Product: Fort Apache (Color Enhanced) [VHS] (1948)
Rating: 4.0
Unexpectedly Intelligent
An interesting and watchable film. Not standard 'cavalry and Indians' fare. The Apache have left the reservation becaue of mistreatment by the corrupt Dept. of Indian Affairs--and under President Grant, it was truly corrupt. I won't attempt to summarize the movie. Watch it, yourself. The Apache are dealt with with understanding. The Federal Commandant, played by Henry Fonda, is overly played as pigheaded and militarily foolish.The Apache weren't paragons and all officers, even if they were Yankees, weren't all stupid...but...this movie does highlight wrongs done to the Native-Americans. Still, in one sense, the movie misses something far more important than Indian Office corruption. The Indian agent is mismanaging the Apache beef ration amonst other things. Think about it...a beef RATION. Even if doled out honestly, it is still a dole. Free people, used to hunting, fishing and providing for themselves, were reduced to wards of the state. Here lie the true tragedy.Ron Braithwaite, author of novels--'Skull Rack' and 'Hummingbird God'--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico