At Fort Apache, troops are stunned to learn that command of their regiment will go to the arrogant and glory hungry Lieutenant Colonel Owen Thursday (Henry Fonda), instead of the highly qualified Captain Kirby York (John Wayne), who is well-respected amongst the Apache tribe. As Thursday prepares for a reckless charge into the frontier, disregarding York’s rebukes, his daughter Philadelphia (Shirley Temple) falls for a handsome, bright-eyed soldier despite her father’s disapproval about their class differences. Glory, honor, life, and death are on the line in John Ford’s monumental Fort Apache.
“Cast is as tremendous as the scope achieved by Ford’s direction” – Variety
“For fans of the genre this is some of Ford’s most meticulous work.” – David Parkinson, Empire Magazine
“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.” – Bosley Crowther, The New York Times
