''Apache Rifles'' is a 1964 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

William Witney William Nuelsen Witney (May 15, 1915 – March 17, 2002) was an American film and television director. He is best remembered for the action films he made for Republic Pictures, particularly serials: '' Dick Tracy Returns'', '' G-Men vs. the Bl ...

and starring

Audie Murphy Audie Leon Murphy (20 June 1925 – 28 May 1971) was an American soldier, actor and songwriter. He was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II. He received every military combat award for valor available from t ...

. The film was shot at

Bronson Canyon Bronson Canyon, or Bronson Caves, is a section of Griffith Park in Los Angeles that has become known as a filming location for many films and television series, especially Westerns and science fiction, from the early days of motion pictures to th ...

and Red Rock Canyon State Park, California. It was the first of four Audie Murphy films for producer

Grant Whylock Grant or Grants may refer to: Places * Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom *Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama *Grant, Inyo County, ...

's Admiral Pictures.

Plot

Captain Stanton is a renowned Indian Fighter with his animosity stirred by the fact that his career officer father was forced to resign after trusting a group of Indians who broke their word to him. Stanton is sent to the field to relieve the commander of a

troop A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Tr ...

unsuccessfully hunting Apaches who have fled their reservation. Stanton quickly meets with success by having his new troop drop their excess equipment to move faster and longer. He defeats a war party of Apache by luring them with an unescorted wagon loaded with hidden soldiers who engage the enemy until Stanton's mounted troop surround and defeat them. Stanton captures Red Hawk, the son of Chief Victorio and uses him to negotiate a truce with the Apaches promising to stay on their reservation in return for white miners not trespassing on their land to mine gold. Though the territory remains peaceful, the economy of the settlers and miners faces a serious economic threat when the miners are unable to pay the business interests that advance them money for their mines in return for a percentage of the profits. Captain Stanton's sympathies gradually change when the miners continue their trespassing. He also is attracted to Dawn Gillis, a courageous missionary teacher who is half Indian herself, and teaches in an Indian school. Stanton ruins his military career by beating up a local troublemaker who makes racist taunts to Dawn, then later engages a group of whites who massacre a group of Indians at the school that leads Stanton to open fire on the whites killing several of them. A delegation complains about Stanton's behaviour and the economic disaster to the Federal Government in Washington D.C. who send out a new commander named Colonel Perry. The Colonel not only relieves Stanton but dismantles his line of outposts to monitor white entry into the reservation that leads the miners to swarm in and hostilities to resume. Victorio's Apaches lure the inexperienced Colonel and his men into an ambush but a messenger escapes to the remnants of the Colonel's command of which Stanton takes charge to straighten out the mess.''Apache Rifles''
at the Audie Murphy Memorial Site

Cast

References

External links

*
''Apache Rifles''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of A ...

{{William Witney 1964 films Audie Murphy 1964 Western (genre) films 20th Century Fox films American Western (genre) films Western (genre) cavalry films Films set in Arizona Films shot in Los Angeles Films directed by William Witney Films scored by Richard LaSalle 1960s English-language films Revisionist Western (genre) films 1960s American films Films with screenplays by Richard Schayer