FORT APACHE (1948/DVD/P&S 1.33/ENG-FR-SP SUB) NLA DVD

Fort Apache
The first of John Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy", Fort Apache stars John Wayne as captain Kirby York and Henry Fonda as Custer clone Lt. Col. Owen Thursday. Resentful of his loss in rank and transfer to the West after serving gallantly in the Civil War, the vainglorious Thursday insists upon imposing rigid authority on rough-and-tumble Fort Apache. He is particularly anxious to do battle with the local Indians, despite York's admonitions that the trouble around the fort is being fomented not by the so-called savages but by corrupt white Indian agents. Thursday nonetheless ends up in a climactic set-to with Indian chief Cochise. He and his men are needlessly slaughtered, but the Eastern press builds "Thursday's Charge" into an incident of conspicuous valor--and York, ever loyal to the cavalry, is not about to tell the whole truth. The bare bones of Fort Apache's plotline are fleshed out with several subplots, including the romance between Thursday's daughter Philadelphia (Shirley Temple) and Lt. Mickey O'Rourke (John Agar), the son of Fort Apache veteran Sgt. Michael O'Rourke (Ward Bond). There's also plenty of time for the expected drunken-brawl humor of Victor McLaglen. Not in the least politically correct, Fort Apache is a classic of its kind, and together with Rio Grande (1950) the best of the John Ford/John Wayne Cavalry films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast John Wayne as Capt. Kirby York Henry Fonda as Lt. Col. Owen Thursday Shirley Temple as Philadelphia Thursday Ward Bond as Sgt. Major O'Rourke John Agar as Lt. Michael "Mickey" O'Rourke Pedro Armendáriz as Sgt. Beaufort Dick Foran as Sgt. Quincannon Victor McLaglen as Sgt. Festus Mulcahy Miguel Inclan as Cochise Guy Kibbee as Dr. Wilkens Anna Lee as Mrs. Emily Collingwood George O'Brien as Capt. Sam Collingwood Jack Pennick as Sgt. Schattuck Irene Rich as Mrs. Mary O'Rourke Grant Withers as Silas Meacham

Crew James Basevi - Art Director Kenny Williams - Choreography Michael Meyers - Costume Designer Ann Peck - Costume Designer Jack Pennick - First Assistant Director Lowell J. Farrell - First Assistant Director John Ford - Director Jack Murray - Editor Richard Hageman - Composer (Music Score) Emile LaVigne - Makeup Louis Clyde Stoumen - Cinematographer Archie J. Stout - Cinematographer Bernard McEveety - Production Manager John Ford - Producer Merian C. Cooper - Producer Joe Kish - Set Designer David Koehler - Special Effects Joseph I. Kane - Sound/Sound Designer Frank Webster - Sound/Sound Designer Frank S. Nugent - Screenwriter James Warner Bellah - Short Story Author

Fort Apache
The first film of John Ford's "cavalry trilogy," Fort Apache (1948) pits an arrogant Henry Fonda against an Indian-savvy John Wayne in a myth-making confrontation with Apache leader Cochise. A key antecedent to Ford's later The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Fort Apache deflates mythic lore about the cavalry's triumph over the West's "savages" while revealing how and why such myths were created. Fonda's Custer-esque Col. Thursday is highly disciplined yet fatally racist and self-aggrandizing, while Wayne's Capt. York is an experienced Westerner who sees the wisdom in making peace with Cochise. Still, when Thursday ignores his advice and makes a troop-annihilating charge against the Apaches, York maintains the fiction that Thursday was a valiant leader. Devoting substantial screen time to community dances, domestic details, and a romantic subplot involving Thursday's daughter, Ford celebrates the "civilization" that the cavalry defends even if the fort itself is not an ideal operation; Wayne's final speech attests to the need to support the honorable tradition of that defense. Hardly politically correct, despite sympathetic acknowledgement of the Apaches' plight, Fort Apache still offers Ford's striking black and white Monument Valley vistas and assured performances from Ford stalwarts Wayne and Fonda. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
 

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General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: English, French, Spanish Sound Processing: DD1: Dolby Digital Mono Additional Features: cc New featurette Monument Valley: John Ford Country Theatrical trailer DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1: Pre-1954 Standard MPAA Rating: NR DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 128 min   DVD Chapters: Disc #1 -- Fort Apache 1. Credits [2:38] 2. Disgruntled Soldier Boy [4:39] 3. Escort ot the Fort [3:50] 4. Reunions [5:06] 5. Duty Call [4:05] 6. Officers Call [4:02] 7. No Place For Glory [2:19] 8. Ladies Aid [3:28] 9. First Day's Drill [4:32] 10. Comforts of Home [3:30] 11. Sentimental Evening [6:08] 12. Beginner Horsemen! [3:36] 13. Desert Discovery [3:33] 14. Dressed Down, Ordered Out [5:33] 15. Enemy Engagement [5:37] 16. Merchant Meacham [4:27] 17. Judges of Whiskey [4:58] 18. Riding to Meet Cochise [4:10] 19. Wedding Ban [4:27] 20. Desert Meeting [3:24] 21. Officers Dance [6:40] 22. Thursday's Orders [3:33] 23. Keep For His Return [4:01] 24. Where The Apaches Are [3:39] 25. War Threats [4:57] 26. Relieved of Command [4:45] 27. Into an Ambush [4:16] 28. Commander's Apologies [4:43] 29. Dust in the Wind [2:34] 30. Thursday's Legacy [4:18]