Fort Apache (1948)

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Frank S. Nugent (screenplay)
James Warner Bellah (story)

Release Date:

14 June 1948 (Brazil)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

John Ford's Masterpiece of the Frontier!

Plot:

In John Ford's sombre exploration mythologising of American heroes, he slowly reveals the character of Owen Thursday...

Plot Keywords:

Military | Beautiful Woman | Hidden Truth | Captain | Cavalry

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

John Wayne	...	Capt. Kirby York
Henry Fonda	...	Lt. Col. Owen Thursday
Shirley Temple	...	Philadelphia Thursday
Pedro Armendáriz	...	Sgt. Beaufort (as Pedro Armendariz)
Ward Bond	...	Sgt. Maj. Michael O'Rourke
George O'Brien	...	Capt. Sam Collingwood
Victor McLaglen	...	Sgt. Festus Mulcahy
Anna Lee	...	Mrs. Emily Collingwood
Irene Rich	...	Mrs. Mary O'Rourke
Dick Foran	...	Sgt. Quincannon
Guy Kibbee	...	Capt. Dr. Wilkens
Grant Withers	...	Silas Meacham
Jack Pennick	...	Sgt. Daniel Schattuck
Ray Hyke	...	Lt. Gates
Movita	...	Guadalupe
Miguel Inclán	...	Cochise (as Miguel Inclan)
Mary Gordon	...	Ma (barmaid)
Philip Kieffer	...	Cavalryman (as Philip Keiffer)
Mae Marsh	...	Mrs. Gates
Hank Worden	...	Southern Recruit
John Agar	...	2nd Lt. Michael Shannon O'Rourke
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Cliff Clark	...	Stage Driver (uncredited)
Frank Ferguson	...	Newspaperman (uncredited)
Francis Ford	...	Fen - Stage Guard (uncredited)
William Forrest	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Fred Graham	...	Cavalryman (uncredited)
Frank McGrath	...	Cpl. Derice (uncredited)
Mickey Simpson	...	NCO at Dance (uncredited)
Harry Tenbrook	...	Tom O'Feeney (uncredited)
Archie Twitchell	...	Reporter (uncredited)

Directed by
John Ford

Writing credits
Frank S. Nugent		(screenplay)
James Warner Bellah		(story "Massacre")

Produced by
Merian C. Cooper	....	executive producer (uncredited)
John Ford	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Richard Hageman

Cinematography by
Archie Stout
William H. Clothier		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Jack Murray

Art Direction by
James Basevi

Makeup Department
Emile LaVigne	....	makeup artist

Production Management
William Forsyth	....	assistant production manager (uncredited)
Bernard McEveety	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lowell J. Farrell	....	assistant director (as Lowell Farrell)
Cliff Lyons	....	second unit director (uncredited)
Frank Parmenter	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Jack Pennick	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Jack Colconda	....	properties (as Jack Galconda)
Joseph Kish	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Joseph I. Kane	....	sound
Frank Webster	....	sound

Special Effects by
Dave Koehler	....	special effects
Daniel Hays	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Frank Baker	....	stunts (uncredited)
Fred Carson	....	stunts (uncredited)
John Epper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Richard Farnsworth	....	stunts (uncredited)
Fred Graham	....	stunts (uncredited)
John Hudkins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ben Johnson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Walt La Rue	....	stunts (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	....	stunts (uncredited)
Frank McGrath	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gil Perkins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Rose	....	stunts (uncredited)
Danny Sands	....	stunts (uncredited)
Barlow Simpson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Williams	....	stunts (uncredited)
Henry Wills	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Eddie Fitzgerald	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Carl Gibson	....	grip (uncredited)
Al St. Hilaire	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
D.R.O. Hatswell	....	costume researcher
Michael Meyers	....	wardrobe: men's
Ann Peck	....	wardrobe: ladies'

Music Department
Lucien Cailliet	....	conductor
Lucien Cailliet	....	music arranger
Morton Downey	....	playback singer

