A man has kidnaped an engraver and has him forging Mexican bills. He captures wild horses supposedly to sell for hides but uses them to transport the bills across the border. Police captain Juan Reyes (Richard Avonde) is posing as a bandit to uncover the counterfeiters smuggling fake pesos into Mexico, and is assisted by feisty youngsters Red (Michael Chapin) and Judy (Eilene Janssen), who are trying to protect the wild horses being used by the gang. The kids suspect that rancher Big John Harkins (Roy Barcroft) is the leader of the gang and that he is forcing Mexican artist Espinosa (Julian Rivero) to help him.
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Reviews
Great Film overall
Fantastic!
It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Wild Horse Ambush is the last of a series of westerns that starred Michael Chapin and Eilene Janssen as a pair of adolescent kids who both assist and annoy Chapin's grandfather James Bell who is the local sheriff of their Southwestern town. Watching this it occurred to me that at the time these films were made they might have made a good series for the kids on television. But Republic's boss Herbert J. Yates was in denial as to the staying power of the box and it cost him his studio in the end.An engraver from the Mexican mint, Julian Rivero and daughter Movita have been captured and are forced to work at Roy Barcroft's ranch our side of the border turning out 50 peso notes. How they get over the border has to do with a wild horse herd which doesn't need to go through customs.Mexican cop Richard Avonde is also on the case and cooperation between Mexican authorities, US authorities and the kids lead to the apprehension of the gang. The kids do work very much on their own.Wild Horse Ambush is a nice family film which would still be liked by those in the age bracket of Michael and Eilene.
"Wild Horse Ambush" (1952) is the last of the four Red and Judy westerns that Republic made in the early 1950's as a series called "The Rough Ridin' Kids". These were relatively successful Saturday matinée features with stories told from the point of view of 10-12 year-olds. The idea would be copied by 1950's television with characters like Rusty in "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin" and "Corky and White Shadow". Unfortunately this "we were there" idea seems to work best when the setting is a cavalry post or a circus. But like "Corky", Red (Michael Chapin) and Judy (Eilene Janssen) live in a small western town and instead of matching wits with other children they are inserted into the plot of standard "B" westerns. Red is the grandson of Sheriff Tom White (James Bell) and Judy is the reformed foster daughter of a captured outlaw. It's actually a nice premise with a lot of potential. The two young actors have a lot of charm and are good riders. Too bad the writers didn't keep things focused on childhood adventures against enemies their own age. In "Wild Horse Ambush" they make friends with an officer in the Mexican Border Patrol and help him to crack a counterfeit ring. A gang has forced an engraver to make plates for printing Mexican currency. The bills are concealed in the manes of wild horses for transport across the border. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
Fairly routine kiddie matinee western, complete with an injection of child actors, Red and Judy, who help a Mexican lawman identify counterfeiters. The scheme involves kidnapped artists being forced to forge denominations of pesos, which are then attached to horses patronizing a waterhole north - then south - of the border. It's a bit obvious when some supposedly outdoor scenes have been filmed indoors. But otherwise it's almost mediocre, with the action limited to the mostly non-gunplay kind.
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