John Wayne Centenary: The '40s - Fort Apache, Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Sands of Iwo Jima

John Wayne capitalised on the success of Stagecoach in the '40s, making a string of formulaic films that, while unexceptional, cemented him as a box office draw. Most featured Wayne as one corner of a love triangle, vying with the likes of Walter Pidgeon, Ray Milland, and Randolph Scott (for Claire Trevor, Paulette Goddard, and Marlene Dietrich respectively).

Such roles ill suited him and it wasn’t until the end of the decade that he got the chance to show what he was really capable of, starring in four classics in the space of two years. 

Fort Apache (1948)

The first film in John Ford’s famous cavalry trilogy saw Wayne in a secondary role with Henry Fonda playing Lt. Col. Owen Thursday, the film's central character. The story was inspired by the massacre at the Little Big Horn with Thursday based on George Armstrong Custer.

Fonda is terrific as the by-the-book officer who’s unwilling to take advice from those who have more experience in dealing with Indians. We’re used to seeing Fonda as the good guy, although Sergio Leone famously cast him against type as the villain in Once Upon a Time in the West. Here though he’s neither hero nor villain, just a man, one who lets his ego cloud his judgment at the cost of his men’s lives.

As the seasoned Captain Kirby York, Wayne is the antithesis of Thursday. A true professional soldier, he finds himself forced to follow orders he knows are wrong. It’s a faultless performance but one that is overshadowed by Fonda, just as York in the film is overshadowed by Thursday.

Many of John Ford’s "repertory company" make appearances, with Ward Bond as the fort’s Sergeant Major particularly outstanding. Comic relief is provided by Victor McLaglen as Sergeant Festus Mulcahy and it’s the sort of role he filled so well in Ford’s films of the period.

The love interest is provided by Shirley Temple and John Agar and while their story adds nothing to the film (and could easily have been cut out) it certainly doesn’t spoil things.

Apart from Fonda’s performance, the film's greatest achievement is the cinematography by Archie Stout. Some years ago I was lucky enough to see Fort Apache at a cinema screening and until you’ve seen the epic vistas of monument valley on the big screen you haven’t truly seen the film; you get a sense of the immensity of it that is lost on television.

Article Author: Ian Woolstencroft

Ian Woolstencroft was brought up on a diet of John Wayne movies and Marvel Comics and still has a passion for both. Now as a blogcritic he finally understands what Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben meant when he said ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ …

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