Customer Reviews

Rage at Dawn

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Another offering from the Roan Group.

"Rage at Dawn" is an interesting, but not particularly classic western. What makes it stand apart from most is the introduction of espionage.

Sturdy as ever, Scott is a "Peterson" man, an obvious allusion to the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency. He must infiltrate a gang of murderous outlaw brothers, and trick them into causing their own downfall. Their beautiful sister, a non-crook, and Scott naturally hit it off.

Familiar faces? How about a clean-shaven Denver Pyle? Pyle, best known to TV viewers of the 1970's as the white-bearded Mad Jack on "Grizzly Adams", or Uncle Jessie Duke on "The Dukes of Hazzard", Pyle was a supporting player in many westerns. Here, he plays the good brother who won't join in with his brothers' crookery.

Then there's Edgar Buchanan, famous as old Uncle Joe from "Petticoat Junction". In this film, he plays a crooked judge, on the bad brothers' payroll.

Of course, Forrest Tucker is the head bad guy, and J. Carrol Naish is along as another bad brother.

A good, sturdy western, with Scott playing his usual smiling tough guy (kind of a non-emoting Gary Cooper). Always fun to see Scott playing it cool in the face of the bad guys.

Rage at Dawn is a good 1955 Western starring Randolph Scott as an undercover government agent who infiltrates the notorious Reno brothers gang. Scott (who was usually pretty good, but rarely great) gives one of his better performances in Rage, as all of his charm and personality comes shining through. Like many stars of that era who (to some degree) played variations on the same character for much of their careers (John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn, to name a few) Randolph Scott found his niche in Westerns and it fit him like a glove.

While Rage at Dawn isn't an award winning movie, it is very entertaining, and a good example of 1950's moviemaking. The supporting cast is solid, and features a spirited performance from the late Denver Pyle. If Westerns are your cup of tea you could do a lot worse than to pick up Rage at Dawn.

Roan's DVD is actually pretty good. Sure, there is the common film reel "wobble" at the beginning, and there is plenty of dust and debris on this print, but the colors are still pretty good, and it is shown in anamorphic widescreen (unlike all the other versions of this movie on DVD). The picture is a little soft, but still not too bad considering its age. The sound is a bit muffled, but still listenable (I've heard a lot worse). While this may not be a shining example of an anamorphic widescreen DVD it is more than passable for a public domain movie from the 1950's. This would seem to be the best version of Rage at Dawn currently available.

Rage At Dawn": From 1955, this one is in technicolor and is based on the Reno Brothers. Robbing banks, terrorizing the good townspeople, and just being a general menace to society, these guys needed to be stopped! Enter one brave lawman James Barlow( Randolph Scott), who infiltrates the outfit and tries to restore law and order to the community. It's not easy though, as the town leaders are getting kick backs from the bad guys are are not willing partcipants to seeing justice done! More wonderful stars include Forrest Tucker and an appearance by Edgar Buchanan. Directed by Tim Whelan.

This film may also be purchased as part of a couple of Randy Scott sets:
Rage At Dawn / Abilene Townor for even more Scott Great American Western V.1, Thewith 4 films that include this one plus "To The Last Man"/1933,"The Fighting Westerner"/1935, and "Abilene Town"/1946. They all star Randolph Scott, and include lots of famous faces from the era. There are many Great American Western series available for those who love these old oaters and is a much more inexpensive way to go. These films are not pristeen,but for the most part are an enjoyable view and most have had the sound enhanced in DD5.1. For the price of them, I thought Platinum, did a great job of putting together so many of these packages for us Western lovers to choose from.

Happy Trails...and enjoy...Laurie

This is what appears to be. The master negative is lost, and is probably the main reason this went public domain. All the prints I have seen except the Roan are from the same print source. Soft focus, poor color, and full screen. It is probably not pan and scan but the print minus the masking used to make it 1:85. At least Roan put it to 1:85 and found a sharper and somewhat better color print, but with more sprocket wear. I compared both sources at about 20 places. The Roan version wins! This is the one to get. I doubt you will find any better. The source prints are the culprits, not the DVD Company. If you are a Randolph Scott fan (as I am) it is a good enough western. If not, this public domain print might not be your cup of tea.

