Fort Apache (1948)

Release date: 1948-06-14
Country: USA
Language: English|Spanish
Director: John Ford
Production Co: Argosy Pictures
Genre: Action, Adventure, Western
Rating: 7.5/10
Length: 2h 8min

Storyline

Deep into the territory of the great Apache chief, Cochise, the demoted Civil War general, Lieutenant Colonel Owen Thursday, reports for duty as a commanding officer at the remote U.S. cavalry outpost known as Fort Apache, along with his daughter, Philadelphia. There, the arrogant commander will soon lock horns with the realistic and sensible second-in-command, Captain Kirby York, who, as an expert in the local Apaches, disagrees with Thursday who wants to make a name for himself in the Arizona frontier. In the end, is it wise to engage in battle when personal glory is all you seek?

Plot Keywords

u.s. cavalry, 19th century, tortured to death, secret, massacre, last stand, drunkenness, discipline, bare chested male, reference to napoleon, arizona, apache indian, u.s. military, military uniform, civil war veteran, colonel, captain, ambition

Short Review

The nonlinear narrative, with its infinite digressions and asides, is designed less to tell a story than to present a world-a world dense in physical detail and fraught with moral challenges.