

Fort Apache
John Ford's Masterpiece of the Frontier!
Owen Thursday sees his new posting to the desolate Fort Apache as a chance to claim the military honour which he believes is rightfully his. Arrogant, obsessed with military form and ultimately self-destructive, he attempts to destroy the Apache chief Cochise after luring him across the border from Mexico, against the advice of his subordinates.
TMDB
7.0/10
429 votes
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- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $2.5M
- Box office
- $3M
- Language
- English
- apache nation
- colonel
- slaughter
- black and white
- military
- tortured to death
- american civil war
- 19th century
Top billed cast

















Behind the camera
Where to watch
All optionsAvailability for United States. Provided by JustWatch through the TMDB API.
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Videos
Release dates
United StatesUS
- PremierePhoenix, Arizona27 Mar 1948
- PremiereChicago, Illinois28 Mar 1948
- TheatricalNew York City, New York24 Jun 1948
CanadaCA
- Theatrical21 May 1948
BrazilBR
- Theatrical14 Jun 1948
DenmarkDK
- Theatrical28 Feb 1949
FranceFR
- Theatrical4 Aug 1948
- TheatricalRe-release13 Jun 1966
GermanyDE
- Theatrical6West Germany9 Oct 1953
- TVWest Germany3 Aug 1963
- Physical12DVD17 Jul 2000
NetherlandsNL
- Theatrical26 Nov 1948
- Physical12DVD25 Oct 2012
PortugalPT
- Theatrical3 Feb 1949
- Theatrical (limited)M/12Lisboa, Cinemateca Portuguesa8 Jan 2025
South KoreaKR
- Theatrical1 May 1971
SwedenSE
- Theatrical1525 Oct 1948
Frequently asked questions
Fort Apache was released on 21 May 1948.
Audience reviews
2- J9/10
John Chard
5/29/2019
Any questions? Fort Apache is the first film of what came to be known as John Ford's US Cavalry trilogy. Just like the other two, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon & Rio Grande, this is also based on a short story by James Warner Bellah. Originally intended to be shot in colour, it was however filmed in black and white with Ford still making spectacular use of the Monument Valley location. The story primarily deals with op…
- C7/10
CinemaSerf
7/9/2022
Certainly, I think, the best of the John Ford US cavalry trilogies this one. Henry Fonda is cracking as the honourable, but out of his depth, by-the-book colonel sent to run a ramshackle army post just as the Apache are on the rise again. He replaces the far more practically experienced John Wayne and soon it all gets a bit sticky. John Agar and Shirley Temple provide an amiable romantic sub-plot as the very green li…
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