The Worst Film Ever

Sick Product of a Sick System

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

William Holden as Captain Roper in this 1953 film comes across as a hard-nosed military man, who inflicts bitter punishment against a rebel soldier who dared to escape.Where are the southern accents from the Confederate soldiers? They sounded like real Yankee soldiers to me. How could William Demarest be a Confederate soldier here? Weren't their age restrictions even during the civil war?Animosity abounds by the Confederate soldiers who are forced into miserable treatment by the Union soldiers; although, they have free access to wander about since the surrounding hills are filled with Indians.Eleanor Parker comes to her friend's wedding but secretly she is a southern spy who shall use the occasion to help some of the Confederate soldiers to escape.As the bride, Polly Bergen had practically nothing to say and ditto for General Carl Benton Reid.While the escape succeeds, Holden and his men along with the Confederate escapees are trapped by the Indians and a new camaraderie forms. Parker who loved Confederate Forsyth is drawn to Holden and we see an ending almost reminiscent of Gary Cooper's For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Directed by John Sturges, this average Western set in 1863 combines elements of the Civil War with the struggle against the Mescalero Indians in settling the West. The Union Army maintains the titled stockade for some Southern Confederate prisoners in Arizona (actually filmed in Death Valley, California).Given the remote, desert location, the prisoners aren't likely to attempt escape without horses, or the guns needed to defend themselves against the Natives. So, it works pretty well. However, when one of the Southerners (John Lupton) does escape, Captain Roper (William Holden) feels it's necessary to make an example of him to keep others from trying the same - he makes him walk back! Captain Marsh (John Forsythe), as the leader of the Confederates, is not too happy about Roper's cruel and unusual punishment, but has a plan for he and a few others to escape. These others include the coward Bailey (Lupton), crotchety old Campbell (William Demarest), and young "buck" Cabot (William Campbell). Campbell and Cabot maintain a love-hate relationship.Colonel Owens (Carl Benton Reid) isn't too pleased with Roper's exhibition either, but he also realizes that Roper is the soldier who always gets his man too. Roper's subordinate, Lieutenant Beecher (Richard Anderson), who's about to marry the Colonel's daughter Alice (Polly Bergen), doesn't approve of Roper's methods either. Alice's cousin, Carla Forester (Eleanor Parker), comes to visit. En- route, Carla's stagecoach is attacked by some Mescaleros such that she's rescued by Roper's men on patrol. Alex Montoya and Western veteran Glenn Strange appear, uncredited, as Sergeants under Roper's command.Roper soon falls for the lovely, bold newcomer who we soon learn is betrothed to Marsh, and part of his escape plan. While Roper is distracted by his infatuation with Carla, she plots with the local storekeeper, and Southern sympathizer Watson (Howard McNear, uncredited) to affect their escape during the Beecher-Owen wedding reception. Later, it is clear that Carla has feelings for Roper such that she feels she too must escape with Marsh et al.Of course, Roper must pursue the escapees. Even though he knows, per the Colonel, that he was duped by Carla, he fears for her life because of the Mescalero Indians. Not exactly trusting his commander's intentions, the newlywed Beecher insists on going along as well. Naturally, Roper (and the few he takes with him) catches up with them, perhaps too easily, but on the way back to Fort Bravo, they are attacked by the Mescaleros.Under siege by superior numbers, Roper uses his military experience to find them the best possible place to mount their defense, a dugout. This "hole" works well, except for the fact that it is soon surrounded, leaving them, with limited water supplies and no horses, trapped. With virtually no other options, the soldiers, Union and Confederate, work together to stay alive. The film's most interesting action (battle) sequences, which include its climax, follow. Carla figures in the equation too.

William Holden excelled at Westerns ("The Wild Bunch", "Alvarez Kelly", "Streets of Laredo", "The Horse Soldiers" & "The Man From Colorado" to name a few), as he did in almost every film he was in. This film is no different. What makes it work is the complexity of the character Capt. Roper. This is a man who is as tough as nails, and makes Javert (From Les Miserables) seem like a normal person, the way he hunts down Confederate Prisoners like animals (Like he did with Bailey (John Lupton)). Yet, he does stuff like grow roses "Roper's Roses", and really hates his job. I love the relationship between him and Carla Forester (Eleanor Parker), who is very much his opposite. A Confederate Spy who is engaged to Capt. Marsh (John Forsythe), and breaks him out of the stockade, and goes with him, not because she wants to, but because of duty and obligation. Marsh, who is the other major character in the film, is a very interesting character, he seems to know that things will not work out the way he planned. Spoilers ahead. He knows that Carla really belongs to Roper, like when he had to snap at her to go with him when he and the other Confederate Soldiers escaped, and when after a fight, he told Roper that Carla fell in love with him, and she only did her duty (Helping them escape). Finally he died with a smile on his face when Bailey (The only Confederate soldier to survive),learned from Roper & Marsh how to be a hero, by escaping the Indians, and instead of running away, like he did earlier, he went back to the fort, and brought back the soldiers to save Roper, Carla, and Lt. Beecher (Richard Anderson). He also knew that Roper was the right person for Carla, because of his willingness to sacrifice himself for her and Beecher (When he went out to face the Indians alone, just before the Calvary showed up). This film deserves my highest praise 10/10

Released in 1953 and directed by John Sturges, "Escape from Fort Bravo" was always one of my top Westerns of the 1950s. It stars William Holden as Capt. Roper, who ruthlessly oversees a group of Confederate prisoners at a fort in the SW wilderness. John Forsythe plays Confederate prisoner Capt. Marsh and Eleanor Parker stars as Carla, a woman who visits the fort under the pretense of attending a wedding. As Roper falls for Carla, the Confederates take advantage of his love blinded-ness. When Roper goes after a group of escapees the soldiers have no recourse but to team up against a band of marauding Mescalero Indians.William Holden was in his prime here, as was the breathtaking Eleanor Parker, both stunning examples of masculine strength and feminine charm respectively.Although the soldiers rarely miss and the Natives rarely hit, the Indians are depicted in a realistic, respectable manner, showing ingenuity in their resolve to wipe out the pinned-down group of whites.William Campbell, well-known for the lead Klingon in the original Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" and less-so as the alien Trelane in "The Squire of Gothos," has a formidable supporting role as one of the escaping Confederates. He was almost fifteen years younger and barely recognizable.While the events take place in 1865 the song played at the fort dance, "Mountains of Mourne," was written by Percy French 31 years later. Someone must've come back from the future. FINAL WORD: I realize a lot of pre-60's Westerns come off eye-rolling or artificial, but "Escape from Fort Bravo," doesn't fall into that category; that is, aside from the dated opening tune and the aforementioned song at the dance, as well as the parts that were obviously shot in the studio, which was typical in that era.The film runs 99 minutes and was shot in desolate regions of California (Semi Valley) and New Mexico (Gallup), including Death Valley National Park.GRADE: B+