The Battle at Apache Pass (1952)

i must have seen a different film!!

Good concept, poorly executed.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

The Battle At Apache Pass is dependent on its verisimilitude for the notion that most Americans are ignorant of the fine points of the true story of the various American Indian wars. Broken Arrow took place in the early 1870s and it's where Tom Jeffords and Cochise formed a peace pact that included all the Apaches except those followers of Geronimo.In this prequel the Civil War has come and a lot of soldiers are ordered back to fight in the east. Some ambitious people on both sides like Geronimo for the Apaches and Bruce Cowling a political hack Indian agent with ambitions to be territorial governor try to break an informal peace established by the friendship of Major John Lund and Cochise as played by Jeff Chandler who returns as Cochise. Jay Silverheels as Geronimo is the only returnee from Broken Arrow. The Battle At Apache Pass is not in the same league of greatness as Broken Arrow, but it still is a pretty good western. If the film has a moral it is blessed are the peacemakers because they have their work cut out for them. It doesn't take much to start a war, but a lot of work and sacrifice is needed to end one. There are enough examples in real life right down to today to affirm that notion.Through it all Lund and Chandler retain a mutual respect for each other and both are afforded the opportunity to save the women that each other loves, Beverly Tyler for Lund and Susan Cabot for Chandler.Besides those I've already mentioned, standing out in the supporting cast is Jack Elam at his squinty eyed evil best as a scout working for Cowling and Richard Egan as a tough, but compassionate sergeant. His scenes with Susan Cabot where he shows her a world of respect as due the first lady of a nation have a lot of depth to them.Not as good as Broken Arrow, but still a fine western The Battle At Apache Pass holds up very well for today's audience.

A good little movie that gives an extremely balanced view of the Indian wars in the US South West, eg bad whites, good whites, bad indians, good indians, but inevitable victory to the whites! Tightly directed, neatly scripted, quite well acted, good characters who stop short of cliché, and glorious technicolour with locations which will never be used again (Arches national park). Far better than some pretentious westerns that appeared in sixties and seventies (including some of Clint Eastwood's!). Also the sort of film that never gets made today - too cheap for cinemas and too expensive for TV! Watch for the number of extras as cavalrymen and indians, while it is clearcut and does not dwell on emotional claptrap like today's dark and dreary westerns made-for-TV!

Hollywood in the 1950's was in the throws of changing the mystic conception that White men were always beating the Native Americans in war. In this film called " The Battle at Apache Pass " is one of the new attempts at glorying the U.S. Calvary's version of that now infamous battle. To be sure, the movie portrays the Indian as an undisciplined savage out to kill every white man and the U.S. cavalry as military pawns of opportunistic land grabbing marauders. However, within the ranks of the Apache are two of the more notorious names who's names are inscribed in Western Lore. This movie purports to have Geronimo (Jay Silverheels) and Cochise (Jeff Chandler) engaged in battle with Maj. Jim Coltton (John Lund and George Bascom (John Hudson) using the first use of western field cannons. The dialog between the Whites and Indians is standard Hollywood, but does depict some of the actual atrocities committed on both sides. This is a good attempt of the evolution of western films and with the addition of James Best, Regis Toomey, Hugh O'Brian and Richard Egan in it's cast, manages a plausible rendition of a historical event. ****

This colorful western is a rousing yarn that is one of the best of the 1950s. The picture is based on two historical events, the shameful Bascom affair, and the fight in Apache Pass in which two mountain howitzers foiled a well-planned ambush by the Indians. Cochise's Chiricahuas and the U.S. cavalry do all they can to keep peace in the southwest but renegade Mogollons and greedy, scheming whites are just as determined to cause trouble between the Apaches and the soldiers. Jeff Chandler reprises his role as Cochise in the landmark western, "Broken Arrow", as does Jay Silverheels as the warlike Geronimo. John Lund is the major who is sympathetic to the Indians and values his friendship with Cochise. Bruce Cowling and Jack Elam are the white men who have other ideas about how to deal with the Indians. Richard Egan and Hugh O'Brian are also good as army lieutenants. Tech credits are great, especially the camera work by Charles Boyle and the music score by Hans Salter.