Escape from Fort Bravo (1953)

This is an MGM romance dressed up in civil war rags, with some old-fashioned injun-killing to satisfy '50s tastes. Dull Eleanor Parker is on screen far too much. Holden spendsmore time chasing her skirt than he does chasing escaped Confederates or marauding Indians. The only interesting scene is when the camp colonel tells Holden the skirt was playing him so the rebels could escape. Holden illustrates with facial expressions why he was such a great actor. Next scene he's yelling at the sergeant for some reason. Am I the only one who never believes a word Holden says when he's yelling his lines? Purring or growling, yes. But not yelling. I don't think the guy had the genetic makeup to get geniunely angry enough to yell. And the fight with John Forsythe. So much cheese. So many punches that don't come close to landing. Photography is excellent, so I gotta give it some credit. But it would have been a more interesting movie with much less Parker, more bullets put in Confederate jack@@ses, and more Indians that were better at warfare.

That could be a very nice movie, with an excellent cast of luminaries (William Holden as Captain Roper Eleanor Parker as Carla Forester John Forsythe as Captain John Marsh William Demarest as Campbell William Campbell as Cabot Young Polly Bergen as Alice Owens Richard Anderson as Lieutenant Beecher Carl Benton Reid as Colonel Owens John Lupton as Bailey), with seemingly good plot - Union camp for Cofederate prisoners of war, the seemingly excellent nature would also provide a big welcome addition... but the whole thing falls flat. First, the worst element of the movie is a hilariously cheap pavilion shoot, which spoils half of the outside scenes. The low quality of props, hollow sound, bad light make this all a miserable view. Then, the slow and somewhat dragging tempo spoils more. And finally, all the known clichés are here, too. The blood-thirsty Indians are here, the valiant heroes and blonde beauties are here. No, that does not hold well/// Only for Civil War movies completists

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

I don't know if many females watch westerns, especially those that are not on the main radar of well-known westerns like those by John Ford. As a horse lover who grew up riding either western or bareback on my grandparents' farm, I've always had an affinity for western films. Sometimes I'm in the mood for a good western, so that is how I came to watch Escape from Fort Bravo (1953).I chose this film in particular because I like to see William Holden when he was just hitting his stardom, and before his alcohol abuse had aged him prematurely and affected his magnetism. I also enjoy Eleanor Parker. Although her career never reached the peak of Holden's, she is a fine actress that always improves a film. It also has a strong supporting cast of familiar actors who had enduring careers on American television.The story has been described in many of the reviews already. My only addition is that the romantic elements aid this film to that of "A" western status. The romance ensures that Holden's vulnerability is truly exposed. Who would have guessed that this type of man would not only have a green thumb but also fall so deeply in love? That he would have a yearning for something bigger, something more in his life than being a power hungry soldier. If he was just the cruel, by-the-book captain, there would be no reason to care whether he survives the onslaught of the Indians. It would just be another North against the South picture with an unfeeling Union captain who one might hope would get caught in the crossfire of the attack.The costuming, location setting, and glorious color all support the romantic elements as well. The female costuming was beautiful and women of any status would have dressed well even if it was impractical for the desert. Women still dress impractically in most cultures today. Also, other than one breakdown as doom sets in, Parker was given few lines during the climactic gunfight and never begged to be taken away or distract Holden from his command. I think Sturges used Parker's character well, but he didn't let her get in the way of the main draw which was the action and adventure.I probably would have given up on the film if Holden had stayed in a perpetual bad mood and continued to incite the prisoners and even his fellow soldiers with his barbaric methods for wrangling in escapees. The romantic elements made him a character to care about with the dilemma around Holden and Parker adding to the suspense. The romance gives the film a bit of an epic feel and not just that of a western. I get the feeling that this was intentional and not just a byproduct of a sidebar romantic plot device. All of these things, including the score and the melancholy song sung by the rebel soldier, take this film up a notch and ensure its "A" western status.