Product Details

• Actors: William Holden, Eleanor Parker, John Forsythe, William Demarest, William Campbell
• Directors: John Sturges
• Writers: Frank Fenton, Michael Pate, Phillip Rock
• Format: DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: August 26, 2008
• Run Time: 99 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00195I3OK
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,573 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Escape From Fort Bravo" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Escape from Fort Bravo was the first in a string of sturdy Westerns from director John Sturges (notably including The Magnificent Seven and The Gunfight at OK Corral). It's a Civil War-era tale, with flint-hard U.S. Cavalry officer William Holden riding herd on Confederate POWs at an Arizona stockade. Once Holden has fallen for his colonel's daughter's best friend (Eleanor Parker), who's also secretly the fiancée of Rebel officer John Forsythe, the film itself is allowed to escape Fort Bravo and echo off the walls of some picturesque canyons well-supplied with hostile Indians. Sturges had a good eye for staging action, and the big climax involves a kind of Apache Agincourt, a patiently lethal military tactic on the part of the Mescaleros. However, as in so many Westerns of the '40s and '50s, some scenes along the way are played on jarringly phony soundstage sets--including a bout of fisticuffs in a waterfall-fed pool (common in that part of Arizona, apparently). Technically speaking, Hollywood was in a transitional moment: for this first MGM production in modest widescreen (1.77:1), cameraman Robert L. Surtees was forced to abandon Technicolor for Ansco color, which has a pleasing palette for standard scenes but tends to go greenish and speckly in desert longshots. On a fond trivia note, one writer credited with original story here is Michael Pate, the gaunt Australian actor who spent much of his career playing Indians; he's not in Escape from Fort Bravo, but this same year he played the Apache chief Vittorio in Hondo, and a decade later, as Sierra Charriba, would occasion the Mexican adventure in Sam Peckinpah's Major Dundee. --Richard T. Jameson

Product Description

ESCAPE FROM FORT BRAVO - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another good western from John Sturges, June 12, 2004

By 

T O'Brien (Chicago, Il United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Escape From Fort Bravo [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Escape from Fort Bravo is a very good western that deals with a time and place not often featured in westerns. Fort Bravo is a Union outpost in the Arizona territory during the Civil War. Colonel Owens, Captain Roper, and a company of Union cavalry must watch over the stockade full of Confederate officers while also dealing with the Mescalero Apaches. When four of the prisoners escape with a woman from the fort, Captain Roper and a small detail must chase them across the barren desert as the Apaches close in on them. This is a very good western from director John Sturges(The Magnificent Seven). It is a beautifully shot movie with a good score by Jeff Alexander and Stan Jones. While the first part of the movie is good, the climax is the best part. Stranded in the desert by the Mescaleros, the Union and Confederate troops must try and survive as arrows rain down on them. It is a great ending that should not be missed.

William Holden gives a typically good performance as the ruthless Captain Roper, who must try and bring the escaped prisoners back to Fort Bravo. Eleanor Parker is also very good as Carla Forester, a woman who comes to the fort with alterior motives but begins to fall for Roper. John Forsythe, William Demarest, and William Campbell play three of the escaped prisoners, Marsh, Campbell, and Young. The trio brings a humor to their parts that is otherwise missing in the movie. The movie also stars Polly Bergen, Richard Anderson as Lt. Beecher, the voice of reason, Carl Benton Reid as Colonel Owens, and John Lupton as Bailey. The VHS is of average quality, but the movie is well worth a watch. For a highly entertaing western with a great final showdown, check out Escape from Fort Bravo!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly understated entertaining Western., November 21, 1999

By 

Ginge "T." (Sydney) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Escape From Fort Bravo [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Bill holden portrays a cynical union officer at Fort Bravo. Despite his hard bitten reputation, he grows roses. He's in charge of protecting the fort from Indian attack and Confederate prisoner escapes. However, for all his experience, he gets distracted by a woman of course, who's secretly assisting a Confederate escape. This all leads up to an exciting climax, when confederate and union officer must join forces to survive Mescalero attack. Bill Holden shines in this role, bringing his usual natural charm to a western that quietly goes about it's business to it's suspenseful end. Some really romantic lines in this one too!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "William Holden Series ... Escape from Fort Bravo (1953) ... MGM (2008)", September 23, 2008

By 

J. Lovins "Mr. Jim" (Missouri-USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Escape From Fort Bravo (DVD)

MGM presents "ESCAPE FROM FORT BRAVO" (9 December 1953) (98 mins/Color) (Dolby digitally remastered) -- Our story line and plot, In the Civil War, Fort Bravo is a prison camp for captured southerners --- Its isolated position and unfriendly natives make escape almost impossible, but anyone who tries is always brought back by by-the-book Captain Roper (William Holden) --- Another Captain John Marsh (John Forsythe) a Confederate and a group of prisoners hatch a plot to get away by bringing in a southern belle Carla Forester (Eleanor Parker) to distract Roper --- The plan seems to work, but the inhospitable desert, the murderous Indians, and - most importantly - the Colonel apparently wronged in love mean that this is only the start --- William Holden and John Forsythe both love Parker --- Besides the three main leads mentioned above, the supporting cast includes William Demerest, William Campbell, Richard Anderson, Polly Bergen, and in a pre "Broken Arrow" role, John Lupton --- Campbell and Demerest do provide some comic relief, playing off each other's abilities, but the lead actors do carry the picture and prevent it from becoming just another Cavalry-Indians western --- Filmed on location at California's Death Valley, "Escape from Fort Bravo" was co-written by Australian-born actor Michael Pate --- Another brilliant John Sturges film with excellent directing.

Under the production staff of:
John Sturges - Director
Nicholas Nayfack - Producer
Frank Fenton - Screenwriter
Michael Pate - Screen Story
Philip Rock - Screen Story
Robert Surtees - Cinematographer
Jeff Alexander - Songwriter / Composer (Music Score)
Stan Jones - Songwriter
George Boemler - Editor
Malcolm Brown - Art Director
Cedric Gibbons - Art Director
Ralph S. Hurst - Set Designer
Edwin B. Willis - Set Designer
Helen Rose - Costume Designer
Warren Newcombe - Special Effects

SPECIAL FEATURES:
BIOS:
1. William Holden (aka: William Franklin Beedle Jr.)
Date of Birth: 17 April 1918 - O'Fallon, Illinois
Date of Death: 16 November 1981 - Santa Monica, California

2. Eleanor Parker
Date of Birth: 26 June 1922 - Cedarville, Ohio
Date of Death: Still Living

3. John Forsythe (aka: John Lincoln Freund)
Date of Birth: 29 January 1918 - Penn's Grove, New Jersey
Date of Death: Still Living

4. John Sturges (Director)
Date of Birth: 3 January 1911 - Oak Park, Illinois
Date of Death: 18 August 1992 - San Luis Obispo, California

the cast includes:
William Holden ... Capt. Roper
Eleanor Parker ... Carla Forester
John Forsythe ... Capt. John Marsh
William Demarest ... Campbell
William Campbell ... Cabot Young
Polly Bergen ... Alice Owens
Richard Anderson ... Lt. Beecher
Carl Benton Reid ... Col. Owens
John Lupton ... Bailey
Fred Graham ... Jones
Charles Stevens ... Eilota
Glenn Strange ... Sgt. Compton

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc) and Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") as they have rekindled my interest once again for B-Westerns and Serials --- If you're into the memories of B-Westerns with high drama, this is the one you've been anxiously waiting for --- please stand up and take a bow Western Classics --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 98 mins on DVD ~ Warner Home Video ~ (8/26/2008)