Dawn at Socorro

Dawn at Socorro is directed by George Sherman and written by George Zuckerman. It stars Rory Calhoun, Piper Laurie, David Brian, Kathleen Hughes, Alex Nicol and Edgar Buchanan. Music is by Joseph Gershenson and cinematography by Carl Guthrie.

One Night In Socorro.

A cracker-jack Western this. Plot essentially has Calhoun as Brett Wade, a tough gunfighter who is suffering badly from ill health. Taking advice from his doctor he decides to retire to healthier pastures, but his past and new enemies refuse to let him go. OK! So it's very much a composite of a number of famous Westerns, but to dismiss this as a cheap knock off would be foolish. The script is very literate and the screenplay never gets tired or preposterous. From an action stand point it scores favourably, right from the opening in Lordsburgh where we get a stockyard shoot-out, pic is never dull.

I wont arrest you for being naked.

There's good black humour in here as well, and some outstanding scenes such as Brett playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata at his own funeral (you will understand when you see it) and a poker game where the stake is the fetching Piper Laurie! There's a constant running feud between Wade and Jimmy Rapp (Nicol), a well written part of the film as it brings in codes and ethics that play opposite another character.

The tech credits are bang on the money. Location photography out of Apple Valley and Victorville is gorgeous, as is Guthrie's colour lensing for the interiors. Props and set design is hugely appealing, including a super locomotive for the train enthusiasts to gorge on. While the front line cast members (Lee Van Cleef & Skip Homeier have small roles) turn in very good work, with Calhoun once again showing his qualities in the genre.

My past - every dark miserable day of it!

But it's with the characterisations where the film strikes the finest. Laurie's Rannah Hayes has been cast out the family home for apparently being a hussy, she's constantly carrying that baggage with her. She finds a soul mate in Wade, a man dragged down by his life, and the weight of such could be his downfall - and he knows it. Buchanan is wonderfully ebullient as the lawman trying to get Wade out of town ASAP, Nicol is hopped up on booze and a thirst for vengeance, whilst David Brian is entrepreneur Dick Braden, a devious man with no code or honour.

Highly recommended to Western fans. 8/10

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.

Despite the director's odd decision to over-use close-ups (maybe he anticipated a quick sale to TV), Dawn at Socorro turns out to be one of the more interesting westerns of 1954. In the U.K., the movie was even released as an "A" feature. Perhaps Universal's exchanges in other countries thought that the cast offered no box office lure. While it's true that Kathleen Hughes is confined to a disappointingly small role, the equally lovely Mara Corday is given a decent innings for once; the Alex Nichol character is intriguingly conceived and played; and I loved David Brian's lecherous saloon proprietor, even if he does rather let hate go to his head. Lee Van Cleef is also on hand, plus Skip Homeier, James Millican and Edgar Buchanan. Perhaps even more importantly, the movie offers scads of action with splendid stuntwork. And it's not only expansively produced in attractive color with arresting real locations backgrounds, but it features dialogue that is much blunter than we expect from the censor-ridden mid-1950s. So, despite the Kathleen Hughes disappointment, Dawn at Socorro is most definitely a film to add to the must-see list!

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.