The Cavalry Trilogy

Like other filmmakers in post-WWII Hollywood, John Ford (already a three-time Best Directing Oscar winner), longed for the freedom and independence to make his own films, away from the dictates of studio executives. Then, in 1946, Ford and producer Merian C. Cooper (King Kong) decided to form their own production company, Argosy Productions. But their first venture was a financial flop, burdening the new company with heavy debt. Ford turned to the Western genre to help his flagging company, adapting James Warner Bellah’s short story, “Massacre.” Fort Apache, released in 1948, starring John Wayne, Henry Fonda and Shirley Temple, was popular at the box office and with film critics. The following year, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, was released to a positive critical reception a brisk business at the box office. This film was the only one in the cavalry trilogy shot in Technicolor, going on to win the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Rio Grande (1950), the final film in the triad, was