''Captain Apache'' is a 1971

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

acid Western Acid Western is a subgenre of the Western film that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s that combines the metaphorical ambitions of critically acclaimed Westerns, such as ''Shane'' and ''The Searchers'', with the excesses of the Spaghetti Westerns and ...

film directed by

Alexander Singer Alexander Singer (born 18 April 1928, in New York City, New York, died 28 December 2020) was an American director. He began his career behind the camera in 1951 as a cinematographer on the short documentary ''Day of the Fight'', directed by his ...

and starring

Lee Van Cleef Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, partic ...

Carroll Baker Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931) is an American former actress. After studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, Baker began performing on Broadway in 1954. From there, she was recruited by director Elia Kazan to play the lead in t ...

, and

Stuart Whitman Stuart Maxwell Whitman (February 1, 1928 – March 16, 2020) was an American actor, known for his lengthy career in film and television. Whitman was born in San Francisco and raised in New York until the age of 12, when his family relocated to ...

. It was written and produced by

Milton Sperling Milton Sperling (July 6, 1912 – August 26, 1988) was an American film producer and screenwriter for 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros., where he had his own independent production unit, United States Pictures. Biography After leaving the City ...

and

Philip Yordan Philip Yordan (April 1, 1914 – March 24, 2003) was an American screenwriter of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s who produced several films. He acted as a front for blacklisted writers although his use of surrogate screenwriters predates the McCarth ...

. The film was based on the 1965 novel ''Captain Apache'' by

Sidney Edgerton Whitman Sidney may refer to: People * Sidney (surname), English surname * Sidney (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Sidney (footballer, born 1972), full name Sidney da Silva Souza, Brazilian football defensive midfielder * Si ...

, a prolific writer of Western fiction. The vocals of the opening and credits song were written by

Dolores Claman Dolores Olga Claman (July 6, 1927July 17, 2021) was a Canadian composer and pianist. She is best known for having composed the 1968 theme song for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) ''Hockey Night In Canada'' show, known simply as "The ...

and performed by Van Cleef.

Synopsis

Captain Apache is a Native American

U.S. Cavalry The United States Cavalry, or U.S. Cavalry, was the designation of the mounted force of the United States Army by an act of Congress on 3 August 1861.Price (1883) p. 103, 104 This act converted the U.S. Army's two regiments of dragoons, one r ...

officer, who finds himself tangled into a

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

, and proceeding upon the case of solving the enigma of the last words of a dead

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

(and captain′s old friend) which were: "April morning". Each time he nears discovering the meaning of the phrase, another character capable of providing certain help in solving the mystery dies and throws him off the trail. The journey eventually takes the captain to a train, one which pulls a private

railroad car A railroad car, railcar (American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is a ...

named ''April Morning'', transporting President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

. Putting the information together leads the captain to realizing an

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

is about to take place and he is the only one who can prevent it.

Cast

– Captain Apache *

– Maude *

– Griffin * Percy Herbert – Moon *

Elisa Montés Elisa Rosario Ruiz Penella (born 15 December 1934, in Granada), known as Elisa Montés, is a Spanish actress who took her pseudonym from the celebrated work of her grandfather, Manuel Penella, '' El gato montés''. Montés is the sister of act ...

– Rosita * Charly Bravo – Sanchez * Charles Stal Maker – O'Rourke *

Tony Vogel Antony Leslie 'Tony' Vogel (29 June 1942 – 27 July 2015) was an English actor. He played Andrew in the mini-series of Franco Zeffirelli's ''Jesus of Nazareth'' (1977), Aquila in '' A.D. Anno Domini'' (1985) and the title role in the 1979 tel ...

– Snake * Faith Clift – Abigail *

Dee Pollock Finis Dee Pollock (September 24, 1937 – December 27, 2005) was an American film and television actor. He was known for playing Billy Urchin in the American western television series ''Gunslinger''. Life and career Pollock was born in Alhamb ...

– Ben *

Dan van Husen Dan van Husen (30 April 1945 – 31 May 2020) was a German actor. He started his career in the 1960s, playing in a number of Spaghetti Westerns (usually he was cast as the bad guy), and also performed in Italian and German films by renowned dire ...

– Al * Hugh McDermott – General Ryland * Elsa Zabala – Witch

Release

Captain Apache was also released under these titles: ''Capitán Apache'' (Spain), ''Deathwork'' (U.S.A.), ''The Guns of April Morning'' (U.K.), ''Capitan Apache'' (Italy), ''Kapteeni Apassi'' (Finland), ''Pääpiru'' (Finland), ''O Keravnos ton Apache'' (Greece), and ''Hunt the Man Down''.

References

* *

External links

*
''Captain Apache''
at Spaghetti-Western.net 1971 films 1971 Western (genre) films British Western (genre) films Spanish Western (genre) films Films based on American novels Films based on Western (genre) novels Films shot in Almería Films directed by Alexander Singer English-language Spanish films 1970s English-language films 1970s British films Acid Westerns {{1970s-Western-film-stub