Indian scout Tom Jeffords is sent out to stem the war between the American settlers and Apaches in the late 1870s Arizona. He learns that the Indians kill only to protect themselves, or out of retaliation for white atrocities.
Acting
Jeff Chandler's Oscar-nominated Cochise—dignified, magnetic, groundbreaking for 1950.
Direction
Delmer Daves shoots Monument Valley like a cathedral of moral uncertainty.
Writing
Elliot Arnold's adaptation actually lets Apache characters speak like humans.
Director
Delmer Daves
James Stewart
Tom Jeffords
Jeff Chandler
Cochise
Debra Paget
Sonseeahray
Basil Ruysdael
Gen. Oliver Howard
Will Geer
Ben Slade
Joyce Mackenzie
Terry
Arthur Hunnicutt
Milt Duffield
Robert Adler
Lonergan - Stage Driver (uncredited)
Trevor Bardette
Stage Passenger (uncredited)
Chet Brandenburg
Miner (uncredited)
Argentina Brunetti
Nalikadeya - Cochise's Wife (uncredited)
Harry Carter
Miner (uncredited)
Iron Eyes Cody
Teese (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Hollywood's first major Western to treat Apache people with genuine respect—Cochise gets full interiority, not just war whoops.
The real Tom Jeffords did ride alone into Cochise's stronghold and became genuine blood brothers with him; the romance with Sonseeahray was invented for the film.
US
