Is it really the worst movie, or even Eastwood’s worst? Let’s see.
Clint Eastwood is an undeniable living Hollywood legend. Over the course of over 70 years, Eastwood has amassed an award-winning collection of performances and directing attempts that only a few of his contemporaries can match. And, at the age of 93, the guy is still working, with the upcoming Juror #2, which he is directing, rumored to be Eastwood’s final project (though it would not surprise anyone if he picked up another “final” project). Eastwood, like every other Hollywood actor, has appeared in pictures that are either excellent, like Unforgiven, or… not so great, like Ambush at Cimarron Pass, which Eastwood claims is the worst film ever filmed. Not only the worst film, but one that had him convinced that his days as an actor were through. But is it really the worst, or, more specifically, even his worst? Let’s take a look.
The Pedestrian Western That Is ‘Ambush at Cimarron Pass’
Ambush at Cimarron Pass, Eastwood’s first credited role in a Western, takes place shortly after the American Civil War. As the film begins, Sgt. Matthew Blake (Scott Brady) of the Seventh Cavalry and his men are seen going through Apache territory. Along the way, they encounter a group of former Confederate soldiers, led by Capt. Sam Prescott (Frank Gerstle), who are wary of the group after Apaches in Union uniforms attacked them and made off with their herd. Blake explains that his group also encountered Apaches, who killed all but four men and their scout. They are now escorting a man named Corbin (Baynes Barron), under arrest for selling guns to the Apaches, to Fort Waverly, along with the confiscated 36 repeating rifles he was planning on selling next. The two groups decide to join forces, a move which doesn’t sit well with Keith Williams (Clint Eastwood), whose mother and sister were killed by the Yankees in the war. That night, Apaches drop off Teresa (Margia Dean), a Mexican American woman, near the men’s encampment. As they move to help her, the Apaches take advantage of the distraction to steal their horses and kidnap the soldier who was guarding them. Teresa tells them about how the Apaches burned down her rancho, killed her brother, father, and sister, and is only alive so that she can give them a message: they can have their horses back in exchange for the rifles.
After a heated argument on what to do, the group opt to keep the rifles, which leads to the death of the soldier the Apaches had kidnapped. Blake suggests they walk the rest of the way, confident that so long as they have the guns, the Apaches won’t attack. Oh yah… that’ll do the trick. As they reach Cimarron Pass, a small party of Apaches attack — shocking, right? — but Blake instructs the group not to fire back, rightly assessing it as a ploy to get them to waste ammunition. The cowardly Judge Stanfield (Irving Bacon), who earlier had tried to instigate a mutiny, frees Corbin during the kerfuffle, and Corbin thanks him by killing him and rounding up some of the rifles to bring to the Apaches. Only he dies as a result of a spear. Blake and Prescott kill two Apaches who are attempting to retrieve the rifles, and they are able to retrieve the firearms when the attacking Apache rides away. Weakened, the surviving members of the group are far too tired to carry the rifles to the fort, so Burke orders them destroyed. Keith, who has grown to appreciate Blake, says as the weapons burn that “sometimes one has to lose before finally winning.” The film concludes with the crew safely arriving to Fort Waverly.
‘Ambush at Cimarron Pass’ Is Bad, But Hardly the Worst
There are always going to be some elements in an old Western like Ambush at Cimarron Pass that do not age well, notably the film’s villains, the Apaches. The portrayal of Indigenous people in Western media in general, not only in the Western, has long been a source of contention, with 2022 serving as the first true watershed moment for Indigenous representation in terms of numbers and positive. So, putting such elements aside for the time being, we may evaluate the film on its own terms. It’s still not pretty, folks. Teresa is mostly employed as eye candy throughout the film, wearing low-cut shirts. The Southerners lack any type of Southern accent to speak of (no pun intended). The script has the characters making completely asinine decisions, and the actors themselves — including Eastwood — are stiff. Its biggest sin, which most reviews of the film note, is just how painfully dull Ambush at Cimarron Pass is. However, given that the film was made over eight days, as Eastwood states in his interview with The Hollywood Reporter, it was never going to be an Oscar contender of any sort.
But the question isn’t whether Ambush at Cimarron Pass is the worst film, or even the worst Western (it isn’t – perhaps a look at Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter will help). The question is whether this is Eastwood’s worst film. He hasn’t perfected his art at this point, with the picture being one of his first, and coming before his stint on TV’s Rawhide, where he played Rowdy Yates and gave him a vehicle to flourish as an actor. It’s hardly a remarkable film, and it’s rarely referenced in Eastwood’s résumé. But no, it is not his worst. That title has a few contenders: 1989’s Pink Cadillac, 1984’s City Heat with Burt Reynolds, or 1980’s Any Which Way You Can, in which he shares the screen with a pet orangutan. For the second time, no less (it’s a sequel to Every Which Way But Loose, which introduced Philo Beddoe and Clyde). It may be considered Eastwood’s worst Western, but even there it is up against the painful Western musical Paint Your Wagon (Eastwood did dodge Charro!, though, so that has to be a win). Thankfully, the one thing that Ambush at Cimarron Pass didn’t do is end Eastwood’s acting career before it truly began, meaning its biggest failure ended up being its biggest success.