Henry Fonda is probably too young for his role as the rigid, by-the-books new Lieutenant Colonel stationed in the post-Civil War west by way of New England, yet his passionate feel for this imposing character--haughtily reserved from emotion, overtly focused but also uncontrolled--shows signs of an actor worth his conviction; this widower Lieutenant isn't a pleasant man by any means, and Fonda doesn't strive to sentimentalize him. "Fort Apache" is director John Ford's first entry in what became a trilogy about life in the US Calvary (the other films which followed were "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" in 1949 and "Rio Grande" in 1950, each starring John Wayne and co-starring Victor McLaglen). Wayne's Army Captain is surprisingly given much less to do than Fonda--perhaps less than even Shirley Temple cast as Fonda's daughter (Temple doesn't display the behavior of a young woman who grew up with this man as her father--she's lightly fanciful and chatty, as if she didn't have a care in the world). The film, shot at Ford's favorite movie location, Monument Valley, looks good but doesn't offer much in the way of drama until nearly an hour of screen-time has passed. Predictably, it wears patriotism as a coat of arms, but Ford offers no explanation for the Lieutenant's behavior (we have to fill in the blanks). John Ford wasn't a filmmaker apt to delve into the psychological make-up of a character; thus, we have the power and, ultimately, the ineptitude without much of this man's reasoning. What was the logic behind this plan of attack? The all-smiles tag at the finale isn't telling... **1/2 from ****
Review of Fort Apache
