After the second world war, Robert Taylor returned to work at MGM. He was promptly cast in a few crime films but noir didn't exactly suit his personality and musicals were out of the question. So the studio decided to remold his image as a western hero. AMBUSH would be the first in a series of westerns for Taylor in the 1950s.
MGM was not entirely proficient in this genre. I suspect the execs started to green-light these projects in order to keep up with the competition. Republic had done strong business in the B-western market for many years and recently increased budgets to produce 'A' western pictures. Other studios like Paramount, Columbia and RKO also embraced this trend. MGM was somewhat slow to adapt to these industry changes.
The studio assigned veteran director Sam Wood to the project. It would be the last motion picture Mr. Wood helmed, in a Hollywood career that stretched back to 1920. Wood was no John Ford, and he didn't exactly have a natural feel for these stories the way Anthony Mann did, or the way Sam Peckinpah would. In fact, Wood had only made one silent western, THE MINE WITH THE IRON DOOR, in 1924. And he had only made one western in the sound era, a Paramount title called RANGERS OF FORTUNE starring Fred MacMurray.
AMBUSH adheres to a specific formula. There is the requisite Cavalry versus the Indians theme; a civilian scout (Taylor's character); a love triangle-- two of them, actually; a standoff with Apaches; oh and a stampede thrown in for good measure to prevent the audience from getting bored.
The original story had been published in The Saturday Evening Post and was written by Luke Short. Not Luke Short the famous gunslinger from the 1800s, but a pulp writer using Short's name as a pseudonym.
AMBUSH was filmed on location in California and New Mexico; some scenes in the film were shot at an altitude of 9,000 feet. Harold Lipstein's camera gives us a few panoramic glimpses of the mountainous terrain during a climactic action sequence.
I had no problem with Taylor, costar John Hodiak or female lead Arlene Dahl whom they both love. The three stars all make valiant attempts to infuse the story with meaningful motivation and nuance. Mr. Hodiak is probably the best actor in the picture, and he has a stirring death scene during the titular ambush near the end.
Supporting player Leon Ames does well as an army major, and so does John McIntire who plays a mountain guide. We also have Don Taylor cast as a well-liked lieutenant who falls for another man's wife.
The wife is Jean Hagen, in only her second film role. She's a laundress at the base with adultery on her mind. I was interested in this character and wanted to see her escape a physically abusive husband (Bruce Cowling). Though we are meant to sympathize with her plight, the production code prevents her from being with the man she truly desires. The subplot doesn't have a proper resolution.
As for the Apaches, they seem realistically violent. The main plot predates THE SEARCHERS in that Miss Dahl's sister has been kidnapped by the tribe. The army has been asked to track the woman down and bring her back to safety.
Regarding the big ambush, I feel that a more thoughtful and more artistic director would have shown us how it happened from two distinct vantage points. Both sides were ambushing each other.
Off screen, Sam Wood was a staunch anti-communist. Any leftish, liberal-leaning member of the cast or crew would've been ambushed by him and kept off the set. A recent war had just taken place. And already new battles were being waged over America and its political ideals.
MGM was not entirely proficient in this genre. I suspect the execs started to green-light these projects in order to keep up with the competition. Republic had done strong business in the B-western market for many years and recently increased budgets to produce 'A' western pictures. Other studios like Paramount, Columbia and RKO also embraced this trend. MGM was somewhat slow to adapt to these industry changes.
The studio assigned veteran director Sam Wood to the project. It would be the last motion picture Mr. Wood helmed, in a Hollywood career that stretched back to 1920. Wood was no John Ford, and he didn't exactly have a natural feel for these stories the way Anthony Mann did, or the way Sam Peckinpah would. In fact, Wood had only made one silent western, THE MINE WITH THE IRON DOOR, in 1924. And he had only made one western in the sound era, a Paramount title called RANGERS OF FORTUNE starring Fred MacMurray.
AMBUSH adheres to a specific formula. There is the requisite Cavalry versus the Indians theme; a civilian scout (Taylor's character); a love triangle-- two of them, actually; a standoff with Apaches; oh and a stampede thrown in for good measure to prevent the audience from getting bored.
The original story had been published in The Saturday Evening Post and was written by Luke Short. Not Luke Short the famous gunslinger from the 1800s, but a pulp writer using Short's name as a pseudonym.
AMBUSH was filmed on location in California and New Mexico; some scenes in the film were shot at an altitude of 9,000 feet. Harold Lipstein's camera gives us a few panoramic glimpses of the mountainous terrain during a climactic action sequence.
I had no problem with Taylor, costar John Hodiak or female lead Arlene Dahl whom they both love. The three stars all make valiant attempts to infuse the story with meaningful motivation and nuance. Mr. Hodiak is probably the best actor in the picture, and he has a stirring death scene during the titular ambush near the end.
Supporting player Leon Ames does well as an army major, and so does John McIntire who plays a mountain guide. We also have Don Taylor cast as a well-liked lieutenant who falls for another man's wife.
The wife is Jean Hagen, in only her second film role. She's a laundress at the base with adultery on her mind. I was interested in this character and wanted to see her escape a physically abusive husband (Bruce Cowling). Though we are meant to sympathize with her plight, the production code prevents her from being with the man she truly desires. The subplot doesn't have a proper resolution.
As for the Apaches, they seem realistically violent. The main plot predates THE SEARCHERS in that Miss Dahl's sister has been kidnapped by the tribe. The army has been asked to track the woman down and bring her back to safety.
Regarding the big ambush, I feel that a more thoughtful and more artistic director would have shown us how it happened from two distinct vantage points. Both sides were ambushing each other.
Off screen, Sam Wood was a staunch anti-communist. Any leftish, liberal-leaning member of the cast or crew would've been ambushed by him and kept off the set. A recent war had just taken place. And already new battles were being waged over America and its political ideals.