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Sorry, this movie sucks

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This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

"Pony Soldier" director Joseph M. Newman's western "Fort Massacre" is a grim little Cavalry versus the Indians horse opera with genre veteran Joel McCrea as a seasoned sergeant with a hatred of all things Apache in particular and Indians in general. The performances are all fine, especially the Native Americans. They look like Indians. Meanwhile, character actors galore fill McCrea's ranks, such as Denver Pyle, Forrest Tucker, Anthony Caruso, John Russell, Robert Osterloh, and Rayford Barnes. Newman alternates between battle scenes and dialogue scenes with everybody complaining about Sergeant Vinson (Joel McCrea) and his feud with the Indians. It seems that his wife died at the hands of the Native Americans, but before Vinson's wife died, she shot his two sons. Newman doesn't let the plot loiter and the anti-Indian sentiments are as strong as those displayed by John Wayne in "The Searchers." If there is anything predictable about this blood, sweat, and bullets 'Lost Patrol" western, it is the hero's antipathy toward the Indians. Clocking in at a lean, 80 minutes with no time-outs for comic relief, "Fort Massacre" qualifies as an above-average oater with "Sergeants 3" lenser's Carl Guthrie's spectacular cinematography of scenic western locales in Utah and New Mexico. It is a wonder that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer let Newman keep certain scenes in this savage shoot'em up. My favorite line of dialogue occurs early in the action after the survivors bury their superior office and Sergeant Vinson refuses to read over his burial with the Bible. "If he needs our help to make it upstairs, he's in worse shape than he looks." Furthermore, it is also unusual to see all-around good-guy Joel McCrea playing such a grief-stricken soldier. For example, after they wipe out their adversaries, Sergeant Vinson doesn't relent when the final Apache exposes himself to him. Vinson refuses to show mercy and shoots the brave down like a dog to the chagrin of his men.

A cavalry troop navigates through a remote territory while trying to overcome repeated Indian attacks. This looks very much like the second feature on a B-movie double-bill. The plot is somewhat meandering and the characters are nothing more than stereotypes. The flat direction doesn't help matters. There is intermittent philosophical discussion, but much of the dialog is amateurish. For example, McCrea says something like this about his late wife: "She wasn't much to look at, but she was kind. She would catch a fly with her hands and release it outside the house. I would swat." Goldsmith wrote such hard-boiled yarns as "Detour" and "The Narrow Margin" but seems to be out of his element with this Western.

The patrol movie has been a staple of cinema since its very early days and has cut across many genres including the war movie and ,as in this case,the Western.The setting is New Mexico in the late 1870's and a platoon of the US Cavalry is trying to make its way back to base under less than auspicious circumstances .Its officers are all dead ,killed in action by the Apache,and its leader,by default is Sergeant Vinson (Joel McCrae -cast in a rare unsympathetic role).Vinson is neither liked nor trusted by his men who believe that he is so embittered by the death of his wife at the hands of the Apache that his judgement is flawed and that he will risk their lives for his own revenge .His bellicose attitude seems to reinforce this belief as he orders an attack on a superior force of the enemy as they camp by a waterhole ,with heavy loss of life.This is not the only encounter with the enemy as he and his men take shelter at a seemingly abandoned adobe dwelling where he is besieged by the Apache.Shot wholly on location by the estimable Carl Guthrie this a tight ,taut movie that moves with pace and efficiency .The acting is excellent with special praise to MacRae ,John Russell as an educated drifter turned soldier Travis ,who becomes a confidante to Vinson ,Forrest Tucker as Irish born trooper McGurney (the role Andrew McClaglen usually played in John Ford pictures)and Anthony Caruso as the Native scout Pawnee .McRae in particular shows us that he could play morally complex and driven characters every bit as well as did James Stewart in his movies for Anthony Mann .Vinson is an angry and bitter man ,qualities the actor brings out well Joseph M Newman directs briskly and stages some lively action sequences in what is a predictable but highly entertaining minor Western

It has been years since I have seen this movie and I have been looking for it for a long time. I still remember moments in the movie as if I just saw it yesterday because of its gripping mature story line and deep rich character portrayals. I still get goosebumps when I think about it. The plot development was powerful with what I found to be a shocking conclusion. I find classic story telling with intense character portrayals to be much more interesting than some of the movie gimmicks used by most of the industry today. This movie is not shy on realism or story. I guess that some of that which makes up the high quality depth of this motion picture story simply goes over the head of some people, (based on some of the other reviews I have read about this film). I believe this is an absolute must see for McCrea or Russell fans.