Apache
The legendary Geronimo of the nomadic Apache people, long a thorn in the side of the forces of the United States Army, attempting to control the natives people, seizing their lands and corralling them into reservations, has surrendered; a hugely symbolic victory, it is believed that with his capitulation the fight will go out of his people and they will willingly allow themselves to be relocated to Florida, but not all his warriors are willing to bow down.
Escaping from the deportation train at St Louis, Massai is at first dazzled by the sights of the city and its diverse people but fails to blend in, instead striking a blow against his captors to embarrass them before making his way home where he is betrayed by Santos, head of the tribe; escaping a second time, he and Santos’ daughter Nalinle flee to the mountains, hunted by landowner Al Sieber and the tribesmen who serve as his scouts.
Adapted from the 1936 novel Bronco Apache by prolific Western writer Paul Wellman by James R Webb, when released in 1954 the title had been trimmed to simply Apache, directed by Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte’s Robert Aldrich, his first colour feature, and starring Birdman of Alcatraz’s Burt Lancaster as Massai, produced through his own company and presenting a sympathetic view of the coloniser’s treatment of the native peoples, though one which cannot help but be compromised by having a blue-eyed Hollywood star perform in redface.
The same condition applying to Jean Peters as Nalinle and Charles Bronson as Hondo, still using his birth name of Charles Buchinsky, Massai is at times a suitably physical role for former acrobat Lancaster but offers little emotional range, learning to farm in unfavourable conditions and with his scowl indicating his grudging acceptance then affection for his squaw, nor despite Massai’s reputation is he a skilled hunter, presenting a prominent target every time he stands high on the rocks rather than concealing himself.
Shot in the red buttes of Sedona, Arizona and with California’s iconic Vasquez Rocks visible in the opening scenes the locations are grand and majestic, but the plot is mechanical and slow, Massai inflexible and unwilling to compromise but fortunately pitted against forces only a step above incompetent, not a single member of the hunting party able to target their rifles at close range, the sense being of a well-intentioned film struggling to escape the confines of the genre, much like Massai himself.
Presented on Blu-ray as part of Eureka’s Masters of Cinema series, the new edition of Apache is supported by film historian Sheldon Hall discussing the career of Robert Aldrich and his contribution to the Western genre and writer Austin Fisher discussing the film in the context of the cinema of the time, preceded by Broken Arrow and followed by Cheyenne Autumn as part of a shifting continuum which moved from the “traditional” towards works more challenging and representative such as Soldier Blue.
Apache will be available on Blu-ray from Eureka from Monday 8th December
