Bronco Apache

RELEASED IN 1954 and directed by Robert Aldrich, "Apache" is based on the real-life story of Massai (Burt Lancaster), a Chiricahua Apache who was exiled with other Apaches to a reservation in Florida to be held with Geronimo and Chihuahua, but he escapes the train somewhere near St. Louis and travels 1200 miles back to the Mescalero Apache tribal area, conducting one-man raids near what is now the Arizona-New Mexican border. John McIntire plays the chief of scouts commissioned to capture Massai while Charles Bronson (Buchinsky) is on hand as an Apache scout. Jean Peters plays an Apache babe who, in real life, was Zanagoliche.

Massai actually escaped the prison train with a Tonkawa Native named Gray Lizard and they traveled the long journey back by foot together, eventually parting company in Southeastern Arizona. Gray Lizard is, unfortunately, completely omitted in the film.

To enjoy this movie you have to look past Lancaster in the lead role or, at least, imagine him to look more like a real Apache. But, keep this in mind: Since Massai is the sympathetic protagonist of the story the movie would've never been made in the early 50s without a known Hollywood star playing the role. Why? Simple: Producers needed to attract viewers in order for the film to make money. Actually, Lancaster isn't too unbelievable in the role, as long as you can disregard his blue eyes. Unfortunately babelicious Peters looks way too European to play an Apache squaw, even though they tried to hide it by darkening her skin. On the positive side, there are a lot of real Natives in peripheral roles.

The whole first act is great as Massai is a fish-out-of-water in the city of St. Louis. Unfortunately there are dull stretches in the second and third acts. Nevertheless, "Apache" was better than I thought it would be and inspired me to look up the real-life Massai. It was also a hit at the box office despite falling into relative obscurity since then. The score is surprisingly bearable for an old Western.

"Apache" made Native Americans (who aren't really 'native' since their ancestors emigrated from Asia) sympathetic characters in cinema, along with earlier Westerns, like "Buffalo Bill" (1944), "Fort Apache" (1948) and "Broken Arrow" (1950) and later Westerns, like "The Last Wagon" (1956), "A Man Called Horse" (1970) and "I Will Fight No More Forever" (1975).

THE FILM RUNS 1 hours & 31 minutes and was shot in California, Arizona and New Mexico. WRITERS: James R. Webb wrote the script based on Paul Wellman's novel.

GRADE: B-

Apart from Burt Lancaster's macho warrior performance, this movie is also saved by Robert Aldrich's direction. It's not brilliant in any sense, but pure enough to tell a story with some unique moments that give it his trade mark. Also the subject matter of an Indian being a hero was not common in the 1950s. It was a brave attempt to create empathy for the Indian Warrior, but it was not difficult because Burt Lancaster played it perfectly in a heroic campy style. I know, white folks playing Indigenous roles can sometimes put you off, but because of the time period it was made in, I decided to let it go and enjoy this Western romp because Lancaster is my all time favorite actors, and I was always interested in Aldrich as an accomplish director who had his own style that suited this film to perfection.

This is an exciting and masterful movie by the great Robert Aldrich , at his first and the best Western . Many years later bloody fighting with the settlers in the American frontier and a bitter battle between the Apaches and the US cavalry in the struggle for the West , the chief Apache Gerónimo is obliged to undertake a humiliating defeat . But his warrior more radical and violent named Maasai (Burt Lancaster), renounces to accept rendition . Maasai refuses to surrender and takes on the relentless American cavalry (John McIntire , Charles Bronson) , attempting to get a step ahead of the perfectly trained troopers ,all of them have vowed to kill him . Meanwhile , he falls in love for a gorgeous Apache woman (Jean Peters) . And as his crusade will precipitate toward an epic final battle . Maasai to be realized that he must persevere , not only for his life , but also by the pride of all his Apache race . There really was a renegade Apache warrior called Massai, who was a bloodthirsty killer renowned for stealing, raping and murdering. He did indeed escape from a prison train bound for Florida and made his way back to his homeland.

