Trivia / Fort Apache

• Completely Different Title: In Germany, the film became Bis zum letzten Mann ("To the Last Man").
• Creator Couple: Shirley Temple and John Agar were married at the time the movie was made, but went through a highly publicized divorce complete with allegations of spousal abuse, infidelity and alcoholism a couple of years later.
• Hide Your Pregnancy: Shirley Temple, in one of her first adult roles, was pregnant during shooting and worried that riding horses or wearing her corset too tight would induce miscarriage.
• Hostility on the Set: John Ford seemed to enjoy creating difficulties among cast and crew, starting fights and behaving abusively, all of it designed to make everyone fearful of him and obedient. The cast member who had the hardest time was John Agar, making his film debut. Whether it was because Agar was newly married to Ford's beloved Shirley Temple or because he wanted to test him, the director rode him mercilessly, calling him "Mr. Temple" in front of everyone, criticizing the way he delivered lines, chastising him for his lack of expert horsemanship. One day Agar stormed off, vowing to quit the picture, but John Wayne took him aside and helped him with some of the more difficult aspects of his job.
  • Although Henry Fonda would work with Ford nine times over the course of their careers, the actor found the director's unwillingness to rehearse emotional scenes frustrating. He noted how if he wanted to discuss a scene, Ford would just change the subject or tell him to shut up. Fonda also never became comfortable with Ford's foul language and bullying ways. "I literally saw tears coming out of Henry Fonda's eyes on [this film]," Michael Wayne recalled. "He just turned and walked away".
  • Cinematographer Archie Stout quarrelled with Ford frequently and even refused to shoot certain scenes the way Ford wanted them.
• Money, Dear Boy: Although this and the others in the Cavalry Trilogy are now considered important films, John Ford once described them as "potboilers" made primarily for money.
• Playing Against Type: Henry Fonda playing a pompous ass far removed from his usual noble, heroic screen persona.
• Reality Subtext: Henry Fonda's biographer Peter Collier asserts that "the ramrod cavalry martinet he played in John Ford's Fort Apache was perhaps closest to his off-screen personality at this time." The actor had his own personal problems at this time: lack of rewarding roles; the difficulties of shooting his last movie with Ford, The Fugitive, and its complete failure at the box office; failed marriages; alienation from his children and some of his friends over the years.
• Serendipity Writes the Plot: During shooting of one scene it began to rain, but John Ford kept right on filming. Henry Fonda later noted that although you didn't see the rain on screen, the light moisture on the leather of the saddle and harness added an unusual quality. "That was Pappy taking advantage of whatever presented itself," Fonda said.
• Stunt Double: Ben Johnson appears in this film, though not as an actor. A former rodeo rider described as "the best horseman in Hollywood", he was Henry Fonda's stunt double in this movie.
• Troubled Production: Filming conditions were difficult, with temperatures sometimes rising to 115 in the day and cooling only to 90 degrees at night. Shooting was delayed several times by high winds and desert storms.
• Working Title: War Party.

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