The first of the John Ford cavalry trilogy and some would argue the best. There are incredible Ford moments here, including the opening silhouette of the cavalry bugler in black and white shadow against the sunny background. In the third act before the cavalry charge, you can see so many well-composed shots of Wayne, Fonda, Agar, and others in elegant compositions against the sky. Ford used an infrared camera to sharpen the clouds and sky in ways a regular camera wouldn't. So Ford the painter is on full display in many shots of actors outside, not to mention the vistas and landscapes of Monument Valley.

The final scene looks forward to a similar ending in Man Who Shot Liberty Valance where Stewart tells the newspaper reporters the real story of who shot Liberty Valance, which de-romanticizes what happened. In Fort Apache, an older Wayne is seen honoring a portrait of Henry Fonda's character in front of a group of correspondents from the east. They believe Fonda died heroically defending a position against Apaches after an insane, suicidal charge that failed and left him overrun without a horse. Wayne knows what really happened: Fonda messed up diplomatic relations that Wayne had finessed with the Apaches, he relieves Wayne who protests against charging the cavalry ahead into an ambush. Fonda proceeds with the charge into a canyon where Apaches await with rifles. Fonda was wounded and knocked off his horse, and Wayne had to rescue him. Fonda returns to the doomed survivors to make a final stand until the last.

Instead of Wayne deflating the mythical status of Fonda, he maintains the fable for the sake of honor and also makes a speech while staring out a window about the men who died. This shot of him standing at the window is memorable as Wayne's silhouette is translucent against a host of cavalrymen riding forth. What was Ford saying here? It was less somber and revisionist of western heroes than Liberty Valance, but still suggesting something less-than-Romantic about the western myth and the truth. Henry Fonda gives a stoic, stern and unusual performance, and he's quite compelling. You get a sense too that he's not one-dimensional even as he comports himself with rigidity, no emotion or humor. Perhaps credit to Fonda's acting here that he's not a hateful villain, just a tragically flawed one who makes a fatal mistake for the sake of glory.

For the first half of the film this is a talky picture with a lot of banter in the fort, scenes of ceremonial dancing with ladies in the Fort's dance halls, and vignettes inside the fort showing us these places had families. A teenage Shirley Temple is effective as the love interest for John Agar. Dialogue is good, the pacing is fine except for some dance party stuff that goes on too long. The film excels in setting up conflict between Fonda and Wayne and the rest of the Fort's officers. The action is minimal until the latter half of the film when we get actual cavalry rides in preparation to meet the Apaches. On balance I liked it but I think She Wore a Yellow Ribbon edges it out as being the best of the cavalry pictures.