Fort Bowie (1958)

the audience applauded

Sorry, this movie sucks

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The only thing raising this movie to the level of a B-western is Ben Johnson in the unusual casting of being the movie's lead, Capt. Thompson. All other aspects, the dialog, plot, production values, you name it, just don't add up to the low expectations one expects of a middling B-lister. The plot is standard for this type of movie: A rabid Army officer bent on making a name starts an Indian war. The much more competent (and noble) lower ranking officer Johnson can do nothing to stop it, nor can he stop his colonel from becoming needlessly jealous, believing Johnson is having an affair with his wife. Any sane individual would only need to look at the wife and then at the Indian love interest played by Maureen Hingert to know Johnson would need to be daft or blind to go for the wife (OK, Hingert is Ceylonese, not Indian, but Ceylon is pretty close to India so in that respect, one could argue she's closer to Indian than most actresses in these westerns). Everything comes together in a battle for Ft. Bowie that must be seen to be believed. Like Hitler, forced to fight on two fronts, the Indians are on the fort walls fighting to keep the cavalry out of the fort while also fighting to break into buildings inside the fort. Bodies from both sides pile up on the walls and then mysteriously disappear to make room for more bodies. It's also in this fight that we get to see Jan Harrison turn on her "love switch" as she suddenly realizes her true feelings for her colonel husband (Kent Taylor, soon to be demoted to Captain and become one of the three Rough Riders for one season of TV) who stands fully exposed in front of a window even between shots. This leads to the worst scene in the movie as Johnson and Larry Chance (Victorio, who actually died in Mexico) fight it out forever while Taylor stands with drawn gun refusing to pull the trigger and end our misery.As for the noisy arrows in the summary... I don't know where these Indians got their bows but they need to buy some silencers for them as the noise they make when they release their arrows would alert a sentry miles distant. Except for the novelty of seeing Johnson headline a movie and maybe the eye candy of Ms. Hingert, there's nothing to recommend this film. Most Audie Murphy 1950s Westerns are more fun so if given a choice, Murphy is the way to go.

It was just what I expected, basically a B Movie, and I enjoyed it on a B movie/western level. Ben Johnson is always watchable,was an expert horseman and great stunt rider. Does everyone else, like me, get mixed up when it comes to actor Kent Taylor and Kent Smith? Not only are their names alike, I think they look alike. It was Taylor that starred in this one. I thought the subplot involving Taylor's less than exciting wife dragged this movie down a little on excitement. I liked Johnson's nickname "Tomahawk", but then nothing was really done with his tomahawk to deserve the name, other than he used it occasionally as a side arm. And what about that ending! The only thing I didn't like (*SPOILER ALERT*) was the way the finished the fight with Johnson and the Apache, what a cowardly act by the commanding officer!

I just finished watching Fort Bowie, and was pleasantly surprised at what a good movie it was. I had never seen it before and the review I had read said it was a low budget film, but the cuts must have come from the actors salary. Ben Johnson was super as was most of the rest of the cast. I also was thrilled to see Johnny Western in a fairly noticeable role. The action scenes were certainly big budget caliber. I recently saw the last western that Ben Johnson made and there was little change in his appearance, except for a bit of weight gain. To me his acting is as natural as John Waynes. Kent Smith did a creditable job in his role. As far as the other actors I wasn't familiar with any of them except the "old sarge", but the movie was far better than I was expecting.

Howard W. Koch directs this black & white action packed sage brush yarn. A band of Apaches with every intention of a peaceful surrender are slaughtered by a detachment from Fort Bowie, where Major Wharton(J. Ian Douglas)rules with an iron hand. Colonel James Garrett's(Kent Taylor)wife Alison(Jan Harrison)is joining her husband and for safety is escorted by Captain Tom Thompson(Ben Johnson). Garrett is a tried and true military man more than eager to carry out orders to go out and gun down Apaches. Feeling ignored in the romance department, Alison claims that Thompson is trying to steal her affection. This succeeds in making the Colonel jealous, but also a pretty Indian girl Chanzana(Jana Davi), who is in love with the dashing Thompson. A turn of events has the Cavalry being forced to attack their own fort following an Apache takeover. This battle is frantic and the best part of the movie. I personally like the few scenes featuring the absolutely beautiful Miss Davi. Others in the cast: Larry Chance, Peter Mamakos and Jerry Frank.