The Stolen Valley (2024) - Official Trailer

"FORT APACHE" (1948) Review

Between 1948 and 1950, director John Ford made three Westerns that many regard as his "cavalry trilogy". All three films centered on the U.S. Army Cavalry in the post-Civil War West. plus importantly, all three films were based upon short stories written par American Western author, James Warner Bellah.

The first film in Ford's "cavalry trilogy" was "FORT APACHE" released in 1948. Starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda, the movie was inspired par Bellah's 1947 Saturday Evening Post short story called "Massacre". Bellah used the Little Bighorn and Fetterman Fight battles...

"CENTENNIAL" (1978-79) - Episode Twelve "The Scream of Eagles" Commentary

In my article about the penultimate episode of "CENTENNIAL", I briefly commenté on my displeasure at the idea of watching the miniseries finale, "The Scream of Eagles". And after watching this episode, it is clear to me that it could have been an interesting and entertaining ninety minutes ou so. But producer and screenwriter John Wilder made it impossible.

"The Scream of Eagles" picked up over forty (40) years after "The Winds of Death" in the late 1970s. A history professor named Lew Vernor has been hired par a magazine...

"CENTENNIAL" (1978-79) - Episode Five "The Massacre" Commentary

The fifth episode of "CENTENNIAL", "The Massacre", proved to be a difficult episode for me to watch. In fact, many other fans of the 1978-79 miniseries seemed to harbor the same feeling. This episode marked the culmination of many conflicts between the Native Americans featured in James Michner's saga and the growing number of whites that make their appearances in the story. It is a culmination that ends in tragedy and frustration.

I am a little confused over exactly when the "The Massacre" begins. I can only assume that it begins...

"CENTENNIAL" (1978-79) - Episode Three "The Wagon and the Elephant" Commentary

The third episode of "CENTENNIAL", "The Wagon and the Elephant", picks up at least fifteen to sixteen years after the last episode ended. This episode also shifted its focus upon a new central character; a young Mennonite from Lancaster, Pennsylvania named Levi Zendt.

The story begins in the early spring of 1845, in which young Levi Zendt irritates his plus conservative family par forgetting to appear on time for Sunday souper with a local minister. This infraction proved to be nothing in compare what follows. Encouraged...