Fort Apache

Back on track here...

The first of his celebrated Cavalry Trilogy, John Ford's Fort Apache (1948) is a wonderful examination of Manifest Destiny. Its questionable glorification of military life aside, it's a very smart, emotional and entertaining Western, showing that military glory is built largely on inglorious foundations.

Lt. Colonel Owen Thursday (Henry Fonda) is assigned to Fort Apache, a back-water outpost in New Mexico Territory, accompanied by his daughter Philadelphia (Shirley Temple). Thursday, an ambitious martinet, immediately clashes with the informal, family-like atmosphere at the Fort, butting heads with veteran Indian fighter, Captain York (John Wayne), and angry that young Lieutenant O'Rourke (John Agar), son of the regimental Sergeant-Major (Ward Bond), is sweet on Philadelphia. This comes to a head as Cochise (Miguel Inclan) and his Apaches arrive, and the glory-seeking Thursday picks a fight with the Indians, over the protests of his officers.

The main focus of Fort Apache is military life, viewing the Army as a composite of all that is good in America. Ford constantly emphasizes the Fort's community, with dances, drinking and regimental songs forging a common bond. This view discounts the latent class, racial and religious differences inherent in the military; only Thursday's clash with O'Rourke shows a hint of this, and it's ultimately forgiven in the heat of battle. Simplified as it is, it's an extension of Ford's vision of the West, a place where immigrants and outcasts come together to forge a nation.

If he glamorizes the military a bit much, Ford is right on track with his portrayal of the Indian Wars as a dirty, rotten business. The Indians are neither bloodthirsty redskins nor "noble savages": Cochise is a dignified man pushed to the brink by the intolerable actions of the US government. Presaging Charlton Heston's Major Dundee (1965), Thursday clashes with subordinates, alienates his men, and destroys his command for the sake of personal glory - the dark side of the American military. We also see a crooked Indian Agent (Grant Withers) who mistreats Indians while selling them liquor and guns. It's not as openly subversive as Ford's later films, but it's just as damning.

The movie's message is problematic. Ford balances the love of the military with the ambiguities of westward expansion, but not with complete success. The final scene, where York builds Thursday into a hero, seems an example of "printing the legend", as ascribed in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: better for a country's heroes to be noble than flawed. In this context, Thursday seems another Fordian martyr for civilization, but it's hard to reconcile this with his negative portrayal. York (and Ford) apparently endorse Thursday, albeit with reservations, as necessary for frontier development, which moots the earlier criticism of said policies. The result is either ambiguity or confusion.

Ford handles the epic production with his usual finesse, and fans of the director will be pleased. Archie Stout's glorious widescreen photography in Monument Valley surpasses even Stagecoach, and one wishes the movie had been filmed in color. The action scenes are well-staged and exciting, the violence fairly elliptical; two battle scenes are enshrouded in a poetic cloud of dust. The movie is leisurely paced, but the sterling plot and character development make it worthwhile; even the usual Ford humor is kept at tolerable levels. Richard Hageman contributes a fine score that makes excellent use of traditional frontier and cavalry songs.

Henry Fonda shines as Thursday, an uncharacterstically dark role that presages his infamous turn in Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). John Wayne languishes in a thankless role, with little to do besides act indignant. Shirley Temple is fine, but John Agar (later star of schlocky Z-movies like Tarantula) is stiff. Of Ford's stock company, the standouts are Ward Bond's noble career soldier and Pedro Armendariz's fiery translator. Victor McLaglen (The Informer), Dick Foran (The Fighting 69th) and Jack Pennick (every Ford film ever) are predictably given too much room to chew scenery. The soldiers' wives are well-played by Anna Lee (Hangmen Also Die!) and Irene Rich (Angel and the Badman), and Grant Withers (My Darling Clementine), Miguel Inclar and George O'Brien (Cheyenne Autumn) shine in small parts.

Despite its somewhat garbled message, Fort Apache remains a well-made, entertaining and thoughtful Western, another seminal genre entry by Ford.