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Good movie but grossly overrated

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

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.

In the 1930s, Robert Taylor was hugely successful playing "pretty boy" roles. This isn't meant to demean his talents, but the idea of him playing a gritty part at that time was about as believable as Marjorie Main playing romantic lead in a Clark Gable film! However, by the mid-late 1940s, Taylor filled out a bit and as he approached his 40s, he was suddenly finding himself in several gritty cop films--but he still was a bit on the pretty side. However, with "Ambush", Taylor makes a break with this matinée idol image, as the film finds him dirty and unshaven through eh first 20 minutes. And, instead of begin well dressed and sexy, he was a frontiersman who was used to fighting Indians and roughing it. I liked the new Robert Taylor look and style--he was grittier and more believable and seemed to grow older quite well.The story is pretty typical of many westerns of the day. There is a renegade Indian, Diablito ("Little Devil"), who has killed a group of settlers and took the women and children prisoners. While Indians did sometimes take women and children into their tribe this way, the notion of "renegades" is a bit of a misnomer, as this sort of thing was pretty rare in the west--despite what you see in films. As for Taylor, he is asked to guide the cavalry to find the prisoners, but he's less than thrilled with the idea, as he thinks it's pretty useless. Ultimately, however, he relents and leads a small group of soldiers to Diablito's camp. In a couple scenes he's shown conversing with the natives in their language. While I assume he's speaking gibberish, it did sound pretty good and I'd love to know if he's actually saying anything.Aside from this plot, there are subplots that give the film some depth. In other words, it's not just a film about killing Indians. there is a subplot involving a drunk brute named Conovan who amuses his long-suffering wife and goes so far as tries to kill the commanding officer! Acting commanding officer John Hodiak is a tough-as-nails guy who is awfully rigid--and not the sort to work out the Indian problem with any finesse. So, as you can see, it's not just a Robert Taylor film but it's more complex than that. Plus, in one scene where Taylor and Hodiak get in a fist-fight, it's interesting to see Taylor (the once pretty-boy) lose! This certainly isn't the Taylor film of old! Overall, there's nothing that unique about this western, though it still is very good and definitely better than the typical film of the genre (and frankly, I think there have been way too many westerns over the years). I also appreciated how the natives actually looked like they were American-Indians--not the white guys in paint like many films. And, I liked how they had intelligent battle plans--not the usual riding right into the whithering gunfire of the "good guys" or riding in circles around a wagon train (which didn't actually occur) while they get shot!! By the way, I agree with the review by bkoganbing. While John Ford made quite a few cavalry and western films, this sort of film isn't his style at all and can't be confused for one of his films. Sam Wood's style and direction is much more direct--and this film lacks the overt sentiment of a Ford film. It is simple, unflinching and well made--the final film of an accomplished but mostly overlooked director now in the 21st century.

I am of the opinion that "Ambush" comes off as a standard black and white horse opera for two reason. First off, as I was watching the film I couldn't help but wonder as to how much better of a film it could have been if it had been filmed in gorgeous Technocolor which would have emphasized the beautiful Monument Valley type of surroundings. Secondly, the film being a product of it's time (1949), was limited to the morality and the censorship that most assuredly was imposed on it. In other words, various organizations such as Catholic Legion Of Decency played a big part in what could be portrayed during the context of the film's plot and what was presented on the screen i.e., if any studio violated their code of ethics that appeared in the good old "Sunday Visitor", a Catholic publication, the Legion of Decency would give it a "C" for Condemned or a "MO" for Morally Objectionable to discourage patrons from going to theaters to see the film. The plot of this film has Lt. Linus Delaney (Don Taylor) falling for an enlisted man's wife Martha Conovan (Jean Hagen). The woman's husband Tom Conovan (Bruce Cowling) is an abusive drunk that continuously beats his wife and eventually becomes an army deserter. Rest assured that their is no hope for this star struck couple ever to find happiness! Obviously, there is only one way for a "taken" woman to get the other man....and that is for the out of luck husband or fiancé to die. Enter Captain Ben Lorrison (John Hodiak), a fool hardy Officer reminiscent of Henry Fonda in "Fort Apache". In other words, a man who will not listen to someone that has been there and knows what and when to do it as exemplified by a scout, Ward Kinsman (Robert Taylor). Taylor inadvertently falls for Hodiak's girl Ann Duverall (Arlene Dahl) but he has two things going for him that the other Taylor doesn't have; 1)Dahl is not married to Hodiak and 2)Hodiak is a prideful by the book officer and his stubbornness to attack the Indians when he has been heeded not to eventually gets him killed. Alas! Robert Taylor gets Dahl while Don Taylor and Jean Hagen sadly stare at each expressing a tearful, wordless "Goodbye" while humoring the good old Catholic Legion of Decency. I don't know about you guys out there...but I always looked at my good old Sunday Visitor to check out the movies I wanted to see, and I didn't let those darn old "Condemned" or "Morally Objectionable" get in my way of my entertainment.

Robert Taylor is a scout, John Hodiak is the captain and Don Taylor is the lieutenant who is in love with another man´s wife. Arlene Dahl is searching for her sister who was captured by an Indian chief called Diablito. Both Taylor and Hodiak are in love with Arlene Dahl, as they leave the fort to attack Diablito and his warriors. Entertaining, action packed western.