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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	Frank S. Nugent
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 starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford. The film was the first of the director's "cavalry trilogy" and was followed by She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Rio Grande, 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.

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.

The end of the movie, where Lieutenant Colonel Kirby York is the Post Commander, and someone asks him about "Thursday's Last Stand," the contempt York could barely mask showed a remarkable foresight on Ford's part. Decades before history caught up with the Custer legend, and showed him to be a foolish glory hunter, Ford did it first by his portrayal of the Custer-like Thursday in Fort Apache.

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.

• John Wayne filmography (1941-1960)

• Fort Apache at the Internet Movie Database

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