Fort Apache (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fort Apache
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	Archie Stout, ASC
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 directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda. 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 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.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Production 3 Cast 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] Plot summary

After the end of the American Civil War, the veteran, well-respected Captain Kirby York (John Wayne) is expected by the regimental personnel of Fort Apache, an isolated U.S. cavalry post, to replace the outgoing commander. York had commanded his own regiment during the Civil War and was well-qualified to assume permanent command. To their surprise and disappointment, the command of the regiment was given to Lieutenant Colonel Owen Thursday (Henry Fonda). Thursday, a West Pointer, was a General during the Civil War. Despite his Civil War combat record, Lieutenant Colonel Thursday lacks experience to deal with the Indians he is expected to watch, and is a very arrogant officer and martinet.

Accompanying widower Thursday is his daughter, Philadelphia (Shirley Temple). She becomes attracted to Second Lieutenant Michael Shannon O'Rourke (John Agar), the son of Sergeant Major Michael O'Rourke (Ward Bond). The elder O'Rourke had won the Medal of Honor, entitling his son to enter West Point and become an officer. However, the class-conscious Thursday forbids his daughter to see someone he does not consider a gentleman, despite the fact that Sergeant Major O'Rourke had served during the Civil War as a Major with the Irish Brigade and went on to earn the Medal of Honor for his bravery under fire.

When there is unrest among the Indians, led by Cochise (Miguel Inclan), Thursday ignores York's advice to treat the natives with honor and that the problems are caused by corrupt Indian agents. His behavior drives the Indians to rise up. Eager for glory and recognition, Thursday orders his regiment into battle on Cochise's terms, despite York's urgent warnings. He and his command are wiped out. Cochise spares York's detachment because he knows York to be an honorable man.

Subsequently, now-Lieutenant Colonel Kirby York commands the regiment. A correspondent asks him 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, reminds the reporters that the soldiers of the regiment will never be forgotten as long as the regiment lives.

[edit] Production

Some exteriors for the film were shot in Monument Valley, Utah. The exteriors involving 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
Dick Foran	Sgt. Quincannon
Pedro Armendariz	Sgt. Beaufort
Miguel Inclan	Cochise
Victor McLaglen	Sgt. Festus Mulcahy
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

[edit] See also

• John Wayne filmography (1941-1960)
• Fort Apache
• Fort Apache, the Bronx (a 1981 crime film, starring Paul Newman)

[edit] External links

• Fort Apache at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e American films of the 1940s 1940 •1941 •1942 •1943 •1944 •1945 •1946 •1947 •1948 •1949

v • d • e The films of John Ford 1910s The Tornado • The Fighting Gringo • The Trail of Hate • The Scrapper • Cheyenne's Pal • The Soul Herder • Straight Shooting • The Secret Man • A Marked Man • Bucking Broadway • The Phantom Riders • Wild Women • Thieves' Gold • The Scarlet Drop • Hell Bent • A Woman's Fool • The Craving (with Francis Ford) • Three Mounted Men • Roped • The Fighting Brothers • A Fight for Love • Rustlers • Bare Fists • Gun Law • By Indian Post • The Gun Packer • Riders of Vengeance • The Last Outlaw • The Outcasts of Poker Flat • Ace of the Saddle • Rider of the Law • A Gun Fightin' Gentleman • Marked Men 1920s The Prince of Avenue A • The Girl in Number 29 • Hitchin' Posts • Just Pals • The Big Punch • The Freeze-Out • The Wallop • Desperate Trails • Action • Sure Fire • Jackie • Little Miss Smiles • Silver Wings (with Edwin Carewe) • The Village Blacksmith • The Face on the Bar-Room Floor • Three Jumps Ahead • Cameo Kirby • North of Hudson Bay • Hoodman Blind • Hearts of Oak • Lightnin' • Kentucky Pride • Thank You • The Fighting Heart • The Shamrock Handicap • 3 Bad Men • Upstream • Four Sons • Napoleon's Barber • Strong Boy • The Black Watch 1930s Men Without Women • Born Reckless • Up the River • Seas Beneath • The Brat • Arrowsmith • Airmail • Pilgrimage • Doctor Bull • The Lost Patrol • The World Moves On • Judge Priest • The Whole Town's Talking • The Informer • Steamboat Round the Bend • The Prisoner of Shark Island • Mary of Scotland • The Plough and the Stars • Wee Willie Winkie • The Hurricane • Four Men and a Prayer • Submarine Patrol • Stagecoach • Young Mr. Lincoln • Drums Along the Mohawk 1940s The Grapes of Wrath • The Long Voyage Home • Tobacco Road • How Green Was My Valley • They Were Expendable • My Darling Clementine • The Fugitive • Fort Apache • 3 Godfathers • Pinky • She Wore a Yellow Ribbon 1950s When Willie Comes Marching Home • Wagon Master • Rio Grande • The Quiet Man • What Price Glory? • The Sun Shines Bright • Mogambo • The Long Gray Line • Mister Roberts (with Mervyn LeRoy) • The Searchers • The Wings of Eagles • The Rising of the Moon • Gideon's Day The Last Hurrah • The Horse Soldiers 1960s Sergeant Rutledge • Two Rode Together • The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance • How the West Was Won (with Henry Hathaway and George Marshall) • Donovan's Reef • Cheyenne Autumn • 7 Women Television "Fireside Theatre" (1949) • The Bamboo Cross (1955) • "Screen Directors Playhouse" (1955) • "Wagon Train" (1957-1965) Productions The Iron Horse (1924) • The Blue Eagle (1926) • Mother Machree (1928) • Hangman's House (1928) • Riley the Cop (1928) • Salute (1929) • Flesh (1932) • The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938) • Young Cassidy (1965) Documentaries Torpedo Squadron • Sex Hygiene (1942) • The Battle of Midway (1942) • December 7th (1943) • We Sail at Midnight (1943) • This Is Korea! (1951) • Korea (1959) • Chesty: A Tribute to a Legend (1976)