Fort Apache (1948)
Country: US
Technical: bw 127m
Director: John Ford
Cast: Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Shirley Temple, Pedro Armendáriz, George O'Brien, Ward Bond, Anna Lee
Synopsis:
There is a clash of strategy when a martinet superior officer comes to take over command of a frontier fort from its experienced Captain.
Review:
It's the old peacemaker versus conquering hero dynamic in the first of Ford's 7th Cavalry trilogy, with Wayne and Fonda each playing against type. The Colonel smarts at being demoted from General after the Civil War, while he considers that frontier life has led to laxity in standards of dress among the regiment he inherits. The stage is thus set for intransigence and self-justifying hunger after glory, while life at the fort continues largely unchecked with its dances, inebriety and four rambunctious sergeants. Is this an affectionate portrayal of regimental life or the first step on the road to Ford rehabilitating the Indian? Here the viewer may be unhappy with the ambivalence of the production, for while even Fonda disapproves the methods of the federal appointed Indian agent, and Cochise is presented as a dignified leader, we end on a Little Big Horn-style ignoble defeat. Which would be fine if they had not tacked on a print-the-legend epilogue with Wayne, who has adopted his former commander's head gear, gazing out of the window in recollection of his fallen comrades. Nevertheless, there is still much to admire here, and enjoy.
Country: US
Technical: bw 127m
Director: John Ford
Cast: Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Shirley Temple, Pedro Armendáriz, George O'Brien, Ward Bond, Anna Lee
Synopsis:
There is a clash of strategy when a martinet superior officer comes to take over command of a frontier fort from its experienced Captain.
Review:
It's the old peacemaker versus conquering hero dynamic in the first of Ford's 7th Cavalry trilogy, with Wayne and Fonda each playing against type. The Colonel smarts at being demoted from General after the Civil War, while he considers that frontier life has led to laxity in standards of dress among the regiment he inherits. The stage is thus set for intransigence and self-justifying hunger after glory, while life at the fort continues largely unchecked with its dances, inebriety and four rambunctious sergeants. Is this an affectionate portrayal of regimental life or the first step on the road to Ford rehabilitating the Indian? Here the viewer may be unhappy with the ambivalence of the production, for while even Fonda disapproves the methods of the federal appointed Indian agent, and Cochise is presented as a dignified leader, we end on a Little Big Horn-style ignoble defeat. Which would be fine if they had not tacked on a print-the-legend epilogue with Wayne, who has adopted his former commander's head gear, gazing out of the window in recollection of his fallen comrades. Nevertheless, there is still much to admire here, and enjoy.
Country: US
Technical: bw 127m
Director: John Ford
Cast: Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Shirley Temple, Pedro Armendáriz, George O'Brien, Ward Bond, Anna Lee
Synopsis:
There is a clash of strategy when a martinet superior officer comes to take over command of a frontier fort from its experienced Captain.
Review:
It's the old peacemaker versus conquering hero dynamic in the first of Ford's 7th Cavalry trilogy, with Wayne and Fonda each playing against type. The Colonel smarts at being demoted from General after the Civil War, while he considers that frontier life has led to laxity in standards of dress among the regiment he inherits. The stage is thus set for intransigence and self-justifying hunger after glory, while life at the fort continues largely unchecked with its dances, inebriety and four rambunctious sergeants. Is this an affectionate portrayal of regimental life or the first step on the road to Ford rehabilitating the Indian? Here the viewer may be unhappy with the ambivalence of the production, for while even Fonda disapproves the methods of the federal appointed Indian agent, and Cochise is presented as a dignified leader, we end on a Little Big Horn-style ignoble defeat. Which would be fine if they had not tacked on a print-the-legend epilogue with Wayne, who has adopted his former commander's head gear, gazing out of the window in recollection of his fallen comrades. Nevertheless, there is still much to admire here, and enjoy.