ActionWestern

Rage at Dawn

- SHOWDOWN AT SUNUP!

In this film's version of the story, four of the Reno Brothers are corrupt robbers and killers while a fifth, Clint is a respected Indiana farmer. A sister, Laura, who has inherited the family home, serves the outlaw brothers as a housekeeper and cook. One brother is killed when they go after a bank, the men of the town appear to have been waiting for them…

Release Date : 1955-03-26

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Nat Holt Productions

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : James Barlow

Original Name : Randolph Scott

Gender : Male

Character Name : Frank Reno

Original Name : Forrest Tucker

Gender : Male

Character Name : Laura Reno

Original Name : Mala Powers

Gender : Female

Character Name : Simeon 'Sim' Reno

Original Name : J. Carrol Naish

Gender : Male

Character Name : Judge

Original Name : Edgar Buchanan

Gender : Male

Character Name : John Reno

Original Name : Myron Healey

Gender : Male

Character Name : Clint Reno

Original Name : Denver Pyle

Gender : Male

Character Name : Monk Claxton

Original Name : Kenneth Tobey

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lattimore

Original Name : Howard Petrie

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sheriff of Seymour

Original Name : Ray Teal

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bill Reno

Original Name : Richard Garland

Gender : Male

Character Name : Noah Euall

Original Name : Ralph Moody

Gender : Male

Character Name : Wiilliam Peterson

Original Name : William Forrest

Gender : Male

Character Name : William Peterson Jr.

Original Name : William Phipps

Gender : Male

Character Name : Murphy

Original Name : Arthur Space

Gender : Male

Character Name : Fisher

Original Name : Trevor Bardette

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hieronymus

Original Name : Chubby Johnson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dedrick

Original Name : Jimmy Lydon

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dobe

Original Name : Henry Wills

Gender : Male

Reviews

John Chard

@John Chard

2024-05-16

Would it have made a difference knowing what I really am? This is the true story of the Reno brothers....Clint, a respected farmer, and Frank, Simeon, John, and Bill...who were the first train robbers in American history. Looting, burning and killing, this infamous clan rode through the middle border states setting the pattern for the great outlaw bands which were to follow: the James boys, the Daltons and the Youngers. The Year 1866, the place is Southern Indiana. Well not quite Indiana exactly as the film was shot on location at Columbia State Historic Park, and apparently some Western purists see this as a blip on the movies Western worth! (hmm) I don't conspire to that at all since what I want from a B Western such as this is a lush Western feel, with identifiable good and bad guys. I feel that director Tim Whelan achieves the latter and his cinematographer Ray Rennahan achieves the former. Rage At Dawn does have a sense of seen it all before about it, but that's not in detriment to it because it's possibly a picture that has been copied more than it has copied from others before it. It's nice to have a real solid Western using a proper and reliable story to work from. While using top professional actors like Forrest Tucker and J. Carrol Naish to be bad fellas obviously helps the piece; as does having the genre legend that is Randolph Scott as your ebullient good guy. Scott fans who haven't seen the picture should be advised, tho, that he isn't actually in the film for the first third. But as always he's worth the wait and it's clever of Whelan to keep us waiting whilst fully forming the Reno legend. With some nicely staged set pieces (the train scenes are well worth our time) and a fabulously dark turn of events in the finale that goes against the grain (shadow play supreme at work), this becomes a genre film well worth taking a peek at. 7/10 Footnote: DVD/Public Domain prints of the film are low on quality and do not do justice to the location and costuming. The best print I have seen of this film was on Commercial British TV. Caution is advised on where you source the film from.