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Dawn Rider [VHS]

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I used to watch these old John Wayne movies (1930s) on Saturday mornings on tv when I was a kid. I picked up 7 of them on VHS when I saw them in the store. If you're a fan of these early westerns then "The Dawn Rider" will definitely satisfy you. It's great to watch an early John Wayne beginning to define himself as the king of the westerns. Some pretty good stunts too. Enjoy!!

"The Dawn Rider" is the penultimate B Western in the series of sixteen that a young John Wayne starred in for Lone Star/Monogram studio between 1933 and 1935. Wayne plays John Mason who comes home in time to see his father (Joe DeGrasse) gunned down by bad guys. Mason gives chase and manages to gun down three of them before being wounded himself. Mason ends up being cared for by Alice Gordon (Marion Burns), who, in the small world that these B Westerns represents, turns out to be the the girl friend of the local bad guy, Ben (Reed Howes), but also the sister of the man who shot Mason's father, Rudd Gordon (Dennis Moore, aka Denny Meadows). This is going to make a happy ending difficult and director Robert N. Bradbury does not really try, which is interesting in itself given this series.

Legendary stuntman Yakima Canutt is back after an absence of a couple of films, although he does not get too do any thing particularly special this time around in terms of the stunts. Canutt plays the saloon keeper when he is not doubling for Wayne or another actor in the action sequences. George "Gabby" Hayes is still absent and the comic relief comes from Nelson McDowell as Batest the undertaker, who complains the town is too healthy and if something does not happen soon he is going to have to vamoose. Of course Mason and Gordon's gang take care of that.

All of these Lone Star Westerns are in poor shape. The sound is always scratchy and the picture blurred at times. But then these oaters were made for $10,000 in five days, so we are talking the production values of a poverty row studio. But for fans of the Duke it is interesting to back and see what he was like when he was learning his craft. Just think of these little movies, all of which run under an hour, as representing John Wayne in grade school, and do not expect the title to have anything to really do with the character or plot.

Dawn Rider (1935) is one of my favorite early John Wayne westerns. While it does fit the mold of all the Lone Star Productions vehicles featuring The Duke amidst a cast of regulars such as Yakima Canutt, it rises a cut above the rest through its rather involved plot, a less than completely happy ending, and some great scenes such as the final showdown in which The Duke saunters down the street in impressive "this town ain't big enough for the both of us" fashion. Wayne plays John Mason, who arrives home just in time to see his father murdered during a robbery - but not before he gets acquainted with local tough guy Ben (Reed Howes). Both men go at it pretty good only to become best of friends by the time the fight is over. When his dad is killed, Mason goes after the gang of thugs, taking out a few of them but sustaining two gunshot wounds of his own. Ben's sweetie nurses him back to health, but as luck would have it, her own brother is the man Mason is looking for. As if this isn't complicated enough, Ben starts to believe that Mason is after his girl, placing an unsuspecting Mason up to his neck in trouble later on. Most of these early westerns have a happy ending all the way around, but Dawn Rider does not, and this fact really makes this film stand out in my mind. Packed with action, great performances, and some magnificently staged gunfights, Dawn Rider is a movie every fan of old westerns can enjoy - especially if you also happen to be a big John Wayne fan.

Between 1926 and 1935, when this film was made, John Wayne appeared in more than 50 films. His silent films were mostly with Fox and he worked on many films with John Ford directing (e.g., "Four Sons" and "Hangman's Horse" with Victor McClaglen in 1928), almost always as an extra. He moved to Columbia in 1931 and started getting better parts, then to Warners and finally to Lone Star in 1933 where he emerged as a singing cowboy ("Riders of Destiny") and was teamed with the great Gabby Hayes.

"The Dawn Rider" was his 15th film with Lone Star, and he would make only one more with them before they merged with Republic. Monogram churned out films by the month, usually in the summer, with little attention to detail or character development. Wayne said - "For any actor trying to get on in the business, working at Monogram was not a good career move. Most of the contract players there may have had regular work, but they generally didn't move up from there into the major studios - they went down and that's the direction I thought I was headed."

Then in 1939 he made "Stagecoach" with John Ford, and his career started to look up. Stagecoach earned 5 Oscars including Best Picture. Wayne followed up with "Dark Command" (1940) directed by Rail Walsh, and then a series of war movies (e.g., "Flying Tigers" in 1942, "The Fighting Seabees" in 1944, "Back to Bataan" and "They Were Expendable" in 1945) and his classic westerns including "3 Godfathers" (1948), "Fort Apache" (1948), "Red River" (1948), "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" (1949, "Rio Bravo" (1959), and "The Alamo" (1960) . Wayne was nominated for Best Actor for "Sands of Iwo Jima" (1949) and he would finally earn an Oscar for "True Grit" (1969).