Other crew
Katherine Cliffton	....	research editor
Merian C. Cooper	....	presenter
John Ford	....	presenter
Philip Kieffer	....	technical advisor (as Major Philip Kieffer USA Rtd.)
Katharine Spaatz	....	technical advisor
Kenny Williams	....	dance sequences
Sid Davis	....	stand-in: John Wayne (uncredited)
James Green	....	set doctor (uncredited)
Paul Mantz	....	aerial liaison (uncredited)
Robert Nielson	....	set doctor (uncredited)
Jack Pennick	....	executive assistant (uncredited)
Charles Quesnel	....	auditor (uncredited)
Meta Stern	....	script supervisor (uncredited)
Tom Wood	....	assistant publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Argosy Pictures

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1948) (USA) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1953) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1953) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1957) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Turner Classic Movies (TCM) (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2000) (Germany) (DVD)
• ClassicLine (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Astor-Filmi (1949) (Finland) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1948) (France) (theatrical) (as RKO Radio Films)
• Standard Films (1948) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Castle Video (1989) (Finland) (VHS)
• Continental Home Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Future Film (2003) (Finland) (DVD)
• Turner Home Video (video)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"War Party" -
"Bis zum letzten Mann" - Austria, West Germany
"Forte Apache" - Brazil (imdb display title), Portugal
"Sangre de héroes" - Argentina, Chile
"Apacserőd" - Hungary
"Apashilinnake" - Finland
"Apassilinnake" - Finland (DVD title)
"Epelasis tin avgi" - Greece (reissue title)
"Fort Apache" - Spain (Catalan title)
"Fort Apache" - Denmark
"Fort Apache" - France (DVD box title)
"Fort Apaczów" - Poland
"Fuerte Apache" - Venezuela
"Heroji Fort Apaca" - Yugoslavia (Serbian title) (literal title)
"Il massacro di Fort Apache" - Italy
"Indianöverfallet vid Fort Apache" - Sweden
"Kampf um das Apachenfort" - Austria
"Kan kalesi" - Turkey (Turkish title)
"Le massacre de Fort Apache" - France
"Le massacre de Fort Appache" - Belgium (French title) (imdb display title)
"Sangue de Herói" - Brazil (DVD title)
"Sangue de Heróis" - Brazil (original subtitled version)
"To ohyro amynetai" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)

Runtime:

125 min | West Germany:84 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | Iceland:L | West Germany:6 (nf) | UK:U (passed with cuts) | USA:Approved (certificate #12819) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Norway:16 (1948) | UK:U (video rating) (1985) (1999) | Finland:S | Spain:T | South Korea:15 (DVD rating) (2002)

Filming Locations:

Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA

Company:

Argosy Pictures

Trivia:

John Ford did not get along at all with 19-year-old Shirley Temple, and frequently derided her acting and lack of education.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Capt. York talks to Lt. Col. Thursday at the first time, he tries to take off the glove from his left hand. The next shot shows him holding the glove off.

Quotes:

[the ladies of the fort are watching as the regiment rides out to meet Cochise]
Mrs. Emily Collingwood:[referring to her husband] I can't see him. All I can see is the flags.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in El recomendado (1985)

Soundtrack:

The Girl I Left Behind Me

Fonda And Wayne Clash In John Ford Cavalry Pic

Lieutenant-Colonel Owen Thursday arrives at a frontier fort to take up his new command. His harsh, unbending philosophy of soldiering creates something of a stir in the regiment. His pretty daughter Philadelphia causes a rather different commotion.

The headstrong commander refuses to listen to the advice of his loyal captain, Kirby York, who knows frontier life and enjoys a rapport with the indian chiefs. The two officers are both strong characters, and their differing ideas inevitably lead to a clash.

Cochise and his braves are willing to accommodate the white man so long as their concerns are handled with diplomacy. Unfortunately, the high-handed approach of Lieutenant-Colonel Thursday cause relations to deteriorate, and conflict ensues.

