Fort Bravo

source: Fort Bravo

source: Fort Bravo

This is an MGM romance dressed up in civil war rags, with some old-fashioned injun-killing to satisfy '50s tastes. Dull Eleanor Parker is on screen far too much. Holden spendsmore time chasing her skirt than he does chasing escaped Confederates or marauding Indians. The only interesting scene is when the camp colonel tells Holden the skirt was playing him so the rebels could escape. Holden illustrates with facial expressions why he was such a great actor. Next scene he's yelling at the sergeant for some reason. Am I the only one who never believes a word Holden says when he's yelling his lines? Purring or growling, yes. But not yelling. I don't think the guy had the genetic makeup to get geniunely angry enough to yell. And the fight with John Forsythe. So much cheese. So many punches that don't come close to landing. Photography is excellent, so I gotta give it some credit. But it would have been a more interesting movie with much less Parker, more bullets put in Confederate jack@@ses, and more Indians that were better at warfare.

Slightly overrated in its day, this is still a solid western with good scenery (Death Valley?) and a striking Indian attack involving barrages of incoming arrows. However, the costumes for Eleanor Parker, who's just arrived by stagecoach, are laughable. She seems to have brought with her a warehouse of large, elaborate dresses with matching hats and accessories! William Holden has a bare-chest scene and, yes, there's a good thatch of hair on them thar pecs. This was his last "hairy" movie for awhile since in PICNIC, LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING, RIVER KWAI, etc. he went with the shaved-chest look.

I watched ESCAPE FROM FORT BRAVO with an open mind even though I'm no fan of Westerns . On paper it has a lot going for it starring William Holden , directed by John Sturges and cinematography by Robert Surtees all of whom rose to much greater prominence a few years later . The reality is however that even if the film does contain a lot of talent in front of and behind the camera if you don't like Westerns you won't be mad keen on this movie Set during the American Civil War the premise involves a Union officer played by Holden who has to escort a group of Confederate prisoners across hostile Indian territory where they have to team up to defend themselves against the Indian war party . This leads to a somewhat tricky moral point and one wonders what the point the film is making . Is it saying that the American Civil War was a mistake and North and South should have concentrated on taking the land of the Native Americans ? Of course cinematic convention dictates that the genre of the Western means we should always be cheering for the white man over the Indians but in that case it's difficult to argue against the point made in BLAZING SADDLES that the Western is an inherently and fundamentally racist genre That said from a technical viewpoint ESCAPE FROM FORT BRAVO is an impressive film and why it has a relatively high average vote on this website . The entire look of the film has a very rich and deep texture thanks to Surtees photography . Certainly if you watched this on its initial release in the 1950s you'd probably be used to constant film releases shot in black and white and then seeing this you'd be amazed by the possibilities of colour cinema . By a bitter irony though the good guys and the bad guys are painted in black and white with a very heavy and thick brush

William Holden's character, in the Civil War-era Western "Escape From Fort Bravo" (1953), has a very appropriate name. When we first see his Capt. Roper, he is dragging an escaped Confederate prisoner, by rope, across the desert; a not-so-subtle warning to any other rebs who might be planning a similar break from the Union fort, deep in the Arizona Territory. But when that escape comes, led by Southern Capt. Marsh (John Forsythe) and abetted by Texan belle Carla Forester (Eleanor Parker), Roper is forced to follow the fugitives...even though the path leads straight into the country of the bloodthirsty Mescalero Apaches. Filmed in Death Valley National Monument and in gorgeous color, "Escape From Fort Bravo" showcases some truly spectacular scenery, not the least of which is Eleanor herself. One of the 1950s' most gorgeous of actresses, she looks absolutely ravishing here, her famous red hair a wonder to behold. She would also appear the next year in another film--"The Naked Jungle"--featuring man-eating ants. (Oh, did I forget to mention that those Mescaleros have a nasty habit of tying their prisoners to ant hills?) "Escape" boasts a very tough-talking script, with glints of humor coming from the bickerings between (those great character actors) Williams Demarest and Campbell, and its final third is remarkably suspenseful, as Roper, Carla and the escaped rebs are laid siege in a ditch, while the Mescaleros pick them off with rifle shot and lob volleys of arrows into their midst. Director John Sturges would go on to make three more classic Westerns over the next seven years ("Gunfight at the O.K. Corral," "Last Train From Gun Hill" and, of course, "The Magnificent Seven"), and here turns what is basically a "cavalry and Injuns pic" into a thing of real beauty and excitement. Yes, I really did enjoy this one.

