Rage at Dawn (1955)

Director:

Tim Whelan

Writers:

Horace McCoy (screenplay)
Frank Gruber (story)

Release Date:

26 March 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

SHOWDOWN AT SUNUP! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

A special agent from Chicago is sent out west to bring in the notorious Reno brothers.

Plot Keywords:

Train Robbery | Burned Alive | Beautiful Woman | Lynching | Undercover

Cast

Randolph Scott	...	James Barlow
Forrest Tucker	...	Frank Reno
Mala Powers	...	Laura Reno
J. Carrol Naish	...	Simeon 'Sim' Reno
Edgar Buchanan	...	Judge
Myron Healey	...	John Reno
Howard Petrie	...	Lattimore, Prosecuting Attorney
Ray Teal	...	Sheriff of Seymour
William Forrest	...	William Peterson
Denver Pyle	...	Clint Reno
Trevor Bardette	...	Fisher
Kenneth Tobey	...	Monk Claxton

Also Known As:

Seven Bad Men

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (nf) | UK:U (passed with cuts) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Columbia State Historic Park - 22708 Broadway, Columbia, California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Set in Indiana in 1866, the opening sequences reveal telephone poles and telephone lines in the background. Also, the U.S. and California State flag are shown on a flagpole in the background. (The film was shot in California)

Quotes:

Clint Reno: So it finally happened. A Reno brother got killed.
Sim Reno: Clint, we don't want no preaching.
Frank Reno: Take it easy, Sim.
Clint Reno: The baby of the family dying in the streets and his brave brothers running away. Not even animals would do a thing like that!
John Reno: Dead in the streets... not dying.
Clint Reno: As if that made a difference!

Better than average Western

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