I had a special, selfish reason for enjoying this vintage western: The action all takes place within 25-50 miles of my hometown of Madison, IN. When I began watching the movie I thought it was just another western -- until I heard the names "North Vernon" and "Seymour" mentioned. What a shock!
This was one of Randolph Scott's last few movies -- he was 57 by this time, rather long in the tooth to be playing Mala Powers' love interest. But he managed. After all, when you're tall, have kept yourself in pretty good shape, and still have all your hair, with a distinguished gray cast, you can get away with that.
The film moves along briskly -- slightly under 90 minutes in length -- and is based pretty closely on the true story of the Reno brothers, Hoosiers who pulled what is considered the first peacetime train robbery in world history on Oct. 6, 1866, near their hometown of Seymour. The train caper was just one of many done by the four brothers and their gang. They really did rob several county treasurer's offices -- some as far away as Iowa -- as depicted in the movie. And several of them really did meet the grisly end shown here, at the hands of an organized band of vigilantes who decided that Seymour and Jackson County in southern Indiana had seen enough of the Reno boys and that the law would do nothing about their career of crime.
A special added fillip to this movie is that one of the stars, Forrest Tucker, was a native Hoosier in real life.
The Reno brothers weren't Hoosiers to be proud of, and their "first" wasn't one to be bragged about by their descendants. But I'm just state-proud enough to say I'm glad they made this movie, and glad that it was so faithful to the true story of the Renos.

This review is for the Roan DVD. The movie is an okay western, nothing special, but it has some good moments, particularly those involving the corrupt officials of the town. The transfer, unfortunately, is bad. The color is uneven, the contrast is a mess, and the sharpness and clarity leave a lot to be desired. So I do NOT recommend the Roan version of this film.

Very poor copy - not sharp. Amazon.com should not offer such back copies. I try to trust Amazon.com to treat me right.

RKO Pictures presents "RAGE AT DAWN" (1955) (87 mins/Color) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- Starring Randolph Scott, Forrest Tucker, Mala Powers, J. Carrol Naish & Edgar Buchanan --- Directed by Tim Whelan and released in March 26, 1955, our story line and film, Terrorizing 1866 Indiana, the Reno brothers use the town of Seymour as a safe haven, paying off three crooked town officials. Sent in to clean up the gang is Peterson Detective Agency operative James Barlow, who poses as an outlaw to gain the confidence of the officials and the Renos ... Complicating matters are Barlow's feelings for the Reno sister, Laura, who reluctantly keeps house for the boys out of family loyalty, events heat up and rage surfaces as Barlow sets up the gang in a dawn train robbery --- from the book "Seven Bad Men" by author Frank Gruber --- Scott's presence carried many a mediocre western and, with interesting actors supporting him like Forrest Tucker, J. Carrol Naish, Denver Plye and Edgar Buchanan it's a winner --- The film is shot in California State parks as is reflected on the coloristic cinematography by the cameraman Ray Rennahan, with storyline by Horace McCoy and Frank Gruber, two wonderful screenwriters ... the film is splendidly directed by Tim Whelan --- this will satisfy western lovers and Randolph Scott fans alike.

Under Tim Whelan (Director), Nat Holt (Producer), Frank Gruber (Short Story Author), Horace McCoy (Screenwriter), Ray Rennahan (Cinematographer), Paul Sawtell (Musical Direction/Supervision / Composer (Music Score), Harry Marker (Editor), Walter E. Keller (Art Director) - - - - the cast includes Randolph Scott (James Barlow), Forrest Tucker (Frank Reno), Mala Powers (Laura Reno), J. Carrol Naish (Sim Reno), Denver Pyle (Clint Reno), Myron Healey (John Reno), Edgar Buchanan (Judge Hawkins), Ray Teal (Constable Brant), William Forrest (Amos Peterson), Trevor Bardette (Fisher), Kenneth Tobey (Monk Claxton), Chubby Johnson (Hyronemus), Richard Garland (Bill Reno), Howard Petrie (Lattimore) - - - - Randy Scott had a quiet gentleman nature about him which is not seen in the films of today ... Randy took his job and his responsibility to his audience very seriously ,,, would not settle for anything less than his best ... same was true in his personal life.

SPECIAL FEATURES BIOS:
1. Randolph Scott (aka: George Randolph Scott)
Date of birth: 23 January 1898 - Orange County, Virginia
Date of death: 2 March 1987 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California

