Dawn on the Great Divide (1942)

Director:

Howard Bretherton

Writers:

Adele S. Buffington (screenplay)
James Oliver Curwood (story)

Release Date:

18 December 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

UNKNOWN DANGERS HELD NO TERROR...for the covered wagon scouts..the Commandos of fierce frontier days!

Plot:

Buck Roberts is leading a wagon train of railroad supplies and Jim Corkle and his henchman Loder are...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Singer | Rough Riders Series

Cast

Buck Jones	...	Buck Roberts
Mona Barrie	...	Sadie Rand
Raymond Hatton	...	Sandy Hopkins
Robert Lowery	...	Terry Wallace
Rex Bell	...	Jack Carson
Maude Eburne	...	Sarah Harkins
Christine McIntyre	...	Mary Harkins, Sarah's Daughter
Betty Blythe	...	Mrs. Elmira Corkle
Robert Frazer	...	Judge John Corkle
Harry Woods	...	Jim Corkle the Judge's Brother
Tristram Coffin	...	Matt Rand (as Tris Coffin)
Lee Shumway	...	Joe Wallace, Rail Road Official
Roy Barcroft	...	Chuck Loder
Steve Clark	...	Alex Kirby, Carson's Messinger
Warren Jackson	...	Fred Cooke, Bartender

Runtime:

63 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Cedar Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Company:

Monogram Pictures

Trivia:

The last film of cowboy star Buck Jones.

Soundtrack:

Rock of Ages

Renegades and Railroad Supplies

Seeing how well Republic had done with The Three Mesquiteer cowboy trio concept and that it had also worked for Paramount with Hopalong Cassidy, Monogram decided to form its own trio for low budget westerns, the Rough Riders. Not that there were any high budget films done at that studio.

The Rough Riders were originally Buck Jones, Raymond Hatton and Tim McCoy, all of whom started out on the silent screen. McCoy bowed out and Rex Bell took his place as a Rough Rider.

Sadly this B western for Monogram would prove to be the end of the trail for Buck Jones as he was tragically killed in the famous Cocoanut Grove Nightclub fire in Boston. Not much of an epitaph from the film industry for a great western star.

Town boss Harry Woods and chief henchman Roy Barcroft don't want the railroad coming in because too many settlers might just mean the end of having things their way. Barcroft has a nice little sideline as a white man who runs an outlaw band that attacks and massacres wagon trains to keep the settlement population down.

Of course with Jones and Hatton on the outside and Bell working on the inside things are soon put to rights. Jones even has time for a fling with Mona Barrie, a poker Alice type gambling lady.

Dawn of the Great Divide got butchered badly in the editing department, there's a lot more footage out there I'm sure. But we'll never see it, I doubt they'll be demand for a director's cut of a Monogram feature.