Ambush ** (1950, Robert Taylor, John Hodiak, Arlene Dahl) – Classic Movie Review 10,109

Director Sam Wood’s 1950 black and white Western film Ambush stars Robert Taylor as US army Indian scout Ward Kinsman, who leads the posse to the Apache chief (Chief Thundercloud) who has abducted a girl, general’s daughter Mary Carlyle, the sister of Ann Duverall (Arlene Dahl), and is holding her hostage. This oft-told, age-old yarn is brushed up to look fairly fresh here.

Star Robert Taylor wasn’t at his best in Westerns and Dahl does no more than look cute. But the right support cast (especially John Hodiak, Leon Ames, Jean Hagen, John McIntire, Ray Teale) helps along this sturdy Western, with classy black and white cinematography by Harold Lipstein, superior direction by Wood (who died of a heart attack at 66 on 22 September 1949 soon after filming stopped) and a smart-looking MGM production.

Marguerite Roberts’s screenplay is based on the story by Luke Short.

Also in the cast are Don Taylor, Bruce Cowling, Pat Moriarty, Richard Bailey and James Harrison.

It was released on 13 January 1950 in the US.

Sam Wood was vociferously right-wing and his testimonies in 1947 before the House Un-American Activities Committee gained him more enemies than friends in the film business. He shared his his ultra-conservative political beliefs with Robert Taylor, who also became involved in 1947 as a so-called friendly witness for the House Un-American Activities Committee investigating so-called Communist subversion in the film industry.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,109

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