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Fort Apache Photos

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Movie Info

When arrogant and stubborn Civil War hero Lieutenant Colonel Owen Thursday (Henry Fonda) arrives in Arizona with his daughter, Philadelphia (Shirley Temple), to assume command of the Fort Apache outpost, he clashes with level-headed Captain Kirby York (John Wayne). Viewing the local Native Americans through an ignorantly negative lens, Thursday is determined to engage them in battle for his own glory, despite the warnings of York -- an act of folly that will have dire consequences.

Genre:

western
Original Language:

English
Director:

John Ford
Writer:

James Warner Bellah, Frank S. Nugent
Release Date (Theaters):

Mar 9, 1948 wide
Release Date (Streaming):

Jan 1, 2009
Runtime:

2h 7m
Production Co:

Argosy Pictures
Sound Mix:

Mono
Aspect Ratio:

Flat (1.37:1)

Cast & Crew

John Wayne
Capt. Kirby York

Henry Fonda
Lt. Col. Owen Thursday

Shirley Temple
Philadelphia Thursday

Pedro Armendáriz
Sgt. Beaufort (as Pedro Armendariz)

John Agar
2nd Lt. Michael Shannon O'Rouke

Anna Lee
Mrs. Emily Collingwood

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for Fort Apache

All Critics (21) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (21)

The nonlinear narrative, with its infinite digressions and asides, is designed less to tell a story than to present a world-a world dense in physical detail and fraught with moral challenges.

November 20, 2017 | Full Review…

Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
[Balances] a respect for classic American frontier virtues with a less generous assessment of how those virtues were applied.

November 20, 2017 | Rating: A | Full Review…

Keith Phipps
AV Club
Cast is as tremendous as the scope achieved by Ford's direction.

September 2, 2008 | Full Review…

Variety Staff
Variety
Folks who are looking for action in the oldest tradition of the screen, observed through a genuine artist's camera, will find plenty of it here.

March 25, 2006 | Full Review…

Bosley Crowther
New York Times
Ford gives us telling evidence of tragic ambiguity.

January 26, 2006 | Full Review…

Time Out
A particularly effective vehicle for Ford's vision of the world's conflicts.

November 19, 2019 | Full Review…

Jacoba Atlas
Los Angeles Free Press
One of the highlights of American cinema.

November 20, 2017 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…

Tony Sloman
Radio Times
It's an odd film, consisting more of sidetracks than of an actual story, but it showed a new restlessness in Ford.

February 24, 2012 | Full Review…

Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
Fascinating Western loaded with political and social commentary.

August 8, 2008 | Full Review…

Michael E. Grost
Classic Film and Television
Inspired by the massacre of General Custer's Cavalry, John Ford's superb elegiac Western contrasts legal-rational authority (Henry Fonda) with charismatic type of authority (John Wayne) to an advantage.

March 10, 2008 | Rating: A | Full Review…

Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
One of John Ford's cavalry trilogy, and a near classic on its own. Wayne and Fonda are fine.

March 8, 2008 | Rating: 5/5

Steve Crum
Video-Reviewmaster.com
demonstrates that westerns weren't always one-sided and jingoistic.

March 12, 2006 | Rating: 4.5/5 | Full Review…

David Bezanson
Filmcritic.com

View All Critic Reviews (21)

Audience Reviews for Fort Apache

Nov 12, 2019

Rarely does a work juggle so many balls in the air, without dropping a one, and all done with panache and flair. The pictures, the writing, the cast, and the flow...all executed by a master storyteller. And so many points of view handled fairly, even epically! A film with so many standout scenes that one cannot be chosen. One of the best movies ever made.

Kevin M. W Super Reviewer
Oct 27, 2011

The greatest of the "Cavalry" trilogy. Packed with great social commentary and amazing performances by Fonda, Wayne and Ward Bond. Fonda's final scene is one of the most powerful I've seen.

Graham J Super Reviewer
Jun 12, 2011

A very well done film, if a little over sentimental with regards to the army, by John Ford with solid performances from Wayne and Fonda. Fort Apache tells the tale of man't fate with regard to the time period and war. It also has lots of social commentary and was controversial in many ways concerning the questioning of heroes and legends as well as man's fate in the world, their legacy. Interesting to note is that the film was one of the first with superimposed credits during the opening, instead of the usual cards depicting the credits before the opening scene.

Chris B Super Reviewer
May 17, 2011

Made in 1948, Fort Apache is way ahead of its' time in a number of ways, namely its' complex themes. Henry Fonda is terrific, and the rest of the cast shines as well. My only significant criticism comes as a result of not enough of The Duke. A lesson Ford would later learn from.

Jeffrey M Super Reviewer

See all Audience reviews

Fort Apache Quotes

Lt. Col. Owen Thursday:	[steps on scale] What is this scale used for?
Capt. Kirby York:	Weigh government beef, sir.
Lt. Col. Owen Thursday:	[adjusts scale] Seems I've gained seventy pounds since I've been in Arizona.

Sgt. Beaufort:	[the four soldiers who've come to escort Lt. O'Rourke to the fort have been invited to have a drink by Col. Thursday] Four bottles of cool beer, Ma.
Sgt. Festus Mulcahy:	And I'll have the same... with a whiskey chaser.

Sgt. Festus Mulcahy:	[after Co. Thursday has told the soldiers to destroy the contraband "whiskey"] "Destroy it," he says. Well, boys, we've a man's work ahead of us this day.
Sgt. Festus Mulcahy:	[after Co. Thursday has told the soldiers to destroy the contraband 'whiskey'] 'Destroy it,' he says. Well, boys, we've a man's work ahead of us this day.

Lt. Col. Owen Thursday:	This Lt. O'Rourke - are you by chance related?
Sgt. Major O'Rourke:	Not by chance, sir, by blood. He's my son.
Lt. Col. Owen Thursday:	I see. How did he happen to get into West Point?