In the course of the 1940's and 50's, director John Ford returned repeatedly to this subject-matter, John Wayne in Monument Valley with the US cavalry, fighting redskins and singing Irish folksongs. The stirring anthem in this movie is "The Girl I Left Behind Me", sung as the regiment rides out in full panoply to meet Cochise - although "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" gets an airing, too.

The cavalry regiment itself is a protagonist in the story, regarded as a living entity by its members. When Captain York is promoted to Colonel and commands the regiment, he makes a powerful speech stressing the continuity and tradition which have made the regiment great. The sense of hierarchy is strong. This is a world of order in which army regulations govern even the way an officer presents his calling-card. Soldiers can quote the regulations by heart. This well-regulated military force will, we feel, impose civilisation on this wild frontier.

Examples of the regiment's rigid code keep recurring. The NCOs' dance has its own elaborate protocol, which not even Colonel Thursday dares to flout. Feelings over the O'Rourke marriage reach boiling-point, but everyone adheres to the rules of military courtesy. Washington's Birthday is celebrated as a regimental occasion. The Irish sergeants are all related by blood and marriage, and as their exuberant fraternal greetings subside, military discipline asserts itself effortlessly.

"I'm not a martinet," protests Colonel Thursday, the most extreme martinet imaginable. He is inflexible in his enforcement of the military code, and too stubborn and wrongheaded to listen to the advice of his officers, who are experienced frontier campaigners. He completely misses the presence of Cochise's war party because he has no combat experience and doesn't know to watch the skyline for dust clouds. In addition, Thursday is a terrible snob. He calls young Michael O'Rourke a 'savage' for a perceived laxity of discipline, and sets his face against the marriage of Michael and Philadelphia because of "the barrier between your class and mine". He is dismayed that the son of a sergeant should have passed through West Point, and needlessly offends Cochise by talking down to him.

And yet even Owen Thursday has a human side. We gather that there is some personal secret between him and Captain Collingwood, and we almost smile when the armchair collapses under him. Most tellingly, Thursday returns to the beleaguered redoubt after he has been rescued. He redeems himself by rejoining his soldiers in the thick of the fighting.

When young Philadelphia Thursday (Shirley Temple) studies Michael O'Rourke in her purse mirror, we know that these two will be the love interest. Also, as this incident illustrates, the womenfolk of Fort Apache tend to run the show in this masculine enclave. The Thursday residence is somewhat joyless, especially when compared with Aunt Emily's cosy quarters. The women brush aside the colonel's seniority and call in Mrs. O'Rourke to refurnish the place. In one of the film's good jokes, no fewer than eight Mrs. O'Rourkes answer the call. There is a touching scene when the regiment moves out and the women are left together. Mrs. Collingwood is torn, because her husband has his safe posting back east and needn't go into battle, but she knows how important it is for him to prove his courage. The womenfolk urge her to call him back, but she reluctantly allows him to ride out.

John Ford laced many of his films with Irish humour, and "Fort Apache" is no exception. The ubiquitous Victor McLaglen plays Sergeant Festus Mulcahy, and he and the O'Rourkes run the fort - that is, whenever they are not in the jailhouse on charges of drinking and brawling. Outrageously, Mulcahy promotes a raw recruit to corporal, simply because he's Irish. Quincannon virtually lives in the jailhouse, but he has a fine tenor voice, so he is released from custody in order to serenade the young lovers with his rendition of "Genevieve". When the dishonest trader Meacham has his whisky stock confiscated and marked for destruction, the sad faces of the sergeants make a comical picture, and the subsequent 'destruction' is even funnier.

Ford is a master of composition. York rides out to parley with Cochise and is engrossed in dialogue, leaving Thursday stranded and excluded. We hear the thunder of hooves offscreen before we see the charge, and its impact is magnified accordingly. In the sequence where York and Beaufort ride to negotiate with Cochise, the screen is filled with stunning images of rock and sky. The charging cavalry are cleverly 'lost' in their own dust, which closes behind them like a curtain, ending the scene.

Wayne is curiously subdued in this film. This is partly because he plays a conscientious subordinate, and partly because the confrontation with Fonda is eclipsed by other plot developments.