Dawn at Socorro

Dawn at Socorro is directed by George Sherman and written by George Zuckerman. It stars Rory Calhoun, Piper Laurie, David Brian, Kathleen Hughes, Alex Nicol and Edgar Buchanan. Music is by Joseph Gershenson and cinematography by Carl Guthrie.

One Night In Socorro.

A cracker-jack Western this. Plot essentially has Calhoun as Brett Wade, a tough gunfighter who is suffering badly from ill health. Taking advice from his doctor he decides to retire to healthier pastures, but his past and new enemies refuse to let him go. OK! So it's very much a composite of a number of famous Westerns, but to dismiss this as a cheap knock off would be foolish. The script is very literate and the screenplay never gets tired or preposterous. From an action stand point it scores favourably, right from the opening in Lordsburgh where we get a stockyard shoot-out, pic is never dull.

I wont arrest you for being naked.

There's good black humour in here as well, and some outstanding scenes such as Brett playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata at his own funeral (you will understand when you see it) and a poker game where the stake is the fetching Piper Laurie! There's a constant running feud between Wade and Jimmy Rapp (Nicol), a well written part of the film as it brings in codes and ethics that play opposite another character.

The tech credits are bang on the money. Location photography out of Apple Valley and Victorville is gorgeous, as is Guthrie's colour lensing for the interiors. Props and set design is hugely appealing, including a super locomotive for the train enthusiasts to gorge on. While the front line cast members (Lee Van Cleef & Skip Homeier have small roles) turn in very good work, with Calhoun once again showing his qualities in the genre.

My past - every dark miserable day of it!

But it's with the characterisations where the film strikes the finest. Laurie's Rannah Hayes has been cast out the family home for apparently being a hussy, she's constantly carrying that baggage with her. She finds a soul mate in Wade, a man dragged down by his life, and the weight of such could be his downfall - and he knows it. Buchanan is wonderfully ebullient as the lawman trying to get Wade out of town ASAP, Nicol is hopped up on booze and a thirst for vengeance, whilst David Brian is entrepreneur Dick Braden, a devious man with no code or honour.

Highly recommended to Western fans. 8/10

Despite the director's odd decision to over-use close-ups (maybe he anticipated a quick sale to TV), Dawn at Socorro turns out to be one of the more interesting westerns of 1954. In the U.K., the movie was even released as an "A" feature. Perhaps Universal's exchanges in other countries thought that the cast offered no box office lure. While it's true that Kathleen Hughes is confined to a disappointingly small role, the equally lovely Mara Corday is given a decent innings for once; the Alex Nichol character is intriguingly conceived and played; and I loved David Brian's lecherous saloon proprietor, even if he does rather let hate go to his head. Lee Van Cleef is also on hand, plus Skip Homeier, James Millican and Edgar Buchanan. Perhaps even more importantly, the movie offers scads of action with splendid stuntwork. And it's not only expansively produced in attractive color with arresting real locations backgrounds, but it features dialogue that is much blunter than we expect from the censor-ridden mid-1950s. So, despite the Kathleen Hughes disappointment, Dawn at Socorro is most definitely a film to add to the must-see list!

Enjoyable taut minor and nicely done Western has loner gunfighter Brett Wade (Rory Calhoun) as starring . At the beginning after a poker game , he joins forces with Marshal Harry McNair (James Millican) , both of whom fight shoulder to shoulder in a wild stand-up gunfight against Old Man Ferris (Stanley Andrews) and family (Lee Van Cleef , Skip Homeier , Richard Garland) . He is wounded and the doctor (Roy Roberts) finds him signs of tuberculosis. En route to Colorado by stagecoach he meets other passengers as Rannah Hayes (Piper Laurie) and Jimmy Rapp (Alex Nicol) . Brett arrives in Socorro where Sheriff Couthen (Edgar Buchanan) fears another gun-play . Meanwhile , Brett tries to get out of his previous life while helping a young woman from a life as one of Dick Braden's (David Brian) saloon girls.Brett stops in Socorro, New Mexico along with Ferris gunfighter Jimmy Rapp. LAST OF THE FRONTIER GAMBLERS! The Story of THE NOTORIOUS BRETT WADE LAST OF THE FRONTIER GAMBLERS! He lived on borrowed time...borrowed kisses...and a way with a six-gun that was all his life.

