La chasse aux visages pâles

Rory Calhoun never really made it to "A" star status as a movie actor,but the roles he played in 'B' movies such as Apache Territory suited him well.A handsome and capable actor he made it bearable to watch movies such as this especially when you needed to while away a couple of hours and forget the troubles of the world.This is your basic story of a group of people in the desert surrounded by a horde of Apache indians intent on doing them harm. John Dehner and Leo Gordon -two extremely competent character actors- add to the allure of Apache Territory. The only failure I found was the addition of two goodlooking females to add romantic interest,when the filmmakers could have concentrated more on the interaction between the attacking Indians and the U.S. calvary. The movie tends to drag in the middle stages,due I think to the female cast members ,but finally builds to an entertaining climax. Overall a nice movie to watch when its raining outside and you don't want to mow the lawn.

Apache Territory is directed by Ray Nazarro and collectively adapted to screenplay by George W. George, Charles R. Marion and Frank L. Moss from the novel Last Stand at Papago Wells written by Louis L'Amour. It stars Rory Calhoun, Barbara Bates, John Dehner, Carolyn Craig, Tom Pittman, Frank DeKova and Leo Gordon. Music is by Mischa Bakaleinikoff and cinematography by Irving Lippman.

Saddle Tramp Logan Cates (Calhoun) takes control of an assorted group of civilians and cavalrymen when they are thrust together by fate and come under siege from marauding Apache Indians. With inner conflict threatening the group and the Apache attacking like ghosts of the desert, their chance of survival is slim. But why does Calhoun keep looking at the sky?

Canteen Bombs of the Apocalpyse.

Routine and of standard siege formula stock, Apache Territory is however brisk and enjoyable if willing to forgive the cliche's and stereotypes. Plot unfolds as a group dynamic cracking under the strain whilst the nasty old Indians attack at intervals and use psychological warfare in the process. Within the group there's a double dose of love interest, with one of them featuring Calhoun and Bates as old lovers now thrust together under trying circumstance. Into the mix are a coward, an aloof racist, a cavalry Sergeant struggling to control his group, a hero in waiting and a Prima Indian who hates the Apache and also has some gold in his possession. So with no food and the water running dry, it's shaping up to be a hopeless situation.

Gila monster up the trouser leg?

Clocking in at just over 70 minutes the film never outstays its welcome, and in spite of the standard characterisations on the page, the cast do well to keep things pleasingly watchable. Calhoun (Powder River/The Hired Gun) makes for a good rugged hero, leading off the film with some telling gusto, New Yorker DeKovo (Run of the Arrow/Arrowhead) once again doesn't embarrass himself in another Native American role, while Dehner (Apache/The Fastest Gun Alive) and Gordon (Hondo/7th Cavalry) show why they were much used character actors. Filmed in Eastman Color, the budget just about stretched to feature some views of Red Rock Canyon, but mostly the action is based on a sound stage set. 6/10

There is sad trivia attached to the film. Within 12 years of this film's release three of the principal cast members would be dead. Bates in 1969 and Craig in 1970 died at their own hands and young Tom Pittman was killed in a car accident just a couple of months after Apache Territory was released to theatres, he was 26 years old.

Skilled Harmonica playing, Joshua Trees, outdoor scenery, great story line.

Rory Calhoun is a loner named "Logan Cates" who rides upon an Apache war party in the middle of the desert. Hampering his ability to escape is the fact that there are three other groups of whites (arriving at different times) who are also in trouble and need his help. So, all of them seek refuge in a waterhole and take up as good a defensive posture as possible. Now, not wanting to spoil the film for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this is not a bad western movie. Most of the actors did a decent job but Rory Calhoun basically carried this film with a very creditable performance. On the flip side though, the cavalry soldiers were some of the most undisciplined and inept bunch I've ever seen and seemed out-of-character. Be that as it may, in my opinion any western film that has a Gila monster and the quote, "It's just a flesh wound" can't be that bad. Worth a watch for fans of this genre.

It could have been from a director as Lesley Selander, who was, as Ray Nazzaro, a prolific western maker, and who also provided solid grade B - A westerns. This one is made by a professional, where action scenes and character despiction are solid but bring nothing new, nothing exceptional. It is taut but not gritty. But it is more than worth watching, Rory Calhoun produced it, as some other ones and the result is at the level of what any western buff can expect. Don't forget that's only a B picture, lacking a bit ambition in story telling; it's not TERROR IN A TEXAS TOWN nor NO NAME ON THE BULLET.