Fort Massacre

Unlike John Ford's celebrated cavalry Westerns, there's no humor or sentimentality in this film. It shows the grim situations and less than stellar personnel that cavalry commanders often faced. The interplay between Sergeant Vinson, Private McGurney, and Scout Pawnee is interesting and incisive. McGurney shows how a miscreant within a unit can be as great a menace as the enemy. The cinematography is excellent, particularly during riding and water hole sequences. Worth looking at, especially for Western fans interested in the cavalry.

If you've stuck through at least a season of just about any western television serial, you'll be familiar with FORT MASSACRE's plot, involving a troop crossing Apache territory. As a fan of RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY, I expected Joel McCrea would be the sole reason for reinvesting myself in this film's well-trodden set-up. While McCrea's performance is certainly a draw (especially given his character's hard edge, usually reserved for a supporting or villainous character) the real standout here was John Russell as Private Travis. I've never encountered a character like his--in this or any other film genre--solely driven by his indecision. You might expect that this is because such an arc wouldn't make for a compelling lead, but damn if FORT MASSACRE doesn't become his film by the end. Thanks to some interesting and revealing exchanges between McCrea and Russell, as well as superb cinematography by Carl Guthrie (BACKFIRE, THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL), this obscure "B" western deserves more recognition than it currently receives.

A good Western with McCrea as an army sergeant with a severe chip on his shoulder -- his family was killed by American Indians. When the detachment he serves in is attacked, all his superiors are killed and he has to take command of the survivors -- who believe his bigotry will lead them into confrontations which are unnecessary.

McCrea is very good at playing the sergeant as a kind of ruined idealist, beating Wayne at his own game. He has a good rapport with Russell, who plays a man more or less in between the two factions -- he's attached to his sergeant, but can see that his hatred may lead them into danger. Cabot also appears as a native woman, but is not given much to do except be the unwarranted object of McCrea's hatred and suspicions.

A satisfying action film with a strong anti-racist message.

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

While there have been a ton of westerns involving the US Cavalry, this one is a bit different. Instead of the usual 'Indians-bad/Cavalry-good' mentality, this one is much more complex and the moral implications are not so cut and dry.

"Fort Massacre" begins with a small band of Cavalry enlisted men stuck in enemy territory. The local Indian tribe has attacked and killed the Commanding Officer and now the Sergeant (Joel McCrea) is in charge. This may not be a good thing, as McCrea has a VERY personal stake. After all, his family was wiped out by Indians and he has a serious chip on his shoulder as a result. Many of his men (particularly Forrest Tucker playing his usual loud-mouth character) balk at his authority--they think that McCrea is more interested in killing the Indians than making sure they get back to the fort.

John Russell plays an 'everyman' sort of guy. He is neither on the side of the folks against McCrea nor is he going to blindly follow him. The only negative of this character is that he's supposed to be a guy who's had many jobs and is looking for a purpose in life--so he joined the Cavalry. BUT, he also said he graduated Magna Cum Laude at a university--and it is hard to believe he's only be a private. The only other part that was really hard to believe was the Indian woman--who spoke like a middle-class white lady! Still, despite a few problems, the film was very compelling because it took a psychological look at people AND offered a complex story with characters who were NOT 'cookie cutter' western heroes. Well worth seeing.