Special footnote, George Randolph Scott better known as Randolph Scott, was an American film actor whose career spanned the sound era from the late 1920s to the early 1960s ... his popularity grew in the 1940s and 1950s, appearing in such films as "Gung Ho"! (1943) and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" (1938); but he was especially famous for his numerous Westerns including "Virginia City" (1940) with Errol Flynn and Humphrey Bogart, "Western Union" (1941) with Robert Young and "Ride the High Country" (1962) with Joel McCrea (a coin was flipped to see whether Scott or McCrea would receive top billing, and Scott won despite having a slightly smaller role) ... his long fistfight with John Wayne in "The Spoilers" (1942) was frequently cited by critics and the press as the most thrilling ever filmed; they were fighting over Marlene Dietrich ... another smash hit film together that same year called "Pittsburgh" (1942) once again with Dietrich, Scott and Wayne --- Daniel Webster defines "Legend", as being a notable person, or the stories told about that person exploits --- well by the time Randolph Scott made his best films he had long established himself as a legend in the film industry --- they say practice makes perfect, if that is true by 1958 at 60 years of age he was the master with these oaters from the 50s ... "The Cariboo Trail" (1950), "The Nevadan" (1950), "Colt .45" (1950), "Santa Fe" (1951), "Sugarfoot" (1951), "Fort Worth" (1951), "Man in the Saddle" (1951), "Carson City" (1952), "The Man Behind the Gun" (1952), "Hangman's Knot" (1952), "Thunder over the Plains" (1953), "The Stranger Wore a Gun" (1953), "Ten Wanted Men" (1954), "Riding Shotgun" (1954), "The Bounty Hunter" (1954), "Rage at Dawn" (1955), "Tall Man Riding" (1955), "A Lawless Street" (1955), "Seven Men from Now" (1956), "Seventh Cavalry" (1956), "Decision at Sundown: (1957), "Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend" (1957), "The Tall T" (1957), "Buchanan Rides Alone" (1958), "Ride Lonesome" (1959), "Westbound" (1959), "Comanche Station" (1960) --- Scott's age seemed to matter little, they only came to see another Randolph Scott film and always got their money's worth --- Scott's films were good and getting better becoming classics --- so if you wonder "What Ever Happened To Randolph Scott", just rent or purchase one of his films and you'll see he's never left us.

2. Forrest Tucker
Date of Birth: 12 February 1919 - Plainfield, Indiana
Date of Death: 25 October 1986 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California

3. Mala Powers
Date of Birth: 20 December 1931, San Francisco, California
Date of death: Still Living

4. J. Carrol Naish
Date of Birth: 21 January 1897 - New York, New York
Date of Death: 24 January 1973 - La Jolla, California

5. Myron Healey
Date of Birth: 8 June 1923 - Petaluma, California
Date of Death: 21 December 2005 - Burbank, California

6. Denver Pyle
Date of Birth: 11 May 1920 - Bethune, Colorado
Date of Death: 25 December 1997 - Burbank, California

7. Edgar Buchanan
Date of Birth: 20 March 1903, Humansville, Missouri
Date of Death: 4 April 1979, Palm Desert, California

8. Tim Whelan (Director)
Date of Birth: 2 November 1893 - Cannelton, Indiana
Date of Death: 12 August 1957 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on VHS, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 87 min on DVD ~ Roan Home Video ~ (10/26/99)

In 1866 Indiana the Reno brothers gang are ambushed during an attempted bank robbery in the town of North Vernon, Bill Reno is killed as the rest of the gang escape over the Jackson County border. On return to their gangster friendly hometown of Seymour, Southern Indiana where they are in cahoots with the local sheriff (Ray Teal) the Judge (Edgar Buchanan) and Prosecuting Attorney (Howard Petrie). The brothers set a trap to find out who betrayed them Sim Reno (J. Carrol Naish) pretends to be drunk in the local saloon letting out false information to the bartender Murphy (Arthur Space) They discover that he is a Peterson agent, they captured tied him up in a stable, Frank Reno (Forrest Tucker) then proceeds to set the barn alight the Peterson man with it!

At the head office of The Peterson National Detective Agency in Chicago agent Monk Claxton (Kenneth Tobey) and told of the death of the Peterson man at Seymour he is then told he is to work with a new man special agent Jim Barlow (Randolph Scott) Petersons arrange for Barlow to rob a train so as to allow to infiltrate the Reno gang while Claxton stays on the outside as the contact man. On arrival in Seymour, Barlow makes a play for Laura Reno (Mala Powers) Later he also meets Clint Reno (Denver Pyle) who is a law-abiding citizen. Later, with difficulty he works his way in with the rest of the Reno brothers. A bank hold-up is carried out to establish Barlow's credentials followed by a set up train robbery - A violent shoot-out at the robbery followed by Barlow, Laura and Clint trying to thwart a lynch mob in North Vernon as we head towards "rage at dawn" (which refers to the films conclusion).

This RKO 87 minute western was director Tim Wheelan's penultimate film taken from a fact-based Frank Gruber story with screenplay by Horace McCoy. It has an excellent supporting cast which is necessary as Scott doesn't even appear until the film is some twenty minutes or so old. Now in the public domain (out of copyright) RAGE AT DAWN has been around for a few years on DVD and it can be found just about anywhere in various guises (packaging) and in Box Western Sets. I now see that a widescreen format is also available. I can only comment on my copy, which shows the same picture on the DVD case as the one on the Amazon site, sadly the transfer is poor which may just be due to the source movie, whatever it spoils a pretty good Scott western. Hence only three stars!

This is a well done movie that is a true story of The Reno Brothers....outlaws. It is perfected by the star....Randolph Scott, as the under cover lawman, who brings the outlaws to justice.