Les forbans du désert

This is an old-style western, where the Native Americans are all anonymous and all are hostile, serving as fodder for the firearms of the whites. Nothing particularly memorable about it, at only 73 min. long. Our 4 just-released inmates of Yuma territorial prison head for the town of Tomahawk Gap. They learn that it is now a ghost town, in designated Apache territory, and the only white person living there is an eccentric old coot who claims his mission is to take care of the graveyard. They hope to find the $10,000. in cash from the bank they hid there in a grave. They manage to remember the name on the tombstone, find some makeshift shovels, and find the box the money supposedly was placed in. Surprise! There's nothing in it. They assume that either it was stolen with the box replaced, or the money was taken out before the box was buried, presumably by their deceased partner who buried the box. The 'graveyard man' swears he didn't know anything about it, so they decide to look around town for where their partner might have stashed the cash. They start tearing up floor boards, looking in closets, drawers, etc.. Lunacy! Eventually, they argue about when to stop looking and leave this dangerous place. About then, a cavalry of Apache comes galloping through town, along with a few climbing on buildings. 2 of the 4 ex-inmates are killed by arrows or bullets. The others hide inside by a window. The cavalry keeps charging back and forth through town, The Kid and McCord picking off several each time. Lunacy to repeatedly exposing themselves to hidden gunfire! But, no doubt, many in the audiences liked to see 'Indians' fall off their horses or from high places. I won't tell you how the 2 killed the remaining Apaches quickly, but at the sacrifice of one of them. Which one? I will only tell you that McCord didn't actually participate in the robbery. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Before they got to Tomahawk gap, the men spotted some rustling in the shrubbery. It turned out to be a woman, with a rifle, who shot The Kid in the arm. Later, Doc would extract the bullet and the woman would help bandage it. They assumed she was Apache, being unfamiliar with Apache dress or language. Later, they would be told that she was actually a Navajo prisoner who had escaped. Egan tried to rape her twice, broken up by the others. At the end, the implication was that she would ride off with the remaining one of the 4, perhaps toward marriage? She is sometimes referred to as a girl, but she was 27 years old, and looked it. She should have been married long ago. Perhaps her husband had been killed or still was alive. See all 72 min. of it in color at You Tube.

This western contains no well known actors but is none the worse for that; when you have a star you know they will make it to the end but unknown actors can die at any time! The story follows four men who have just been released from Yuma jail. After five years inside the criminals are keen to meet up with their partner and get their hands on the money; they have a few of problems though; the money is hidden in the town of Tomahawk Gap which has since been abandoned deep inside Apache territory, their partner is dead and one of the four wasn't actually involved in the crime; he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time but still expects a cut as he served the time. The three criminals head off towards Tomahawk Gap but are ambushed by a group of Apache; they manage to beat them but one of them is then shot by a Navaho woman. By this time this happens the fourth man has caught up with them and all of them; including the woman head into town where they discover the money wasn't where they expected it to be... if they want to get rich they will have to find it before they are found by the Apaches or the US Cavalry. At only seventy three minutes the story doesn't have time to drag and there is plenty of action crammed in; when they aren't fighting the Apaches they are fighting each other. The action is well choreographed with plenty of dramatic falls as Indians fall from cliff-tops and rooftops when shot; the stunt men certainly earned their pay! The actors did a good job although Mexican actress María Elena Marqués, who played the Navaho girl didn't really look like a Native American. While it is essentially an action film a little bit of light relief is provided by the town's sole inhabitant who has stayed behind to look after the graveyard. If you are a fan of less well known westerns you could do a lot worse than this; I'd certainly recommend it.

Buried loot from a heist in a ghost town and savage Apache raids dirt bikes that are colorful Western stand above others I've seen from the era. It stars John Derek and John Hodiak as part of a group of bank robbers who after serving their time go to claim the money that they have had buried avoid the law as well as attacking natives. While the Apaches are presented as savages (as they usually are), there's a beautiful Navajo maiden (Maria Elena Marques) who shows a different side of the indigenous Americans. Suspicions between the group when the money proves not to be where they left it causes them to turn against each other, but when it comes down to Derek and Kodiak together, they find they must do something more than fight each other to survive. Featuring such veteran character actors as Percy Helton (the short, chubby grizzled actor who always sounded like he was suffering from bad asthma) and John Qualem (as the sole resident of the ghost town), this is filled with atmosphere, violence and a lot of surprises. Marques' Navajo girl, having obviously suffered at the hands of the Apaches, proves herself as adept with a bow and arrow as the stronger tribe) and is a very memorable western heroine. This is unique because the main characters aren't exactly of the highest moral fiber, but the theme of surviving rather than finding the money they left behind becomes a stronger one. Quite memorable, and one I will revisit again.

I really enjoyed the movie. I think this is one movie that they "SHOULD" remake.

Bad guys become good guys and lose everything in the process.

