Fort Massacre (1958)

C Troop has been ambushed by Apaches; all the officers killed except for Sgt. Vinson (Joel McCrea).

Now he has to lead the small band of survivors through the warring Indians to their assigned destination: a rendezvous with a wagon train at Fort Crain.

First destination: A waterhole where they hope to refill their canteens, satisfy their horses thirst and, hopefully, meant up with another column of cavalry.

But when they reach their destination, they find the waterhole swarming with Apache braves.

Vinson’s response: Attack.

And attack his men do, annihilating the Indians though outnumbered 4-1. But it’s a costly attack, and the collection of gold watches in Vinson’s pocket keeps growing, each representing a trooper who has died in action.

Now some of the men under him begin to wonder. Is Vinson really trying to get them back to safey?

Or is he using this command to find ways to kill as many Apache as possible in his own personal quest for revenge?

You see, five years earlier, Vinson’s wife and two children were ambushed by Indians on a trip to meet up with him. His wife was raped and killed, but she shot their two children first so they wouldn’t be taken captive.

Joel McCrea as Sgt. Vinson, trying to explain his strategy in spite of mounting losses in Fort Massacre (1958)

John Russell as Private Travers, trying to give Sgt. Vinson the benefit of doubt as the squad is whittled down in Fort Massacre (1958)

Review:

A well-done, though mostly downbeat, cavalry vs. Indians film. Vinson’s a complicated man. He can explain his decisions with military rationale, but he guns down one Apache who’s trying to surrender and sparks a final skirmish when there’s a chance to avoid gunfire.

His command includes Robert Travers (John Russell), who is writing the report of the mission that cost C Troop nearly all of its men. His parents wanted him to be a doctor or lawyer. He wanted to delay a decision about his future. Eventually, he joined the cavalry at age 30 in an attempt to feel more like a man.

The climax comes when Vinson decides his small command will take refuge in a cliff dwelling to give a badly wounded trooper time to rest. “Okay, we’ll build our own fort,” another disgruntled trooper says. “Fort Massacre.” They find an old Indian and his daughter living there. Eventually, the Apache war band shows up as well.

Anthony Caruso as Pawnee, a cavalry scout, with privates Travers (John Russell) and McGurney (Forrest Tucker) in Fort Massacre (1958)

Robert Osterloh as Private Schwabacker, Denver Pyle as Private Collins and Joel McCrea as Sgt. Vinson in Fort Massacre (1958)

Directed by:
Joseph M. Newman

Cast:
Joel McCrea … Sgt. Vinson
John Russell … Pvt. Travers
Anthony Caruso … Pawnee
Forrest Tucker … Pvt. McGurney
George Neise … Pvt. Pendleton
Susan Cabot … Piute girl
Francis McDonald … Old Piute
Robert Osterloh .. Pvt. Schwabacker
Denver Pyle … Pvt. Collins
Guy Prescott … Pvt. Tucker
Rayford Barnes … Pvt. Moss
Irving Bacon … Charlie (trader)
Claire Carleton … Adele
Larry Chance … Moving Cloud

Runtime: 80 min.

Francis McDonald as the old Piute Indian the cavalry patrol encounters in Fort Massacre (1958)

Susan Cabot as a Piute girl, talking about futures and fates with John Russell as Private Travers in Fort Massacre (1958)

Memorable lines:

Vinson, to a complaining fellow trooper. “You want these (sergeant) bars. They weigh a ton.”

Pvt. McGurney, after throwing away a canteen: “I should have more respect for government property. Even when a thing is useless, you pin a medal on it, and toot a horn and bury it in a deep hole.”

Sgt. Vinson, to wounded trooper: “The bullet only grazed you, Pendleton. It didn’t even hurt your feelings.”

Pvt. McGurney, when Sgt. Vinson orders the men to mount up after burying a dead trooper: “You mean without reading the good book?”
Sgt. Vinson: “If he needs our help to make it upstairs, he’s in worse shape than he looks.”

Pvt. Schwabacker, alarmed as the Apache warriors charge: “Look at them come.”
Sgt. Vinson: “The closer they come, the harder they are to miss.”

George Neise as Private Pendleton and John Russell as Private Travers, trying to sneak up on the Apache in Fort Massacre (1958)

Clarie Carleton as Adele and Ivring Bacon as her husband Charlie, traders the cavalry patrol encounters in Fort Massacre (1958)

Pvt. Travers: “Where is he (Vinson) anyhow?”
Pawnee: “Counting dead (Apaches). For report.”
Pvt. McGurney: “Maybe he’ll get lucky and find some he can kill all over again.”

Pvt. Travers, scouting an Apache war party: “I don’t see many rifles. Only five or six.”
Pawnee: “You will learn. What is in man’s heart more dangerous than what is in his hands.”

Pvt. McGurney, preparing to take cover for an attack on an Apache war band: “Come on, heathen, let’s try to find a rock that doesn’t look like a tombstone.”

Sgt. Vinson, to his command: “Drink all you want at the water hole, after we take it.”
Trooper: “If we take it. What happens if we don’t take it?”
Vinson: “If we don’t, we won’t be thirsty.”

Larry Chance as Moving Cloud, a leader of the Apache warriors harassing Sgt. Vinson and his command in Fort Massacre (1958)

Joel McCrea as Sgt. Vinson, a cavalry commander haunted by the death of his wife and children in Fort Massacre (1958)