Fort Apache

A Calvary officer (John Wayne) watches as his ambitious and arrogant commanding officer (Henry Fonda) leads the company into a massacre.

Fort Apache was the first installment in director John Ford’s unofficial Calvary Trilogy, followed by She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Rio Grande. Featuring a very grim ending, this first outing is easily the darkest of the three, and, were it not for its somewhat awkward epilogue, could serve as a strong anti-war film.

Despite taking second billing to John Wayne, this is Henry Fonda’s movie. His character, Own Thursday is a thinly veiled Custer who engineers a war with the Apaches in order to further his own career, only to realize his blinding ambition has doomed not only himself, but all the men under his command as well. It’s a knockout performance that’s against-type for the normally affable Fonda, but absolutely believable from the opening moments.

For his part, John Wayne is more of a supporting player. Ford tells the story through Wayne’s eyes, but keeps Fonda center stage, a feat that probably only one other man, Howard Hawks, could have managed, given The Duke’s propensity for stealing scenes, but Ford reins him in.

Further, Ford does a wonderful job of creating the story’s world. The atmosphere of fort life through Ford’s eyes is detailed and engrossing, from the various army rituals to the class divisions, it may not be very authentic, but it’s believable.

Unfortunately, the film isn’t perfect. Shirley Temple, who plays Fonda’s character’s daughter, doesn’t work. She’s too whiney and ham-fisted in her scenes, and doesn’t fit as the daughter of such a driven, obsessive man. Her entire romance with John Agar (her real-life husband) feels abrupt and forced, and drags the entire film down.

And then there’s the aforementioned epilogue that feels more like a way for Ford to reconcile his own views with the more liberal, anti-war script, and in effect, get the last word in. Whatever the rationalization it doesn’t work and the film would be better without it.

That said, Fort Apache is a very good movie featuring a pair of great performances by Fonda and Wayne, as well as a marvelous supporting cast highlighted by Ward Bond and Victor McLaglen. For western fans, or fans of Wayne or Fonda, it’s a must-see.