zardoz-13 Robert Taylor's second western, director Sam Wood's final film "Ambush," finds him on the right side of the law after playing the eponymous outlaw in "Billy the Kid" (1941). Taylor is cast as rugged, left-handed, Army scout Ward Kinsman in this black & white MGM horse opera about the desperate search for a woman captured by the Apaches. "Ambush" is a stark looking oater with some good visual effects for its day. Scenarist Marguerite Roberts' adaptation of Luke Short's short story is frankly adult for its day. The primary plot concerns the Army's search for Mary Carlyle and the pursuit of a dangerous Apache chieftain Diablito (Charles Stevens of "The Black Pirate") who took Mary hostage.The daring opening gambit finds Kinsman and another Army Scout Frank Holly (John McIntire of "Backlash") trying to escape from a band of Apaches. They stampede their horses and hide among the rocks while the mounted warriors swarm in pursuit of their horses. The main party of braves vanishes into a narrow pass, and our heroes challenge three warriors, blow all of them off their horses, and steal those horses. Our heroes not only escape with their scalps but also their lives. Wood does a good job of staging this fracas. The next day they arrive at the cavalry fort. The fort turns out to be a hotbed of adultery as an cruel enlisted man Tom Conovan (Bruce Cowling of "Battleground") likes to beat his wife, Martha Conovan (Jean Hagen of "The Asphalt Jungle"), while she has an affair with Lieutenant Linus Delaney (Don Taylor of Stalag 17") who knows he is in trouble. Later, Conovan assaults Fort Commandant Major C.E. Breverly (Leon Ames of The Postman Always Rings Twice") with a pitchfork and punctures his lungs. As a result, Breverly turns over command of the fort to Captain Ben Lorrison (John Hodiak of "Lifeboat") who has warned Delaney of his adulterous ways. Somehow, Lorrison persuades Kinsman to scout for him as he sets out to capture Diablito and recover Mary Carlyle (Marta Mitrovich). Lorrison recruits an Apache prisoner to help him find Diablito, but Kinsman doesn't trust the brave. Predictably, the treacherous brave sneaks out of Lorrison's camp to warn Diablito, but Kinsman manages to kill him before he can alert the elusive Apache chieftain. Throughout this 89 minute western, Ann Duverall (Arlene Dahl of "Land Raiders"), is stuck at the army post where Lorrison romances her and later suggests a proposal of marriage. Kinsman takes a similar interest in Ann, but nothing happens between them. Tragically, Lorrison dies during a clever Apache ambush, which is no doubt the source of the film's title. The wily savages leave an obvious trail for Lorrison and his men to follow into the open flatlands, and these sagacious brave bury themselves just beneath the surface of the earth so that the troopers enter this crescent of warriors who burst from the ground and mow them down. Delaney and his men ride to the rescue, but they are too late to help Lorrison. The sneaky Diablito plays possum in the hope of catching Kinsman with his guard down, but our hero drills him three times, ultimately killing the chieftain."Ambush" is no great shakes, but it is an efficiently helmed oater with a strong cast and good performances.

