Apache Territory (1958)

★ 6.4 1h 11m IMDb

Action Western

Logan Cates sets out to rescue a white woman captured by Apache Indians and prevent a war. On the way he is joined by a few civilians and a small band of soldiers at a water hole. They are ambushed and laid siege to by Apache. As their food and water supplies dwindle a storm arrives which enables Cates to put an escape plan into action.

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Cast

Rory Calhoun as Logan Cates Died 1999 · Los Angeles, California, USA Rory Calhoun (August 8, 1922 – April 28, 1999) was an American television and film actor, screenwriter, and producer best known for his roles in Westerns..

Barbara Bates as Jennifer Fair Died 1969 · Denver, Colorado, USA Barbara Jane Bates (August 6, 1925 – March 18, 1969) was an American singer and actress, best known for her portrayal of Phoebe in the 1950 drama film All About Eve and as Katy Morgan on It's a Great...

John Dehner as Grant Kimbrough Died 1992 · Richmond [now Staten Island], New York City, New York, USA From Wikipedia John Dehner (November 23, 1915 - February 4, 1992) was an American actor in radio, television, and films. Between 1941 and 1988, he appeared in over 260 films and television programs....

Carolyn Craig as Junie Hatchett Died 1970 · Valley Stream, Long Island, New York, USA Carolyn Craig (born Adele Ruth Crago) was an American actress who was best known for her performance as Nora Manning in William Castle's 1959 shocker House on Haunted Hill..

Leo Gordon as Zimmerman Died 2000 · New York City, New York, USA Leo Vincent Gordon (December 2, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American film and television character actor as well as a screenplay writer and novelist. During more than 40 years in film and televis...

Director Ray Nazarro

Cast Rory Calhoun, Barbara Bates, John Dehner, Carolyn Craig, Tom Pittman, Leo Gordon, Myron Healey, Francis De Sales, Frank De Kova, Regis Parton

John Chard 5/10 Feb 09, 2017

A thousand hells at Papago Wells!

Apache Territory is directed by Ray Nazarro and collectively adapted to screenplay by George W. George, Charles R. Marion and Frank L. Moss from the novel Last Stand at Papago Wells written by Louis L'Amour. It stars Rory Calhoun, Barbara Bates, John Dehner, Carolyn Craig, Tom Pittman, Frank DeKova and Leo Gordon. Music is by Mischa Bakaleinikoff and cinematography by Irving Lippman.

Saddle Tramp Logan Cates (Calhoun) takes control of an assorted group of civilians and cavalrymen when they are thrust together by fate and come under siege from marauding Apache Indians. With inner conflict threatening the group and the Apache attacking like ghosts of the desert, their chance of survival is slim. But why does Calhoun keep looking at the sky?

Canteen Bombs of the Apocalpyse.

Routine and of standard siege formula stock, Apache Territory is however brisk and enjoyable if willing to forgive the cliche's and stereotypes. Plot unfolds as a group dynamic cracking under the strain whilst the nasty old Indians attack at intervals and use psychological warfare in the process. Within the group there's a double dose of love interest, with one of them featuring Calhoun and Bates as old lovers now thrust together under trying circumstance. Into the mix are a coward, an aloof racist, a cavalry Sergeant struggling to control his group, a hero in waiting and a Prima Indian who hates the Apache and also has some gold in his possession. So with no food and the water running dry, it's shaping up to be a hopeless situation.

Gila monster up the trouser leg?

Clocking in at just over 70 minutes the film never outstays its welcome, and in spite of the standard characterisations on the page, the cast do well to keep things pleasingly watchable. Calhoun (Powder River/The Hired Gun) makes for a good rugged hero, leading off the film with some telling gusto, New Yorker DeKovo (Run of the Arrow/Arrowhead) once again doesn't embarrass himself in another Native American role, while Dehner (Apache/The Fastest Gun Alive) and Gordon (Hondo/7th Cavalry) show why they were much used character actors. Filmed in Eastman Color, the budget just about stretched to feature some views of Red Rock Canyon, but mostly the action is based on a sound stage set. 6/10

There is sad trivia attached to the film. Within 12 years of this film's release three of the principal cast members would be dead. Bates in 1969 and Craig in 1970 died at their own hands and young Tom Pittman was killed in a car accident just a couple of months after Apache Territory was released to theatres, he was 26 years old.