Captain Apache

One of my favorite Van Cleef spaghetti westerns--more TV-show in look than a feature film and Van Cleef goes against type. I'm not surprised that everyone here dislikes it. The movie is definitely an acquired taste. I saw it during its theatrical run and wish I could find a decent print on DVD. TNT used to run it, I hope the western channel airs it someday. The very funny script is a non-stop barrage of one-liners but played so totally straight and dry by everyone, Van Cleef, Whitman, Carroll Baker, that it works. I've read that the cast had a good time making Apache. The twanging guitar soundtrack is terrific--totally unlike the music composed for most Euro-westerns. I'd love to buy the soundtrack CD.

this western is so bad that it sends it into the realms of an awesome cult classic. the best scene is when lee van cleef gets captured by the bad guys. he's held in a cave, where bizarrely he ends up doing magic mushrooms and beats the bad guys up, around a campfire, to psychedelic imagery. it also has lee van cleef singing the main vocal track for the theme tune. this alone makes it intriguing viewing for any movie fan.

Produced by America and Spain, this stars Lee Van Cleef as a Union Army... Apache Captain (!) He's out to discover the meaning behind "April Morning" , a dying agent's last words. With very few leads, he starts a tense alliance with a corrupt gun-runner named Griffin (Stuart Whitman), but finds he'll have to work quicker if he's to find out information as his contacts have a rather annoying habit of dying - and just before they tell him as well. The film also stars Carroll Baker (Giant, The Big Country) and Percy Herbert, a bit-part Brit-actor who featured in "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1962) and a couple of "Carry On..." films.

The action scenes here work well, and the humour (mostly intentional) is fairly amusing. Many of the scenes are filled with tension - and the mystery of April Morning is played out well enough to sustain interest and keep you gripped right 'till the end. The music is hardly in the traditional style most westerns follow, although saying that the soundtrack is fine as it includes the novelty of hearing Van Cleef sing "Captain Apache" and "April Morning" with whom, if the lyrics are to be believed, he apparently has a date.

I found this film really enjoyable and very entertaining. After viewing it, I can't get the title song out of my head, although that's most likely a negative point. With the right amount of action and suspense, and a dollop of good humour, this is a movie for little boys of all ages. Recommended.

Western star Lee Van Cleef is cast here in the title role, an Indian (!) officer in the Union Army. Clean shaven, wearing a toupee, and caked under more makeup than usual, Van Cleef is on the case when an Indian agent (Luis Induni) is killed. The agents' dying words are "April morning", and Van Cleef must solve the mystery behind this phrase. Among the characters he encounters are Griffin (Stuart Whitman), a gun runner, Griffins' fiancée Maude (ever lovely Carroll Baker), and a pair of thugs, Moon (Percy Herbert) & Snake (Tony Vogel).

The prospect of Van Cleef playing an Indian is the main drawing card of this decent enough but unremarkable film. It's adequately directed by Alexander Singer, a veteran of mostly TV, and scored well enough, by Dolores Claman, but it's also choppily edited, and the story (based on a novel by S.E. Whitman), isn't told in a particularly interesting way (despite the presence of top screenwriter Philip Yordan). What does help, to a degree, is a certain irreverence at times, and vivid location shooting in Spain. More squeamish viewers may appreciate the fact that it's violent without being particularly gory.

The mostly European cast is entertaining enough to watch. Whitman and Baker are fine, but "Captain Apache" is first and foremost a Van Cleef vehicle. He offers a typically stylish and charismatic performance, and, in one hilariously absurd scene, must suck in his gut when he's made to disrobe in front of an Indian chief.

Unmemorable overall, but it's still recommended if one is a fan of the star.

Six out of 10.

After an Indian commissioner is found murdered in the Arizona territory a cavalry officer by the name of "Captain Apache" (Lee Van Cleef) is ordered to investigate. And in the course of his investigation he discovers that the last words uttered by the victim was "April morning". Somewhat puzzled he asks certain key people in the closest town what it means but he soon finds out that because he is half-Indian they want nothing to do with him. Not only that but there are a couple of people who have become unusually interested in these two words as well and they are determined to find out what it means at all costs. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that, although this was an usual role for Lee Van Cleef, he seemed well-suited for it. He also sang two songs in the movie but neither were sufficient for him to consider giving up his acting career over. In any case, while certainly not a great western by any means, I found it to be worth the time spent and I have rated it accordingly. Average.