jpdoherty MGM's "Ambush" - a forgotten above average fifties western - has finally turned up thanks to the Warner Bros. Archive label with their release of the picture in a fine DVD transfer that should now set it on the road to some sort of rediscovery. Produced for Metro in 1950 by Armand Deutsch it was directed with a modicum of flair by Sam Wood who himself was something of a stranger when it came to directing westerns. Forgetting his best forgotten 1940 B picture "Rangers Of Fortune" AMBUSH really would be the estimable director's first and, as it turned out, only venture into the genre. From a story by Luke Short it was nicely written for the screen by Marguerite Roberts and was superbly shot in Gallup, New Mexico in black & white by Harold Lipstein. And complimenting the film throughout is a rich score - featuring a spirited cavalry march - by Austrian composer Rudolph Kopp. AMBUSH also was the first "real" western the picture's star Robert Taylor would appear in, if you discount the lamentable and dull "Billy The Kid" which he ill-advisedly did in 1941. AMBUSH would now put the actor on the trail, so to speak, to make something of himself in westerns with the excellent "Devil's Doorway(1950), "Westward The Women" (1951), "Ride Vaquero" (1953) and "The Law & Jake Wade" (1958).Mescalero Apache leader Diablito (Charles Stephens) is on the warpath. He is raiding and killing whites all along the border. He also captures and enslaves white women. One such woman is Mary Carlyle (Marta Mitrovich) and it falls to the U.S. cavalry at the Fort Gambel outpost to rescue her. With the help of army scout Ward Kinsman (Robert Taylor) officer in charge Capt. Ben Lorrisonn (John Hodiak) leads a large contingent of troops into the hills to engage with and wipe out Diablito once and for all and retrieve the woman. But things don't go too well with internal bickering and disputes between the strait-laced and uncompromising Captain and Kinsman and between the Captain and the young Lt. Linus Delaney (Don Taylor) who is having an affair with an enlisted man's wife (Jean Hagan) back at the fort. They eventually encounter the Apaches and after Kinsman stampedes their horses and they are trapped in a canyon a fierce struggle ensues. Finally with most of the Apaches and troops wiped out (including Lorrison and Diablito) Kinsman does manage to rescue the woman.It is almost inconceivable that a western with the leading actor who was once named Spangler Arlington Brugh could for a moment be taken seriously. It must surely be a comedy you would ascertain. But you would be quite mistaken for this indeed was Robert Taylor's real name before he changed it and a blessing it is too that he did so. Watching him here in AMBUSH you would find it difficult to associate him with such a name since he turns in an excellent robust performance as the rough and tough army scout. Excellent too is the ill-fated John Hodiak, the likable Don Taylor and Charles Stephens as the fearsome Apache leader in a role he would play many times in westerns of the period. Interestingly Stephens in real life was the grandson of the famous Apache leader Geronimo.AMBUSH is a neat little western that is well paced well written well played and well directed by Sam Wood who unfortunately never lived to see the release of his finished movie. He died of heart failure soon after the film wrapped.Footnote: Sharp eyed western fans will notice Fort Gambel as the one and the same location as that for Fort Bravo in "Escape From Fort Bravo" three years later. Both were filmed at the Ray Corrigan Ranch in Simi Valley, California. Also in "Fort Bravo" Charles Stephens had a minor part as an Apache army scout.

mamalv Robert Taylor was always the most amazing looking man in a western. He sat a horse like no one else in movies ever did or has since. This is a truly good western about an Indian scout, Ward Kinsman, played by Taylor. He is pursued by the army to scout a journey to find the sister of Ann Duverall (Arlene Dahl)who has been kidnapped by a renegade Apache. At first he says no, but is attracted to Dahl, and alienates her from her romantic Army Captain, Ben Lorrison, played by John Hodiak, who co-stared with Taylor on several occasions, including the Bribe. The other romances are center stage with a young Don Taylor pursuing the wife of an enlisted man who is an wife beater. Jean Hagen plays the wife with great apprehension, knowing she is love with Don Taylor but staying because it is her religion. None of the romance can however outshine the great outdoors, the Indian fights, the bravery of the soldiers, and Robert Taylor, who when he starts the film, is unshaven, dirty and just as real as I am sure Luke Short wrote the part. A wonderful western with all the elements of gritty realism of the book. A must see.

jxm4687 This is pretty standard cavalry outpost versus the Apaches fare, but it's well acted and directed, moves along at a good clip and boasts an intelligent script that develops its stock characters effectively. Robert Taylor is at his best in this kind of stalwart but human role. And the rest of the cast delivers strongly. (Arlene Dahl has great chemistry with both Taylor and John Hodiak, rivals for her affections.)This was director Sam Wood's last film. The many action scenes are well staged and exciting, although color would have enhanced them. This is an example of big-budget Hollywood westerns from the late 40's and early 50's (many better known than this, e.g., "Red River) which--for some reason--were filmed in black and white.