Rage at Dawn

"Rage of Dawn" is one of a series of excellent westerns made by Randolph Scott in the 1950s. This one has Scott posing as a train robber in order to infiltrate the Reno Brothers gang in 1866.

The brothers Frank (Forrest Tucker), Sim (J. Carroll Naish) and John (Myron Healey) among others are ambushed during a holdup attempt in which their youngest brother is killed. They suspect an informer. It turns out to be Peterson Detective Agency man Murphy (Arthur Space) who is quickly eliminated. Back at the Peterson office, Mr. Peterson (William Forrest) assigns Monk Paxton (Kenneth Tobey) to the case along with ex-southern spy James Barlow (Scott). They stage a phony train robbery in order to gain the gang's confidence. They then take refuge at Barlow's "uncle's" (Ralph Moody) ranch and await contact from the gang.

Meanwhile, Barlow has become acquainted with the Reno's sister Laura (Mala Powers) and sparks fly. Good Reno brother Clint (Denver Pyle) pleads with Barlow to take his sister "away from all of this". Barlow gets in with the gang and learns that the local Judge (Edgar Buchanan), prosecutor (Howard Petrie) and sheriff (Ray Teal) are involved with the gang.

Barlow sets them up in a train robbery and the Reno Brothers are arrested. Concerned citizens Fisher (Trevor Bardette) and Dedrick (James Lydon) form a lynch mob and go to the jail, overpower the local sheriff (George Wallace) and.......

This has got to be one of the greatest casts of veteran western performers ever to appear in one film. Western lovers will know what I'm talking about. In addition to those mentioned above you'll spot Mike Ragan (aka Holly Bane), Dennis Moore, Chubby Johnson and William Phipps in other roles.

One of Scott's better westerns of the period.

Any movie that has J. Carroll Naish as a cowboy can't be all bad (he's good) and pros like Kenneth Tobey and Edgar Buchanon have a certain "authenticity" that benefits a western. Forrest Tucker could be a good guy or a bad guy as the occasion demanded. Here, he's in his nasty, bad guy mode, pumping lead at people and even burning an informer alive. Tucker heads a gang of notorious robbers, including three of his brothers, that owns the corrupt lawmen of one Indiana county. In order to undo them, Randolph Scott, a resourceful spy, must be infiltrated into the gang. To complicate matters, Tucker and Naish's sister, who disapproves of their illegal ways, falls in love with Scott but is disillusioned when he appears to be an outlaw like them. Almost everything (there is a slight surprise at the end) works out as one would expect. Scott's presence carried many a mediocre western and, with interesting actors supporting him, it happens here but don't expect anything more than variations on a familiar theme.

It is more than twenty minutes into the movie before its star Randolph Scott makes his appearance and his lean craggy presence gives a decided lift to proceedings .He plays an undercover agent sent to pose as a train robber and infiltrate the Reno brothers gang who -aided by corrupt local officials -are wreaking havoc in Indiana .He then persuades the gang to embark on a train robbery with a view to entrapping them . The script is by the cult pulp crime novelist Horace McCoy and is based on a story by another feted pulpster ,Frank Gruber, and it is slick and efficient with solid performance from a sturdy supporting cast which includes dependable performers like Forrest Tucker ,and J Carroll Naish as two of the Reno brothers Handsome photography and the brisk direction of Tim Whelan are distinct assets and the historically accurate finale ends proceedings on a gritty and powerful note as frontier justice takes over from the rule of law .

A good little movie which Western devotees will like

I am a great fan of westerns. Knowing the state of California quite well, I particularly like to identify locations used in films. As the primary California locations are the Alabama Hills in Inyo Co., Vasquez Rocks in LA Co., Red Rock Canyon in Kern Co. and various areas near Bishop, I was interested in the locale used here....just south of the present New Melones Reservoir in Calaveras Co. and the state park in Columbia... especially as they were supposed to be somewhere in southern Indiana. This movie had a very strong cast but a bit of a choppy plot. I would also add that neither the vegetation nor the rock outcroppings fit with Indiana, and for a western buff, will distract from an otherwise acceptable film.

Randolph Scott plays James Barlow, a Pinkerton agent who goes undercover as an outlaw to infiltrate the Reno brothers gang. A tried and true plot very familiar to anybody who's seen many of the cheap westerns of the '30s. What helps this some is the fine cast. Scott's solid as ever but doesn't show up until twenty minutes in. The brothers are played by J. Carrol Naish, Forrest Tucker, Myron Healey, and Denver Pyle as the law-abiding one. Edgar Buchanan, Ray Teal, and Kenneth Tobey also have supporting roles. Beautiful Mala Powers plays Scott's love interest.

The Reno brothers were real-life outlaws. Their story is loosely told here mixed with the formula plot about the undercover agent who falls in love with the outlaws' sister. It's all pretty standard stuff. The Reno brothers story would be told again the following year in Elvis Presley's film debut, Love Me Tender. That movie was even more historically inaccurate than this one.