Apache Woman *** (1955, Lloyd Bridges, Joan Taylor, Lance Fuller) – Classic Movie Review 7731

Cult director Roger Corman’s low-budget ($80,000) second feature Apache Woman (1955) is an interesting and capable if fairly tame (by his standards) Western, notable for his attempt to mix action with romance, an anti-racial prejudice message and some bright comic relief from Keystone funny man Chester Conklin in a supporting role as the town crazy man.

Lloyd Bridges stars as the US Federal agent Rex Moffett, who arrives in an Arizona small town to investigate violent robberies and discovers that the Apaches are being used as a scapegoat by an unscrupulous gang of white men led by angry mixed-race Armand LeBeau (Lance Fuller).

Joan Taylor provides the love interest as Anne LeBeau, the young mixed-race Apache woman Bridges’s Moffett falls for.

‘This was the first time I tried to deal with the subject of racial prejudice within the framework of a commercial movie,’ recalled Corman.

Also in the cast are Morgan Jones, Paul Birch, Dick Miller, Jonathan Haze, Paul Dubov, Lou Place, Gene Marlowe and Jean Howell.

Apache Woman is directed by Roger Corman, runs 83 minutes, is made by Golden State Productions, is distributed by American Releasing Corporation, is written by Lou Rusoff (story and screenplay), is shot in Pathécolor by Floyd Crosby, is produced by Roger Corman and is scored by Ronald Stein.

It was made at Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California; Iverson Ranch, 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles; and in the studio at Universal Studios – 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California.

It follows Corman’s debut with Five Guns West (1955). It is followed by The Oklahoma Woman (1956) and Gunslinger (1956).

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7731

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