Not for the first time - and surely neither for the last - I find myself apparently watching a different film to other posters here. I have to say from the outset that I tend to find Ford as overrated as Hitchcock on the whole; this is not to say that either man is less than competent and more than a Journeyman yet whatever it is that has gained both iconic status continues to elude me. Fort Apache is and was marketed as a 'Western' yet well over half the screen time is allowed to elapse before anything remotely resembling 'action' occurs. The director seems to be abnormally concerned with day-to-day life on a military outpost in Arizona and the personality clash of a new commander whose military experience was gleaned from the War Between The States rather than that between US cavalry and native American Indian, and the hardened veteran Indian fighters. Given their two radically opposed acting styles it's not surprising that there is a total lack of chemistry between Ford regular John Wayne and Henry Fonda. Monument Valley is photographed well and several Ford regulars - Ward Bond, Victor McGlaglan - do what is expected of them but that's about it.
Review of Fort Apache