The film co-stars Marion Burns, who worked with Wayne again in "Paradise Canyon", and Yakima Canutt, with whom he started working in 1933. For Burns, this was the highlight of her career. She made a few more films, then did a little work in TV, and then retired completely.

Yakima Canutt is a legendary stunt man. We was a world champion Rodeo rider and as a result of his friendship with Douglas Fairbanks, started appearing in films in 1915. He made nearly 50 silent films, and met Wayne in 1932. They made dozens of films together, and Canutt became Republic's top stunt man, appearing in Lone Ranger and Zorro series in addition to the westerns. In the 40s he made the transition to directing.

This is a fairly standard B western that Monogram, Lone Star and Republic churned out every few weeks. In addition to John Wayne, their stable included Gabby Hayes, Bob Steele, Tim McCoy, and Johnny Mack Brown. Robert Bradbury was the writer and director for many of these films. These were known as the "poverty row" productions, made for about $10,000 each, and filmed at the famous Placerita Canyon Ranch in Newhall, California.

Robert Bradbury (1886-1949) was the father of another 30s western star, Bob Steele (1907-1988), who was a good friend of Wayne from his USC years (Wayne and Steel appeared in 6 films together between 1953 and 1970). Bradbury's other son, Bob's twin, dubbed the songs Wayne sung in the Monogram films (and he used the money he made to pay for medical school). Bradbury made more than 100 films between and 1918 and 1941

FWIW - Bradbury's 1926 silent film "Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo" was Wayne's inspiration for his own 1960 Alamo film which he directed and in which he starred.

There's very little to recommend the film. It is one of the better B westerns produced at the time and there is ample time to see how athletic the young Wayne was (he was 28 when the film was made). It's also one of the better roles for Canutt as the evil saloon keeper.

The Dawn Rider, 1935 film

The story begins in a town where people are "too healthy" for the undertaker. Then they hear a shot from the saloon. Two men fool with their pistols, one is told to get out of town. Next there is a fight in the street. "Who is that guy?" They will have a drink afterwards. John Mason introduces himself to Dan. He meets Alice. Some men act suspiciously, they rob the freight office and shoot John's father. John shoots two of the men and chases the gang, but is outnumbered. John is shot off his horse, but survives and is helped back to town. The gang plans to kill John. Alice helps care for John. Her brother Rudd is part of the gang! John recovers and talks about new boots. Dan tells about the ring stolen from him. John has a plan to send a box filled with rocks to attract an attack. Two men hide in the wagon but are found by John; they trade places.

The robbers shoot at the wrong men. The horses run away with the wagon, which goes off the road. Men ride on their horses. Rudd's horse is lathered from hard riding. John trailed him back to his ranch. Rudd tells John to get out of town by 4pm. "You've got me licked." Alice pleads with John to not fight with Rudd, her brother. Can Dan stop them? John knows that Rudd killed his father. Dan secretly unloads John's pistol, then later rides after him. People get off the street when John arrives in town. Dan shoots a bushwhacker to save John but is shot in turn. John gets this man, the gang leader. "I'm sorry John." "Tell Alice I won't be home for dinner." John and Alice hitch up their buggy for a ride into the future. The Doctor and Undertaker laugh at the end.

This is an average story about a crooked saloon owner who controls a gang of robbers and murderers. [No mention of the town marshal or county sheriff.] What about the townsmen who enforced the laws against murderers and robbers? There is a romantic interest to create complications. Was there enough commerce in this small town to support a gang of robbers? What would the people do then in the Real West?

While The DUKE is as DUKE-ish as ever, unfortunately this film is one of the fogettable westerns he was relegated to making between the 1930 epic "The Big Trail" and the 1939 groundbreaker, "Stagecoach".

Predictable and not very unique or stylish, "The Dawn Rider" tells the tale of a young man trying to avenge his father's death. The man responsible is the brother of The DUKE's new best friend's sweetheart, who secretly pines for The DUKE.

Naturally, DUKE can't get the girl because his best pal wants her, and he can't take revenge on the bad brother without hurting the girl.

The story sounds more interesting that it really is. Nothing in the story is fully or clearly developed, and ham is the order of the day for the supporting players.

On the plus side, DUKE regular Yakima Canutt is also on hand,
and the DUKE himself is as rugged, honest, and charming as ever in this 1935 effort.

In great (though critically poor) scene, DUKE is and his soon-to-be pal are fighting things out. They throw away their guns to settle things "the old fashioned way." When DUKE knocks down his opponent, the man lands near a discarded gun. He refuses to pick it up, prefering to fight fair instead. The DUKE shows obvious liking for the fair play, and the two become friends.

Some great corny western banter preceeds the fight, with DUKE telling the man "Looks like you're the joker in this deck!"

While not a memorable western, this DVD shows a young DUKE in action. The disc is inexpensive, so if nothing else, DUKE fans can enjoy 55 minutes of young DUKE for a low price.

If you like old John Wayne movies, with family plot, and morals it is OK.