Die Letzten von Fort Gamble

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.

For those who may have wondered what "Fort Apache" and, to a lesser extent, "The Searchers" might have looked like had they been directed by someone with roughly half the talent of John Ford, you now have your answer. In other words, "Ambush" is a too slow paced western with occasional flashes of interest that you cease to think about almost as soon as it is done. Its good points can be rather quickly summarized: sardonically intelligent dialogue by Marguerite Roberts, one of the better western scribes and one of the only women doing it, well executed battle scenes from director Sam Wood, whose last film this is (guy had a fatal coronary less than a year later, obviously worn out by decades of red baiting and commie hunting), and a good, hard bitten, low key performance from Rat Fink Bob. Its flaws, centered around an under developed love triangle between Taylor, Arlene Dahl and John Hodiak, as well as the standard racist depiction of Apaches, are too many to mention, although I feel I must single out the really dull sub plot involving a lieutenant played by Don Taylor, one of late 40s Hollywood's duller young actors, and an enlisted man's wife, played by the usually good, but not here, Jean Hagen. Oh and the cinematography is so dark that you feel you're watching an exercise in how not to shoot western noir. C plus.

This is a well acted Western that would have been even better if it was in color. The scenery is just awesome. Of course, it is a classic story with the Indians as the bad guys. There are also romance aspects to keep the ladies interested. There is a very good adult interaction between the two principle male actors, Robert Taylor and John Hodiak, plus a bit of male cheesecake, to boot. I thought this movie portrayed the Indians as more than just antagonists. The film also showed their very intelligent strategic planning as they wrestled with our usual "heroes". For Robert Taylor fans this is a great opportunity to acknowledge how far he had come in his career. He was a very good actor who was able to easily morph from one genre to the next without missing a beat. He has not been given enough credit for his abilities.

Rugged Robert Taylor is a scout on the hunt for a white woman kidnapped by renegade Indians in this better than average Western from Sam Wood, whose last film this would be. The story takes time to fill out a number of characters, providing a depth and frankness that was unusual for the time while still serving up some decent action amongst some impressive scenery. A strong supporting cast also helps.

When the apache indians kidnap the daughter of a military man, a party goes out to bring her back. If they can. The native american tribal leader diablito is known to be violent, and running out of places to go. It won't be easy. Stars robert taylor and john hodiak, with their own issues to be worked out. Of course. Gotta have that subplot. Beautiful locations of the west. Lupton is right on the border with new mexico. And "corriganville movie ranch" is now a los angeles park. Check out the interesting history in wikipedia dot org....it was owned by a hollywood stunt man, and later by comedian bob hope. Victor thunderclound is here as tana, an apache. Thundercloud may or may not actually have been native american, according to wikipedia. He was also tonto in "the lone ranger"! In the film, the group catches up to diablito about an hour into the film... the first part is all setup. Then the big confrontation. Which is over pretty quickly. It's okay, but i can see why it didn't win any oscars. Directed by sam wood. Based on a story by luke short. Many of his works were made into film.