During the Civil War, Union captain at an Arizona fort chases down a group of deserters on their way to Texas (including the woman the captain loves, who aided in the band's escape), but all involved become trapped in a desert trench by bloodthirsty Indians. Director John Sturges' 18th film looks pretty fantastic when it ventures outdoors, due to Robert Surtees' robust cinematography. However, the M-G-M production suffers visually when mixing location shots with exterior scenes filmed in-doors (this despite foliage and a waterfall to compliment a fight sequence). Sturges keeps a fast pace, though the picture isn't tightly-wound; the narrative is episodic and drifts, with only William Holden's deeply-felt work in the lead to hold most of it together. Holden's captain, who rarely smiles and seldom has emotions, evolves into a strong, loyal character--he's the heart of this piece. I'm not sure how well-matched the actor is with Eleanor Parker (who does her usual blank-eyed, open-mouthed silent suffering), however his declaration of love for her is convincing, thanks to Holden's sincerity. The bravura third act heats up with tense excitement as the Indians close in. This is where Sturges really comes to the fore and shows what he can do with familiar material. **1/2 from ****

Pretty much run of the mill western displaying many of the same plot lines that have been rather beaten to death in the Western genre. Star William Holden gives a fairly mediocre performance for him in this one. Eleanor Parker, his female foil and romantic interest is very blase and dutifully unthespian like as the temptress who ultimately falls for the hero. The civil war theme is an important cinematic experience, but the film lacks a lot from a creative standpoint. The portrayal of the Indians as flat characters worthy of slaughter is never more obviously shown than here. The best part about the movie was probably the performance of old civil war veteran William Demarest who is very convincing in his crusty old sidekick backup role. The Cinematography was good, except for the fact that they chose for a location a real flat desert terrain with no vegetation whatsoever, so the good camera work is somewhat spoiled therein. I would give this picture about 4 stars (out of 10).

Released in 1953 and directed by John Sturges, "Escape from Fort Bravo" was always one of my top Westerns of the 1950s. It stars William Holden as Capt. Roper, who ruthlessly oversees a group of Confederate prisoners at a fort in the SW wilderness. John Forsythe plays Confederate prisoner Capt. Marsh and Eleanor Parker stars as Carla, a woman who visits the fort under the pretense of attending a wedding. As Roper falls for Carla, the Confederates take advantage of his love blinded-ness. When Roper goes after a group of escapees the soldiers have no recourse but to team up against a band of marauding Mescalero Indians. William Holden was in his prime here, as was the breathtaking Eleanor Parker, both stunning examples of masculine strength and feminine charm respectively. Although the soldiers rarely miss and the Natives rarely hit, the Indians are depicted in a realistic, respectable manner, showing ingenuity in their resolve to wipe out the pinned-down group of whites. William Campbell, well-known for the lead Klingon in the original Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" and less-so as the alien Trelane in "The Squire of Gothos," has a formidable supporting role as one of the escaping Confederates. He was almost fifteen years younger and barely recognizable. While the events take place in 1865 the song played at the fort dance, "Mountains of Mourne," was written by Percy French 31 years later. Someone must've come back from the future. FINAL WORD: I realize a lot of pre-60's Westerns come off eye-rolling or artificial, but "Escape from Fort Bravo," doesn't fall into that category; that is, aside from the dated opening tune and the aforementioned song at the dance, as well as the parts that were obviously shot in the studio, which was typical in that era. The film runs 99 minutes and was shot in desolate regions of California (Semi Valley) and New Mexico (Gallup), including Death Valley National Park. GRADE: B+

It's an interesting western/prison movie cross-over, although above all the movie remains a western of course with some of its formulaic ingredients, in this movie it's mostly the use of Indians. The story makes the movie more original than most of the other western's from the '50's. It's originality also help to make this movie a better than average one. Of course the story still feels the need to put in a love-story into the movie but that's basically the curse of every movie that's over 50 years old. Nevertheless the love-story itself is also quite different and original, so it isn't as distracting as in most other genre movies from the same period often was the case. Director John Sturges has made many entertaining and adventurous movies in his career and I consider this as one of them, though it obviously is not his best work. It's just a good and enjoyable movie, with some real great moments, for in between. At times its painfully obvious that the movie was for some part shot in studios with fake looking backgrounds in it. It makes the movie look outdated but that also by now has become part of the charm of these sort of movies. The cinematography is from Robert Surtees, who perhaps was the greatest cinematographer of his time. This movie isn't his best done however but it's a worthy one. William Holden is good in his role, though it's hard to always like him because of the stubbornness and seemingly lack of emotion of the character. The supporting cast also pull of well, especially John Forsythe. The musical score by Jeff Alexander is surprisingly great and I mean really great. It's not the usual some old, same old '50's western drivel. It's a score worth searching out, though I don't think it's available anywhere. An enjoyable movie to watch, that's worth watching if you get the chance. 7/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/