Product Description

Following the surrender of geronimo massai the last apache warrior is captured and scheduled for transportation to a florida reservation.. Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 05/12/2009 Starring: Burt Lancaster Charles Bronson Run time: 87 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Robert Aldrich

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30125 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-05-08
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 91 minutes

Amazon.com
Burt Lancaster was cock of the walk in 1954. The Lancaster-starred From Here to Eternity had just swept the Oscars®, his personal production company Hecht-Lancaster could do no wrong, and he had marquee magic in two back-to-back Westerns directed by Robert Aldrich, Vera Cruz and this one. There are moments in his performance as Massai, the Apache warrior who wouldn't surrender with Geronimo, that seem choreographed to express the actor's exultation. Massai has hard going all the way--starting with having to recross half the continent on foot after escaping from a prison train bound for Florida--but Lancaster the ex-circus athlete who insisted on doing his own stunts fairly sings with the ecstasy of movement as he scampers over rocks, rolls unscathed between the wheels of racing wagons, and generally makes the screen look like his private gym.

Apache wasn't the first Western to sympathize with Native Americans done wrong, but it's among the liveliest--although, ironically, it was destined to be outshone in power and complexity by Aldrich and Lancaster's masterpiece Ulzana's Raid nearly two decades later. Typically of its time, Apache features non-Indians in all the Indian roles, including Jean Peters as Massai's beloved Nalinle and Charles Buchinsky (later Bronson) as her other suitor, Hondo, one of the tribesmen who has donned U.S. Cavalry blue. John McIntire contributes his crusty moral authority as Al Sieber, the real-life scout who helped defeat Geronimo and then Massai, and respected both. John Dehner is, as usual, a real bastard. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews

A True Story, MGM style
When Hecht-Lancaster chose this project, they were venturing out from the Hollywood norm, which was just their style. Believe it or not, the story is about a true renegade, Masai (or Ma-si) of the Chiricahua Apache. His initial capture, escape from the train, and 1500 mile journey back to his homeland are all historically correct. Some accounts even say he had blue eyes-certainly a stretch, but with Cochise a generation before raiding Arizona and often taking white captives, some genetic possibilities occur. Like the movie, he eventually leaves his own people, fearing they might turn him back over to the whites, and lives a primitive, violent lifestyle. Even his death in a cornfield is one of the stories of his enigmatic demise. Lancaster intended the film to end with Massai being killed, but MGM had money in this and demanded the "cornier" (forgive me) ending. The movie was released into theaters shortly after the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling and was viewed as being highly topical in exploring the mistreatment of minorities.

Has there ever been a truly representative Native American movie? I don't know. But this movie has a good heart, so forgive its small sins.

Despite its faults it's a good flick
"Both Burt Lancaster and Jean Peters give outstanding performances" - wrote Variety in 1954 - and after watching this movie for the umpteenth time I believe they do deliver great performances in APACHE. It was the first one made by Holywood that dared to portray a movie from the Indian's point of view; and that alone deserves some credit.
A bit of TRIVIA
Jean Peters's performance in Apache, according to director Robert Aldrich, is even more outstanding because she had a personal dislike of Lancaster as a person and had to show complete devotion towards him throughout the entire film. Despite this fact, the two actors had some sort of chemestry in their scenes together that comes accross on the screen.
On top of that, both these actors were made up to look their worst in rags and to somehow look Indian - to no avail. Peters is still a gorgeous all-American girl and Lancaster the handsome all-American hero. However, if you forget about their looks (hard as it may be) this movie is very well done. It is masterfully directed, well acted, superbly edited and has a great storyline - even though the ending was changed by United Artists before it was released and Massai (Lancaster) was allowed to live and see his new born child (contrary to the novel's ending where Massai is killed by the US cavalry). But then it was 1954!
Anyone who likes westerns, should see this film.

The Last Angry Man
APACHE tells the story of Massai (based on a real person and played by Burt Lancaster), a warrior who fought under Geronimo and the only Apache who, when Geronimo and his followers were transferred to Florida, refused to surrender.
The movie opens promisingly enough. Geronimo's ceremonious surrender is disrupted by Massai, who is quickly captured by Indian scout Al Sieber (another real person, played by John McIntyre). Sieber denies him a warrior's death and, instead, has him join the herd on the Florida bound train.
What follows is a blend of historical fictionalization and Hollywood hooey. Massai escapes the deportation train and arduously makes his way back to his home, now a reservation, which he detests. As Massai, alienated from his subjected people and loathing those who subject them, says at one point "Every white man, every Indian is my enemy.... I can't stop fighting. I'm the last real Apache left in the world."
All fodder for a terrific western, but APACHE is far from that. In fact, save for the energetic Lancaster, this movie lacks the dramatic punch you'd expect from the source material. Granted, the real story of depredations and atrocities, on both sides, is a little too messy for Hollywood. Even though there's not much known about Massai, you'd think they could have concocted something a little more stirring than this whitewash.
Love interest Jean Peters, the beautiful Jean Peters, although cast in a rugged enough role, proves the maxim that women are death to action movies. Whatever momentum APACHE had grinds to a halt the moment our blue-eyed stars begin frolicking `neath the hot Arizona sun. Hunted Lovers stories are tough enough to pull off, nearly impossible when the lovers plant roots.
APACHE gets an `okay' three stars. Not bad but not nearly as good as it could have been. If you're not a big fan of Lancaster or westerns, it's probably best to pass on this one.