Apache Territory (1958)

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The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Rory Calhoun appears competent as well as convincing in "Six Gun Law" director Ray Nazarro's western "Apache Territory" with Barbara Bates, John Dehner, and Leo Gordon. Incidentally, "Apache Territory" is an adaptation of best selling western writer Louis L'Amour's novel "Last Stand at Papogo Wells." Earlier, in 1957, Calhoun starred his first L'Amour adaptation entitled "Utah Blaine. Calhoun and his partner Victor M. Orsatti produced this rugged but formulaic oater. If the John Wayne classic "Stagecoach" focused on an odd array of characters cramped within the confines of a stagecoach crossing through Indian infested terrain, "Apache Territory" isn't much different. In this Columbia Pictures release, everything takes place in the desert. We never see the standard-issue replica of a western town with false-fronted buildings. Instead, Nazarro stages all the action in the desert, with a little help from a sound stage. Logan Cates (Rory Calhoun of "Red Showdown") is riding for Yuma when he spots Apaches about to ambush some settlers. He uses his rifle to alert the horsemen about the presence of the redskins. Afterward, Cates discovers a teenage girl, Junie Hatchett (Carolyn Craig) bound by the Indians and left abandoned in a thicket. He cuts her bonds and takes her with him. Along the way, he encounters a young man, Lonnie Foreman (Thomas Pittman), who was one of the three men he warned about the Apaches. Cates and these two take up residence at a water hole, only to find another man who is seeking refuge there. Belong a detachment of U.S. Cavalry thunders into the enclosure, and finally an older-looking gentleman, Grant Kimbrough (John Dehner of "The Left-Handed Gun), arrives with a woman on horseback with him. Logan Cates is surprised to see Jennifer Fair (Barbara Bates of "Cheaper By The Dozen") because they were once in a relationship. Eventually, Cates asserts control over everybody in the dead end canyon because he knows more about fighting Indians than anybody. Similarly, when Grant objects to all of Logan's plans, Jennifer has to rethink her options. The Apaches keep them pinned down until a sandstorm strikes and Cates and company can attack the Indians with home-made explosives. "Apache Territory" boasts some arid scenery and a couple of good performances.

Apache Territory is directed by Ray Nazarro and collectively adapted to screenplay by George W. George, Charles R. Marion and Frank L. Moss from the novel Last Stand at Papago Wells written by Louis L'Amour. It stars Rory Calhoun, Barbara Bates, John Dehner, Carolyn Craig, Tom Pittman, Frank DeKova and Leo Gordon. Music is by Mischa Bakaleinikoff and cinematography by Irving Lippman.Saddle Tramp Logan Cates (Calhoun) takes control of an assorted group of civilians and cavalrymen when they are thrust together by fate and come under siege from marauding Apache Indians. With inner conflict threatening the group and the Apache attacking like ghosts of the desert, their chance of survival is slim. But why does Calhoun keep looking at the sky?Canteen Bombs of the Apocalpyse.Routine and of standard siege formula stock, Apache Territory is however brisk and enjoyable if willing to forgive the cliche's and stereotypes. Plot unfolds as a group dynamic cracking under the strain whilst the nasty old Indians attack at intervals and use psychological warfare in the process. Within the group there's a double dose of love interest, with one of them featuring Calhoun and Bates as old lovers now thrust together under trying circumstance. Into the mix are a coward, an aloof racist, a cavalry Sergeant struggling to control his group, a hero in waiting and a Prima Indian who hates the Apache and also has some gold in his possession. So with no food and the water running dry, it's shaping up to be a hopeless situation.Gila monster up the trouser leg?Clocking in at just over 70 minutes the film never outstays its welcome, and in spite of the standard characterisations on the page, the cast do well to keep things pleasingly watchable. Calhoun (Powder River/The Hired Gun) makes for a good rugged hero, leading off the film with some telling gusto, New Yorker DeKovo (Run of the Arrow/Arrowhead) once again doesn't embarrass himself in another Native American role, while Dehner (Apache/The Fastest Gun Alive) and Gordon (Hondo/7th Cavalry) show why they were much used character actors. Filmed in Eastman Color, the budget just about stretched to feature some views of Red Rock Canyon, but mostly the action is based on a sound stage set. 6/10There is sad trivia attached to the film. Within 12 years of this film's release three of the principal cast members would be dead. Bates in 1969 and Craig in 1970 died at their own hands and young Tom Pittman was killed in a car accident just a couple of months after Apache Territory was released to theatres, he was 26 years old.

