Fort Massacre (1958)

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The patrol movie has been a staple of cinema since its very early days and has cut across many genres including the war movie and ,as in this case,the Western.The setting is New Mexico in the late 1870's and a platoon of the US Cavalry is trying to make its way back to base under less than auspicious circumstances .Its officers are all dead ,killed in action by the Apache,and its leader,by default is Sergeant Vinson (Joel McCrae -cast in a rare unsympathetic role).Vinson is neither liked nor trusted by his men who believe that he is so embittered by the death of his wife at the hands of the Apache that his judgement is flawed and that he will risk their lives for his own revenge .His bellicose attitude seems to reinforce this belief as he orders an attack on a superior force of the enemy as they camp by a waterhole ,with heavy loss of life.This is not the only encounter with the enemy as he and his men take shelter at a seemingly abandoned adobe dwelling where he is besieged by the Apache.Shot wholly on location by the estimable Carl Guthrie this a tight ,taut movie that moves with pace and efficiency .The acting is excellent with special praise to MacRae ,John Russell as an educated drifter turned soldier Travis ,who becomes a confidante to Vinson ,Forrest Tucker as Irish born trooper McGurney (the role Andrew McClaglen usually played in John Ford pictures)and Anthony Caruso as the Native scout Pawnee .McRae in particular shows us that he could play morally complex and driven characters every bit as well as did James Stewart in his movies for Anthony Mann .Vinson is an angry and bitter man ,qualities the actor brings out well Joseph M Newman directs briskly and stages some lively action sequences in what is a predictable but highly entertaining minor Western

The plot seemed promising if a little familiar: US Cavalry patrol in trouble; officers dead, sergeant (McCrea)in command of disparate group of soldiers, including the usually excellent Forrest Tucker, trying to get to safety. McCrea often plays pleasant characters - or characters pleasantly - but we suspect this is not the case when early in the film he slavishly - stubbornly - follows the patrol's original orders. But it's still a shock when he shoots a surrendering Apache in the stomach. (I've run the tape several times and I'm sure that during the short action at the watering-hole McCrea's bristles become a beard - presumably a continuity error, but it makes him look even tougher.) The problem with the film is the Private Travis character; he's a recruit, but very self-possessed, and soon the sergeant is confiding in him, which jarred a little. Travis is secretive about his past, and perhaps it would have helped had there been a little more revealed about him - a suspicion, say, that he had once been an officer, which might have made the sergeant's attitude to him easier to understand.I don't like the contrived introduction of attractive young women into a men-only situation in films. Seeing that Susan Cabot had a high billing, I feared the worst, and thought she might turn up with the traders' covered wagon. In fact her appearance is towards the end, as a most unlikely-looking Indian girl, and then she has no effect at all on the plot and, indeed, none on the men. At least we're spared her being attacked by one soldier and saved by another.Two largish groups of Indians converge on the "Fort Massacre" of the title, but some of these seem to have wandered off before the final encounter with the cavalry.Forrest Tucker's screen presence usually makes him stand out in films, but in this one he's just another soldier.

There are a few decent elements in this tough, brief cavalry-western along with some tiresome and unentertaining ones. McCrea (always an easy, attractive presence on the screen) plays a sergeant who's left in charge of his regiment after a particularly lethal skirmish with the Apaches. Most of the men bellyache constantly about wanting to ignore their mission to join up with a wagon train and go home, but he presses on, even if it means inciting more violence along the way. He carries a chip on his shoulder from the death of his wife and children at the hands of Indians. The biggest battle involves the taking of a desperately needed water hole with McCrea's men outnumbered four to one. Eventually, even though McCrea has managed to get the men through various tough scrapes, they can no longer tolerate his vicious attitude towards the Indians and his seeming disregard for human life in general. The climax occurs at an abandoned set of buildings built into a cliff wall, which one of the men dubs Fort Massacre. Here they encounter an elderly Piute man and his granddaughter who are scratching to survive on anything they can find. McCrea's character is complex for a film as seemingly unimportant as this one and his less likable traits are made all the more perplexing because of the actor's innate charm and likability. He does an admirable enough job in the film, but the direction, script and supporting cast keep him from really making a historic impact in the role the way John Wayne was able to in "The Searchers." Some familiar faces are peppered amongst the cavalrymen, notably Pyle (of "Dukes of Hazard" fame) and Tucker as a cantankerous Irishman. Russell has a significant part as a rather aimless fellow officer who waffles between believing in and doubting McCrea. Unfortunately, his Rod Serling-esque manner of speaking hampers his authenticity. There is unwelcome camp and comedy present in the performance of veteran western actor McDonald as the Piute man. Cabot has little to do as his granddaughter (and at 31, she's hardly right to be playing an innocent Indian maiden!) It's worth a glance for McCrea fans and for its beautiful mountain scenery, but can't quite cut it as a classic. If the scenes of travel on horseback were trimmed, the movie might be 45 minutes long! Maybe this should have been an episode of "Death Valley Days" instead.

The best thing about this film is that there is no humor in it, unlike some westerns like the searchers. The plot has Joel McCrea in charge since all the officers have been killed and the men don't trust McCrea since he has such a deep hatred of the Indians, who killed his wife and kid. This is a lot like The Lost Patrol when which not too many are going to make it out alive.