classicsoncall Review of Fort Massacre

Fort Massacre (1958)

"You almost won yourself a trip to the happy hunting grounds."

[7/10 · 21 December 2022]

A conflicted Sergeant Vinson (Joel McCrea) is thrust into an unwelcome leadership role when the cavalry unit he was in is ambushed by Apaches, with its captain killed and lieutenant badly injured. Vinson's hatred of Apaches extends back a number of years when his immediate family was killed, so while the wayward unit attempts to reconnect with the main cavalry party, Vinson's secondary goal appears to be to wipe out as many Apaches as possible, often to the consternation of his remaining men who prefer to high tail it back to the safety of Fort Crain as soon as possible. Various soldiers have their confrontations with Vinson, among them Privates McGurney (Forrest Tucker), Pendleton (George N. Neise), and Collins (Denver Pyle), but they all defer to the sergeant's rank instead of outright defiance. Standing in the middle is Private Robert Travis (John Russell), uncertain of his future and unwilling to take sides until forced to by events at the finale that demonstrate his moral courage when Vinson turns his personal hatred against an innocent Piute (Francis McDonald) who wouldn't have harmed a soul. For McCrea, his casting against type made him an unsympathetic character, often making decisions that weren't in the best interest of his unit. Russell's character proves to be an unlikely hero, standing up for what was right in the most tense of situations.