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The mid-20th century Apache Territory is one of my personal favorites of the western genre, and for a good reason. An archetypal western, Rory Calhoun plays a drifter who enters the deadly Apache Territory a land notorious for the warrior tribe that resides there and readily kills intruders. And then the narrative begins. From the very first scene, Calhoun foils an Apache raid on a group of travelers but his luck runs out as he arrives just too late to prevent the elimination of another group of travelers. This group left behind a lone female survivor. With young Calhoun at an inevitable demise on all sides, he is fortunately able to locate a box canyon, which allows him an escape route. He discovers the heretical paradise has a faint supply of water alongside shelter perfect for a temporary refuge. However, as soon as the stand-off begins, it doesn’t take long for a other intensely desperate characters to appear, including the drifters old love. The gang gets into place, however time starts to run out. The dwindling resources and cabin fever alert them to the fact that if the Apache’s don’t get them, the boy gang will.
The features within this short clip is full of depth. The internal factors, alongside the personal ones highlight the fact that Calhoun wishes to be set free from the constraints of civilization while still being on the receiving end of endless wilderness.
From the looks of it, the screenplay touches on the moral challenges posed by the Second World War. This is not a situation involving good guys and bad guys some brave people become spineless, and others lose their minds and run toward the fighting. There is always a lot of violence. One of our survivors has to endure his companion’s capture and torment at the hands of Apache’s, while the rest of us must bear the sound of his screams. It becomes painfully uncomfortable to view.
Like in most studio films, character actors at work add to the charm for movie lovers. In Apache Territory, John Dehner and Leo Gordon perform wonderfully and Barbara Bates gives her last film cameo as a former lover of Calhoun who always got second best to the restlessness in his heart. The aftermath of World War II and the consequences thereof has an impact on a lot of what we see here.
This picture is a product of Rorvic Productions, a company started by Rory Calhoun and Victor Orsatti. Together, they completed five projects and this is the last feature film from Rorvic before Calhoun and Orsatti moved into television with the relatively successful series Desilu The Texan which ran two seasons on CBS. Calhoun would eventually return to films but this period from 1958 to 1960 is possibly my most favorite part of his career.
The movie is based on the Louis L’Amour book Last Stand At Papago Wells, which may explain Calhoun’s start narration and, like most of my wishes in life, I wish it was with us for the rest of the movie. Ray Nazarro directed this film and Boetticher called him a “ten day picture guy,” describing him as the king of Bs. Nazarro looms large alongside Ford as a great American filmmaker. The production quality of the real West is impressive as well, since part of the filming was done at Red Rock Canyon in California. It always amazes me what a good director can do at the most meager of budgets. This movie serves as a testament because everything about this movie from the setting, the plot, and even the characters seemed to be great. At first glance, the movie dares proclaim a runtime of 71 minutes, but at closer inspection it is revealed that the plot is so finely detailed that the only appropriate verbiage to describe it is ‘streamlined’, with each inch packed to the brim with action. Don’t be shy and grab a beer while you watch it. It is accompanied nicely with Fort Massacre, yet another epic masterpiece from 1958 that has a similar theme about stranded survivors making one last attempt to escape.
Now, Apache Territory is a Columbia movie that has made its home in the Sony vault.
There’s a MOD DVD version that’s easily obtainable from Amazon, but Western fans would rather look for the region free Australian DVD from Umbrella Entertainment which is among the distributor’s large collection of “Six Shooter Classics” films. Special features are absent, but the transfer is quite decent, and the original aspect ratio is retained in anamorphic widescreen. We can only hope that a Blu-ray version appears at some stage, but at this point, we have a very good, viewable copy. Apache Territory is another great example of a western from the 1950s that showcases how some of the great tales in cinema were told through low budget B-movies.
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