Well it doesn't get any more Cowboys and Indians than this now, does it? Rory Calhoun shifts gears only slightly from his Bill Longley persona in 'The Texan' TV series to head up a group of stranded travelers and Cavalry soldiers to take on the Apaches in this quick paced Western. The standard clichéd characters are all here, like a love interest (Barbara Bates) for the hero, an Apache hating Indian (Frank DeKova), and a know it all Army sergeant (Leo Gordon) who knows better than itinerant drifter Logan Cates (Calhoun) how to get out of the fix they're in. Who would you bet on? This is actually pretty entertaining in it's own way. Often the romance angle gets in the way of these stories, but this one's OK, in fact there are two of them. The one involving Lonnie Foreman (Tom Pittman) and Junie Hatchett (Carolyn Craig) is actually kind of sweet if you go in for that sort of stuff. As for Logan, he had some trouble figuring out what his drifting was all about by the end of the picture, so that ride off into the sunset was to be expected.The film had a couple of unexpected pluses if you've watched a lot of Westerns and think you've seen it all. How about soldier Graves getting shot by an Apache fire arrow? That was a first for me, as well as that creepy gila monster staring down Logan in the Apache camp. The picture produced a few minutes of interesting tension with that scene even if it went nowhere, but it was cool enough to mention.The payoff was a clever concoction as well, as Logan had those canteens rigged with gunpowder and pebbles to take out most of the renegades. I thought for sure we'd get a look at the villain Churupati since he was mentioned more than once, but that was not to be. When it was all over, I just had to ask one rhetorical question - what ever happened to the rest of those soldiers?

In a very tightly constructed and entertaining B Western that he produced as well as starred in, Rory Calhoun collects a motley crew of people to stand off hostile Apaches in Apache Territory. The title speaks for itself, but it begs the question as to what all these people were doing there?Circumstance bring Calhoun together with a former flame and her new fiancé, Barbara Bates and John Dehner, a young girl played by Carolyn Craig whom Calhoun rescues on the trail, Tom Pittman an amiable young drifting cowboy, Indian prospector Frank DeKova and a patrol of cavalry who are led by a sergeant from the adjutant general's office with no field experience in Frank DeSales. DeSales gladly cedes leadership to Calhoun who knows far more about Indian fighting than he does.DeSales has some malcontents among his troops, a homesick Myron Healey and a former sergeant in Leo Gordon who thinks he ought to be running things. I think you can see all the inherent conflicts and in the 70 minute running time they're all brought out.Actually Calhoun does have a plan to get them all out and it depends on the weather. The trick is to see how many of them survive. What it is you'll have to see Apache Territory for.If you didn't recognize it, Apache Territory is yet another reworking of John Ford's The Lost Patrol which was remade into Sahara and remade again as Last Of The Comanches. The last stand theme is enduringly popular and Columbia Pictures sure got a lot of use out of it.Two tragedies were in this cast. Both Tom Pittman and Carolyn Craig died way too young and too violently. Pittman in a car crash after this film was completed and Craig several years later by gunshot. In John Mitchum's book Them Ornery Mitchum Boys about he and brother Bob he became friends with Pittman and described him as a nice kid and promising young actor. Pittman was missing for several days before police found the car he had been driving at the bottom of a ravine with Pittman's body. Apache Territory is a good classic B western the kind that sadly Hollywood does not turn out any more.