Fort Apache (film)
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| Fort Apache | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | John Ford |
| Produced by | Merian C. Cooper John Ford |
| Written by | James Warner Bellah (story) Frank S. Nugent |
| Starring | John Wayne Henry Fonda |
| Music by | Richard Hageman |
| Cinematography | Frank S. Nugent |
| Editing by | Jack Murray |
| Distributed by | RKO |
| Release date(s) | March 9, 1948 |
| Running time | 125 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Fort Apache is a 1948 western film starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford. The film was the first of the director's "cavalry trilogy" and was followed by She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Rio Grande, both starring Wayne. The story, which screenwriter James Warner Bellah based loosely on George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn, as well as the Fetterman Massacre of 1866, was one of the first to present an authentic and sympathetic view of the Native Americans involved in the battle (Apache in the film, Sioux in the real battles).
The film was awarded the Best Director and Best Cinematography awards by the Locarno International Film Festival of Locarno, Switzerland.
[edit] Plot
Having reverted from Brevet Major General to his permanent grade after the end of the Civil War, Lt. Col. Owen Thursday (Henry Fonda) is transferred to Fort Apache, where he is anxious to enforce high standards of performance. Despite Capt. Kirby York's (John Wayne) advice that the problems in the area are due to corrupt Indian agents rather than the Indians themselves, Thursday is eager to enforce the reservation on the Indians under his charge. Finally, Thursday orders his regiment into battle with the natives and into disaster
Some exteriors for the film were shot in Monument Valley, Utah. The exteriors in volving the fort itself and the renegade Indian agent's trading post were filmed at Corriganville, which is now a park in Simi Valley, California.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| John Wayne | Capt. Kirby York |
| Henry Fonda | Lt. Col. Owen Thursday |
| Ward Bond | Sgt. Major O'Rourke |
| Shirley Temple | Philadelphia Thursday |
| John Agar | Lt. Michael "Mickey" O'Rourke |
| Victor McLaglen | Sgt. Festus Mulcahy |
| Pedro Armendariz | Sgt. Beaufort |
| Miguel Inclan | Cochise |
| Dick Foran | Sgt. Quincannon |
| Guy Kibbee | Dr. Wilkens |
| Anna Lee | Emily Collingwood |
| George O'Brien | Capt. Sam Collingwood |
| Jack Pennick | Sgt. Schattuck |
| Irene Rich | Mary O'Rourke |
| Grant Withers | Silas Meacham |