This thoughtful picture is an excellent adaptation based on the novel by Paul J. Wellman titled ¨Bronco Apache¨ . This film is , along with "Devil'S Doorway" and " Broken Arrow", one of the few titles of great quality shot in the 1950s to praise the figure of the Red Skins against White Men . Interestingly , the screenwriter James R Webb and the director Robert Aldrich found the character Maasai of the original novel very aggressive , so they decided to join an Apache woman well performed by the wonderful Jean Peters who married Howard Hughes . Lancaster makes an unforgettable and top-notch interpretation as a two-fisted warrior named Maasai , transmitting all the fierceness , nobility and ubiquity of his particularly stubborn role as well as unfriendly . A top-drawer western , the third feature film of the great Aldrich , here directing a Western masterpiece and to confirm with another great movie : "Vera Cruz" . "Apache" is a thrilling and vibrant story to deal with the figure of a rebel Indian ; the own Aldrich did in 1972 another splendid film with this theme : "Ulzana's raid" also with Lancaster as starring . The good of the screenplay is presented to the American Indian with dignity , honour and understanding . This is an intelligent , top-of-the-range piece for its time that had the original tragic final re-shot, against Aldrich's wishes , to make it more happy . He later concluded that "if you shoot two endings, they will always use the other one, never yours".

In ¨Apache¨ Robert Aldrich gave a tense and brilliant direction , though was shot in 30 days . Aldrich began writing and directing for TV series in the early 1950s, and directed his first feature in 1953 (Big Leaguer ,1953). Soon thereafter he established his own production company and produced most of his own films, collaborating in the writing of many of them . Directed in a considerable plethora of genres but almost all of his films contained a subversive undertone . He was an expert on warlike (Dirty Dozen , The Angry Hills , Attack , Ten seconds to hell) and Western (The Frisko kid , Ulzana's raid, Apache , Veracruz , The last sunset) . ¨Apache¨ is a masterful film in all aspects , is among the best westerns of the cinema . Rating : Above average , it's a must see and a standout in its genre ; thus, this film was a commercial success .

Very good classic western that has a Holywood formula but with more than the usual edge.Showcasing the Native American side here during the late 19th century.Great chemistry between the lead actors.The production was nothing spectacular but was very good enough over all due mainly to the script and performance of Lancaster and Peters.Good action mixed with a cute and convincing love story.Only for liberal minded people who love Westerns and big fans of the lead actors......

Apache is one of the first Hollywood films which dealt in a serious, thought-provoking and openly sympathetic way with the suffering of the native Americans as a consequence of the white man's expansion to the West. It is interesting to watch this film side by side with, for instance, John Ford's silent classic The Iron Horse, as we can see two opposite approaches to the history of the American West in the late 19th century. While Ford's epic production is a hymn to white man's progress and to the expansion of civilization to the wild, unexplored territories of the United States inhabited by the Indian nations, Apache is a touching drama about the desperate fight for survival of those same Indians, who were ruthlessly driven out of their ancestral lands and ways of life by the stern advance of material progress. The plight of the Apache nation is embodied by the central character of the film, the strong, stubborn, freedom-loving and nobly human Indian warrior Massai, played by the actor Burt Lancaster, who was also the inspirer and producer of the film. Unwilling to accept personal slavery and what he deems as the total humiliation of his nation after Chief Geronimo's surrender to the U.S. Army and the confinement of the Apache tribes to the reserve, Massai decides to start a one-man fight for human dignity and freedom and becomes a solitary outlaw at war with the local U.S. Army garrison.

The film is certainly worth watching, not only because of the human interest of the story itself, but also as a well-crafted piece of cinema. Apache is the first great movie by the director Robert Aldrich, who in that year of 1954 would score double and reward us with another masterpiece, the unforgettable Veracruz, also with a Burt Lancaster in absolute state of grace as an actor, this time teaming with the veteran Gary Cooper.If in Veracruz Lancaster gave as a memorable performance as the attractive villain Joe Erin, here he is no less powerful as the honest and indomitable warrior Massai. At his side, also good performances by Jean Peters in the role of the faithful, ever-loving and determined squaw Nalinle, and John McIntire as the hard-boiled, cynical Indian-hunter Al Sieber, in a role that prefigures the twilight heroes of Peckinpah's films.

All in all, a classic of the Western genre which inaugurated Aldrich's later shining career.