Leo Katcher, it was filmed at the Corriganville movie ranch, using the same fort set that was built in 1948 for the John Ford film "Fort Apache."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historic properties in Fort Huachuca National Historic District</span>

This is a list with images of some of the historic structures and places in the Fort Huachuca National Historic District in Arizona. The district, also known as Old Fort Huachuca, is located within Fort Huachuca an active United States Army installation under the command of the United States Army Installation Management Command. The fort sits at the base of the Huachuca Mountains four miles west of the town of Sierra Vista, on AZ 90 in Cochise County, Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Carroll (general)</span> American brigadier general (1836–1908)

Henry Carroll was an American brigadier general of the American Civil War and the Spanish–American War. He was known for commanding the 1st Brigade of the Cavalry Division during the Battle of San Juan Hill but was wounded during the battle and had to be succeeded by Brigadier General Samuel S. Sumner.

References

  1. "Fort Apache: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  2. Brady, Thomas F. (September 19, 1947). "U-I BUYS 2 STORIES TO BE MADE FILMS". New York Times. p. 27.
  3. "Top Grossers of 1948". Variety. January 5, 1949. p. 46.
  4. "Fort Apache". Miniature Reviews. Variety . March 10, 1948. p. 10.
  5. Harrison's Reports film review; xxx.
  6. Howze, William (2011). "Sources for Ford's "Cavalry trilogy": The Saturday Evening Post and James Warner Bellah". Section of Howze's doctoral dissertation.
  7. Kehr, Dave (March 23, 2012). "How the West Was Filled With Loss". New York Times. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  8. SILBERNAGEL, BOB (November 4, 2019). "John Ford, Monument Valley helped define Western mythology". The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  9. Jewell, Richard; Harbin, Vernon (1982). The RKO Story. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House. p. 228.
  10. Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth . Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
  11. "AFI's 10 Top 10 Nominees" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  12. Smith, Travis W. (2016). "Abstract". Place Images of the American West in Western Films (PDF) (doctoral dissertation). Kansas State University . Retrieved November 1, 2020.

Further reading