a Trooper (uncredited) Danny Borzage as recruit/accordionist (uncredited) Hank Worden as Southern recruit Miguel Inclán as Cochise Grant Withers as Silas Meacham Movita as Guadalupe, Colonel Thursday's household cook Mary Gordon as Ma (Barmaid) Cliff Clark as Stage Driver (uncredited) Francis Ford as Fen (Stage Guard) (uncredited) Frank Ferguson as Newspaperman (uncredited) William Forrest as Reporter (uncredited) Archie R. Twitchell as Reporter (uncredited) Harry Tenbrook as Tom O'Feeney (uncredited) Mickey Simpson as NCO at dance (uncredited) Jane Crowley as Officer's Wife (uncredited) Note: At the time of filming, Shirley Temple and John Agar were married in real life. Production Screenplay The Irish theme to the background of some of the troopers may be a nod to the service on both sides during the Civil War, as does the recruit who had allegedly served under Nathan Bedford Forrest. The role of Sergeant Major Michael O'Rourke (and his son) may be a thinly disguised tribute to 'Paddy' Patrick O'Rorke killed leading the 140th New York Volunteer Regiment in a desperate charge to shore up the right flank of Strong Vincent's Brigade on Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. Filming Some exteriors for the film's location shooting were shot in Monument Valley, Arizona. The exteriors involving the fort itself and the renegade Apache agent's trading post were filmed at the Corriganville Movie Ranch, a former Simi Hills movie ranch that is now a regional park in the Simi Valley of Southern California. Reception The film recorded a profit of $445,000 (). The film is recognized by American Film Institute in its 2008 AFI's 10 Top 10: Nominated Western film. Other rankings Fort Apache is commonly ranked among the most significant films of the "cowboy/western" genre, including these rankings: "Top-Grossing Westerns from 1930–1972 and Plot Classification" per Wright, W. (1975) in Six guns and society: A structural study of the Western (pp. 30–32). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. #43 in the "Top 100 Westerns": Western Writers of America #28 of 92 in "Chronological Listing of Major and Representative Western Films" (Cawelti, 1999) #28 in "Chronological Listing of 100 Major and Representative Western Films" (Hausladen, 2003) #19 in "Top 100 Western Films (1914–2001)" (Hoffmann, 2003) #11 in "AFI’s 50 Western Nominees" (American Film Institute) #25 in "100 Greatest Western Movies of All-time" (American Cowboy Magazine, 2008) Additionally, the principal actors were ranked (for this and their other films): #6