Decent Western in 80 minutes only, with good cast and nice action scenes .It deals with 4 ex-convicts who spent five years at the State Penitentiary , the tough John Hodiak, the good-looking John Derek nicknamed the innocent kid , the veteran Ray Teal, the cool-blood killer played by David Brian, and all of them recently released from Yuma Territorial Prison. They arrive in Twin Folks town where at the saloon problems already emerge. Then, they go back to Tomahawk Gap to take the cash they robbed in a heist and that was buried at its graveyard . As three exprisoners fresh out from jail to get a share their stolen money. Along the way they meet strange charactes as a beautiful Indian woman : Maria Elena Marques and a grumpy undertaker : John Qualen, caring his cemetery. As three killers stalking down while the Apaches stalked them all. They come back for vengeance! One man against the West!. Stalking three killers down while the savage Indians stalked them all! Simple and plain Western paced in fits and starts about four ex-inmates who attempt to retrieve the loot they stole and that was hidden by a colleague somewhere at Tomahawk town, a ghost city, being an extremely abandoned and ruined location. The picture contains noisy action, violent Indian hunting, spectacular attacks on the town and at the end a life and death battle ensues. The picture benefits itself of a good main and support cast such as : John Hodiak, David Brian, Ray Teal, the Mexican Maria Elena Marques, John Qualen, Trevor Bardette, John War Eagle, John Doucette, among others . And the famous John Derek who married the beauties Ursula Andress, Linda Evans and Bo Derek. He played a lot of Westerns and adventure movies, his most known role was Joshua as a secondary actor in Ten Commandments. This Ambush at Tomahawk Gap is a run-of-the-mill but acceptable and passable Western that displays a colorful cinematography by Henry Freulich . Being shot on location in Corriganville, Ray Corrigan ranch, Simi Valley, California. And thrilling, atmospheric musical score by Ross DiMaggio. The motion picture with interesting script by David Lang, produced by Columbia Pictures /Wallace MacDonald and being professionally directed by Fred F. Sears. He was a prolific actor and director who worked hardly until his early death at 44 years. He spent in Columbia long time , making quickies for the low-budgeted producer Sam Katzman and favorite producer Wallace McDonald . Fred made all kinds of genres outstanding in Western, thriller, Noir, Sci-Fi, Juvenile delinquent crime film and WWII, such as : El Alamein, The 49th man, Chicago Syndicate, Bonanza town, Blackhawk, The Nebraskan, Massacre Canyon, Cell 3455 death row, Cha cha Boom, Rock around the clock, Inside Detroit, Don't knock the rock, Ghost of the China sea, Fury at Gunlight Pass, Rumble on the docks, Escape from San Quentin, Sky Commando, Mission over Korea, Badman's country, The night the world exploded. His best movie is considered to be Earth vs Flying saucers with FX by Ray Harryhausen and his worst one : The giant Claw, both of them Science Fiction movies. Rating :6 /10. The movie will appeal to Western lovers

Four grizzled jailbirds are released from prison and head for an isolated Wild West town to search for the loot a deceased partner squirrelled away years earlier. However, besides having to find the stash, they also end up fending off a tribe of vengeful Apaches. A dusty, grim western with no heroes. They are shady and bitter characters with one goal in mind: to find the money in the ghost town. It can be plodding, especially in the first half, and the characters aren't likeable, except Ray Teal and Navajo girl, however, it's full of grit, there's some tense moments, and the Apache attack at the end is well done. And that little twist about the money in the final reel is quite ironic.

An enjoyable Western with a small cast of white characters and rather more Indians, who follow the routine of seemingly being willing to take many casualties for relatively small gain. Another cliché is the improbable Indian girl played by a non-Native American, in this case a Mexican,María Elena Marqués. It appears from the plot that Navajo girls get taught to use the bow and arrow, but this apart the character might as well have been a Mexican anyway. Hodiak, in one of his last films before his premature death, is suitably rugged, and Ray Teal gets a fuller role than usual; in fact he's the nearest to a good guy among all the men in the film, and even then he's served time in Yuma Prison and is still greedy for the loot.

Ambush At Tomahawk Gap starts with four prisoners, John Derek, John Hodiak, Ray Teal, and David Brian all released from Yuma prison and out looking for the loot that was stashed by one of them before they were caught at the town of Tomahawk Gap. Only one of those prisoners is a ringer. John Hodiak was a total stranger and the other three made him a patsy so the real fourth guy could stash the loot. Only he got killed and Hodiak did his time in the joint. You can understand why he wants in on the split. Only the Apaches are on the warpath and Tomahawk Gap is now a ghost town. If it's up to them no one's going to live long enough to spend any of it if they can find it. This one is a crackerjack B western in which most of the cast is killed. The Apache attack is really staged well and ensemble cast gives some great performances. As for the stolen money. There is an ironical twist in the end worthy of Alfred Hitchcock or Billy Wilder.

Within the first five minutes of this elegantly nasty little Columbia western (shot in shiny Technicolor by Henry Freulich) both the villain and the hero spit messily. Their anti-social antics continues for the next seventy minutes - with some remarkably graphic violence along the way - until the cute final shot.