Fort Apache

Fort Apache is a work of genius by John Ford in which he reimagines the Custer myth.

Henry Fonda plays Owen Thursday who is the Custer figure. Here he is seen as the arrogant prissy leader who will eventually lead his men to slaughter. The subtext of the corruption of the Indian agents who were part and parcel of the Grant administration is often used as a justification for Custer’s actions. Many touches illustrate Fords knowledge of the subject matter. The use of a Spanish Sgt (the great Pedro Armendáriz) as the main aide to Captain Yorke (John Wayne) was illustrative of the heavy Hispanic influence of the southwest at that time.

Ford changed the venue from the plains to the desert and replaced the Sioux with the Apache. But the result was the same. A glorious charge that ended in decimation and death.

The Duke played the conscience of the Army, someone who knew the score and respected his opponents even though he had to do the dirty job that his political masters requires. Thursday wanted the glory. York wanted to get the job done to save his men and as many of the Apache as he could.

Captain Yorke summed it up best in the last few words of the movie:
Collingwood and the rest. And they'll keep on living as long as the regiment lives. The pay is thirteen dollars a month; their diet: beans and hay. Maybe horsemeat before this campaign is over. Fight over cards or rotgut whiskey, but share the last drop in their canteens. The faces may change... the names... but they're there: they're the regiment... the regular army... now and fifty years from now. They're better men than they used to be. Thursday did that. He made it a command to be proud of.