This one is kind of a mixed bag, but it's a Western I'd somehow never seen before, so I'm glad we watched it. Fort Bravo is a Union post in Arizona where Confederate prisoners are kept during the Civil War. William Holden is a hard-nosed Yankee officer, John Forsythe is the leader of the Confederates (an odd bit of casting), William Demarest is the comedy relief (not used much in what's basically a pretty grim movie), and Eleanor Parker is the beautiful woman who shows up and complicates things.
ESCAPE FROM FORT BRAVO was directed by John Sturges, so you know the film is going to look good and the action scenes will be well-staged. That part works just fine, and the actors are all okay, despite the fact that I'm not a big fan of any of them except maybe William Holden, who's been in a lot of movies I've liked. However, the script is full of lapses in logic. For example, in order to romance Parker, Holden takes her--alone--to the exact same spot where an entire cavalry patrol got attacked by Apaches a day or two earlier. That sort of thing happens all too often.
But the last thirty minutes has a lot of nice action in it, which makes ESCAPE FROM FORT BRAVO worth watching. I'll probably never watch it again, though.
4 comments:
I saw this movie a few years ago and enjoyed it. William Holden was one of the few actors who could save a movie just by being in it. Along with great stars like Bogart, Walter Huston, Randolph Scott, etc, Holden could make a turkey watchable.
You know, roller coaster ride, attack by marauding Apaches...whatever gets her to cling to him should do the trick...
I remember at least an outstanding scene: the few cavalrymen (Unionists and Confederates) are surrounded in a hollow in the desert by the Mescaleros. Suddenly lots of arrows are archin' into the sky and then fall down opening like phantasmagorical flowers.
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