Alba di fuoco

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.

*Dawn* is one of those 1950's westerns that were a variation on the Earp/Holliday story (e.g. *Warlock*). It works fairly well here. Grell Wade (Rory Calhoun) is a former Southern gentleman turned consumptive gunman and gambler who heads for the healthier climate of Colorado after standing with lawman brothers in their showdown against a family of cowboy outlaws. But of course in westerns no gunslinger is allowed to quit without at least one more fight, and that's the making of the story line here. Along the way, Wade meets his "fallen woman" with the heart of gold (Piper Laurie), a shady businessman and saloon owner (David Brian) and vengeful cowboys (Lee Van Cleef, Alex Nichol). Good supporting roles for Roy Roberts, Edgar Buchanan, James Millican, and others make this an entirely enjoyable little horse opera. A bit slow at times, but definitely a must-see for western fans and those who like their Rory Calhoun straight-up.

Rory Calhoun is a world weary and consumptive gunfighter who just would like to hang up his six shooter, but a whole passel of enemies he's made over the years just won't let him quit. A little bit of Gunfight at the OK Corral and The Gunfighter tossed together.

After a shootout in one town he arrives by stage to Socorro where Sheriff Edgar Buchanan wants to get him out of town before any more blood is spilled on his turf. But Calhoun lingers and lingers, impressed by the beauty of Piper Laurie who he's ridden to town with on the stage.

It's a good B western, directed by a veteran of that genre, George Sherman. Sherman keeps the action going at a good clip and the cast knows their way around a western set.

Dawn at Socorro was probably a B feature that didn't bore too many people who went to see the A picture from Universal it was playing with.

Not bad little movie, shows up on TCM every so often. And darned if Rory Calhoun doesn't look exactly like GEORGE CLOONEY at times, or is it vice versa? Anyway, interesting turn on the gunfighter trying to go straight story with an appealing Piper Laurie and mean gambling hall owner David Brian. They play cards and throw dice for the girl, with fortunes going back and forth. Edgar Buchanan plays a nervous sheriff and not the usual dimwit he's known for and Alex Nicol chews the furniture as the edgy slinger waiting to gun down Calhoun. But then comes the typical Hollywood ending where none of the characters show even a lick of common sense. Sorry to see that ending, this isn't a half bad film until the last five minutes, and then it's Universal Studios back lot fireworks. Too bad.

A colorful western that is well-acted, unusually atmospheric and filled with intelligent dialogue and dramatic scenes is a rarity. The term "western" simply refers to a North American-based adventure or dramatic film wherein the central character acts in places where trains and modern technology are not the available norm. Those who would like to limit the term are obviously therefore wrong or worse. "Dawn at Socorro", with a literate script by George Zuckerman proves this point beautifully, I suggest. The stars of the film are attractive Rory Calhoun, lovely young Piper Laurie, powerful David Brian, charismatic tough guy Alex Nicol, graceful Lee Van Cleef, Edgar Buchanan as a harried sheriff and a raft of fine supporting actors including George Homeier, Ron Roberts, Paul Brinegar, Mara Corday and others. The unbilled star of the film is the state of New Mexico colors and the art director's, set designer's and costumer's achievements. This film feels like the real West where I have lived for many years, a countryside that is rough; it is being slowly civilized and lived in by men, but is still untamed as much as any zone in this country that I know. From the unforgettable opening narration in Lordsburg read by Roberts that sets up a fabled gunfight at the stockyards in Lordsburg through a memorable stagecoach ride, a long dramatic night at Brian's Bis Casino in Socorro to the climactic shootout and resolution, there is only only jarring element I suggest. This comes into the script because gambler Brett Wade, decently underplayed by Calhoun, probably the model for "Maverick", loved every minute of his notorious hell-raising past, yet now is forced to repudiate that vanishing time of which he says, "There'll never be another like it". When asked who is coming after him at the end, he says, "My past--every dark miserable day of it." But he triumphs in the end, as a cultured gentleman from South Carolina who plays classical piano ought to do; and despite his doubts and regrets for lost years, he manages to go on with hope. And what one remembers most of this terrific idea-level movie is the strongly-etched characters, the logic of their actions and motivations and the physical beauty of what is actually a "B" film production from Universal but looks more expensive at every moment. This is a movie that I claim is like a can't-put-it-down thriller, but with important ideas being expressed. Unusual, and powerful. George Sherman's fluid direction can be given much of the credit. This western is not to be missed.