Fort Apache (1948) | |
| Director(s) | John Ford |
| Producer(s) | Merian C. Cooper (executive uncredited), John Ford (executive uncredited) |
| Top Genres | Western |
| Top Topics | True Story (based on) |
Featured Cast:
Fort Apache Overview:
Fort Apache (1948) was a Western - Black-and-white Film directed by John Ford and produced by John Ford and Merian C. Cooper.
SYNOPSIS
The first of Ford's acclaimed Cavalry trilogy. After a distinguished military career in the Civil War, a rigid, by-the-book colonel (Fonda) is assigned to the remote western cavalry post of Fort Apache. Viewing his assignment as a demotion, Fonda resists the advice of his more experienced men, including Wayne. Fonda's ignorance of the territory and Indian ways leads to a tragic blunder, despite Wayne's impassioned pleas for his men's safety. A superbly constructed portrait of life on the frontier and the army routine that secured the territory for settlement.
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.
BlogHub Articles:
Fort Apache (1948)
By 4 Star Film Fan on May 9, 2019 From 4 Star FilmsFort Apache gives me the opportunity to consider one of John Ford’s most unlikely long-term collaborations with film critic turned screenwriter Frank S. Nugent. As with all Ford partnerships, it was oftentimes prickly but there’s no repudiating the impact. However, even the writer realiz... Read full article
Fort Apache (1948)
By Beatrice on Apr 5, 2015 From Flickers in TimeFort Apache Directed by John Ford Written by Frank S. Nugent; suggested by the story “Massacre” by James Warner Bellah 1948/USA Argosy Pictures Repeat viewing/Netflix rental Such a classic Ford mixture of the heroic and the cynical in the Great American West. After the Civil War, Lt. ... Read full article
Classic Films in Focus: FORT APACHE (1948)
By Jennifer Garlen on Feb 10, 2013 From Virtual ViragoThe classic Western has many moods, but the tone of John Ford's Fort Apache (1948) is decidedly dark. Its clouds gather slowly, relieved sometimes by deceptive moments of gaiety and light, but still the storm comes on. Loosely based on the events of Custer's Last Stand, Fort Apache is technically a ... Read full article
Classic Films in Focus: FORT APACHE (1948)
By Jennifer Garlen on Feb 10, 2013 From Virtual ViragoThe classic Western has many moods, but the tone of John Ford's Fort Apache (1948) is decidedly dark. Its clouds gather slowly, relieved sometimes by deceptive moments of gaiety and light, but still the storm comes on. Loosely based on the events of Custer's Last Stand, Fort Apache is technically a ... Read full article
Classic Films in Focus: FORT APACHE (1948)
By Jennifer Garlen on Feb 10, 2013 From Virtual ViragoThe classic Western has many moods, but the tone of John Ford's Fort Apache (1948) is decidedly dark. Its clouds gather slowly, relieved sometimes by deceptive moments of gaiety and light, but still the storm comes on. Loosely based on the events of Custer's Last Stand, Fort Apache is technically a ... Read full article
See all Fort Apache articles
Quotes from
Lt. Col. Thursday: Gentlemen, I did not seek this command, but since it's been assigned me, I intend to make this regiment the finest on the frontier. I fully realize that prolonged duty in a small outpost can lead to carelessness... and inefficiency and laxity in dress and deportment. I call it to your attention that only one of you has reported here this morning properly dressed. The uniform, gentlemen, is not a subject for individual, whimsical expression. We're not cowboys at this post... or freighters with a load of alfalfa.
[after telling the soldiers to destroy the whiskey in Meacham's storeroom, Col. Thursday starts to leave]
Silas Meacham: I'll protest. I'll write Washington, I'll have you busted!
Lt. Col. Thursday: Mr. Meacham, you're a blackguard, a liar, a hypocrite and a stench in the nostrils of honest men. If it were in my power I'd hang you from the nearest tree, leave your carcass for the buzzards. But, as you are a representative of the United States government, I pledge you the protection and cooperation of my command. Good day, sir.
Ft. Apache sentry: Halt! Who goes there?
Sgt. Johnny Beaufort: The new commanding officer.
Ft. Apache sentry: Holy Moses!
Sgt. Johnny Beaufort: No, the new commanding officer.
read more quotes from Fort Apache...
Facts about
The plot for this movie was loosely based on Custer's Last Stand with Thursday as Custer and substituting Apaches for the Sioux. The cover-up by the survivors and the military of Thursday's blunder is in line with the cover up of Custer's mistakes and deliberate disobedience of his orders at Little Big Horn.
Thursday's Charge, the painting referenced at the end which falsely depicts Lt. Col. Owen Thursday's last stand as him greatly outnumbered and fighting off the Indians to the best of his abilities, was actually one of the illustrations used to advertise for the film in it's initial release.
read more facts about Fort Apache...