Nice Western with thrills , noisy action, shoot'em up , a highly commendable musical score and intriguing ending . Bursting with attractive characters, interesting sub-plots , symbols , and with very decent filmmaking and interpretation . Paramount Universal movie with great main and support cast, being well produced and efficiently directed. A charming Western that works efficiently within its own rather derivative limits . It is an usual Western of the Fifities with echoes of the classics as ¨High Noon¨ , ¨Duel at O.K. Corral¨ or ¨Shane¨ . Rory Calhoun gives a nice acting as a gunfighter in a town caught in a feud and pursued by avengeful pistoleros .Tall and handsome, Rory is extremely adequate playing Brett Wade, a gambler, gunslinger, and classical pianist , diagnosed with tuberculosis, who has in mind saving a waif-with-a-past girl . Before becoming an actor he worked as a boxer, a lumberjack, a truck driver and a cowpuncher. Rory benefited from a screen test at 20th Century-Fox, arranged for him by Sue Carol, a Hollywood agent and the wife of actor Alan Ladd, who is said to have spotted Calhoun while he was riding a horse in a Los Angeles park. He debuted on screen in Something for the Boys (1944), with Carmen Miranda, billed as "Frank McCown". David O. Selznick changed his name to Rory Calhoun, and after playing small parts for a while, he graduated to starring in western films, including Río sin retorno (1954) with Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum. Calhoun's better-known pictures include Cómo casarse con un millonario (1953) with Lauren Bacall, Monroe and Betty Grable, and Con una canción en mi corazón (1952) with Susan Hayward. From 1959 to 1960 he starred in the CBS television series The Texan (1958). More than two decades later he returned to CBS for five years as Judge Judson Tyler on the daytime serial Capitolio (1982). His final appearance, 70 years old but handsome as ever, was as Ernest Tucker in Pure Country (1992). Rory played a lot of Western such as : Ride Out for Revenge , Domino Kid , The Hired Gun , Utah Blaine , A bullet is waiting, Thunder in Carolina , Dawn in Socorro , The Yellow Tomahawk , and River with no return with Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum . The film ¨ Dawn at Socorro¨ is really buoyed by several familar faces in the supporting cast such as Edgar Buchanan Alex Nicol , Kathleen Hughes Mara Corday , Lee Van Cleef Roy Roberts , James Millican, Stanley Andrews, Richard Garland and Skip Homeier , Lee Marvin-lookalike , as his ordinary role as a nasty gunman.

Furthermore, it contains a colorful and glimmer cinematography , as the brilliant colour cinematography by expert cameraman Carl E. Guthrie by Jack Arnold in his best foray into the Western genre. As well as evocative and thrilling musical score by Frank Skinner and Herman Stein ,though uncredited The movie was a collaboration between independent producer William Alland and Universal Pictures , supported by the prestigious craftsman fimmaker Sherman . The motion picture was compellingly made by George Sherman . Entertainment , atmosphere , action and excitement surge along with the tale under the hand of filmmaker George Sherman , who is clearly more at home with the thrilling scenes than somewhat excessively talking storyline . Sherman made reliable low-budget fares for Columbia between 1945-48, then moved on to do the same at Universal for another eight years . Sherman specialized almost exclusively in "B" westerns there , including the "Three Musketeers" series, which featured a young John Wayne. George directed lots of Westerns as ¨The Last of the Fast Guns¨ , ¨The Lone Hand¨, ¨Santa Fe stampede¨ , ¨Red skin¨ , ¨Chief Crazy Horse¨ ¨Calamity Jane¨, ¨Relentless¨ , ¨Comanche Territory¨ , ¨Dawn at Socorro¨, ¨Border River¨ and many others . He also made occasional forays into action and horror themes, often achieving a sense of style over substance . The only "A"-grade films to his credit were two westerns starring John Wayne: ¨Comancheros¨ (1961) (as producer) and ¨The big Jack¨ (1971) . His last films were realized in Spain as "Find That Girl" , ¨The new Cinderella¨ and ¨Joaquin Murrieta¨. Rating : 6.5/10 . Acceptable and passable . Well worth watching. Agreeable Western that will appeal to enthusiasts.

Its a Western so enjoy the saloon, whiskey, women, gambling, horses, railroad with a mix of good and bad guys thrown and we are off. The actors take it seriously and the saloon girl has a draw on you that adds to the fixation of the whole thing. I had deja vu with flashbacks to the O.K. Corral storyline and lets face it all Westerns are basically the same except for the unique story and glimpses they give of the Wild West by gone days. Notice to that being quick on the draw was no myth and stop and think how many months or years in practice it must take to reach the lethal draw stage. Of course the exception to this was Wild Bill Hickok who they claim wielded pistols so well they became part of his hands and his hands operated at lightning speed. He was a natural. Enjoy some familiar faces and also note that the gambling reached into the tens of thousands of dollars. Back then, you could buy a nice spread and retire even with hired help and minimum effort and still have left over. These boys were betting it like it wasn't. One wonders what is the point to keep playing, get drunk, carry a gun, watch back etc after you have won that much? Lets ride

Any student of real western history will recognise the characters and part of the plot as being related to the Doc Holliday / Wyatt Earp /Clanton feud in Tombstone. Rory Calhoun is pretty obviously Doc while James Millican is Wyatt. The shootout in the stockyards is based on the OK corral and the screenwriters offer an interesting story on what happened next. Alex Nicol as Jimmy Rapp (John Ringo) is nicely portrayed and the movie moves along with a good pace of action, motivation and characterisation. Certainly a classic, considering the studio system in operation at the time it was made.A lot of effort and thought obviously went into its production. Well worth seeing.