Passed | 2h 8min | Action, Adventure, Western | 1948 I began my viewing of director John Ford’s Cavalry Trilogy out of order—having watched 1949’s “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,” the series’ second film, first. So, I thought it only natural to go back to 1948’s “Fort Apache,” the movie considered by many critics to be the best of the trio. And after watching it, I can see why (although I haven’t yet watched the third film in the series, 1950’s “Rio Grande.”) The film begins at the titular Fort Apache, a small U.S. cavalry outpost on the fringes of the western frontier. Just after the American Civil War, Lt. Col. Owen Thursday (Henry Fonda) is assigned by U.S. Cavalry senior command to replace Capt. Sam Collingwood (George O’Brien), a post that Thursday disdains. Capt. Kirby York (John Wayne), knowledgeable about the Apache tribes, is under Thursday’s command. When Thursday …