Robert J. Maxwell Although this widescreen color production avoids few clichés of the 1950s Western, it's still diverting in its small way. The opening credits proclaim the film's historical accuracy. Actually, it's not that accurate -- not according to the entry on Wikipedia anyway -- but it sticks closely enough to real events. You can tell because an entirely fictional movie would have one climax, usually a shoot out. And there IS a shoot out here, after undercover agent Randolph Scott arranges for the gang to be ambushed during a trait robbery, but it's followed by still another climax, five minutes later, in which the surviving gang members are lynched.No doubt the Reno brothers were unkempt miscreants. They don't joke, laugh, or have fun. Their faces are sour masks. They murdered and thieved their way through life beginning in adolescence. But the movie gets a bonus point for giving them at least some allegiance to each other that goes beyond the merely functional. They're like the Clanton gang in John Ford's "My Darling Clementine". They're unquestionably bad but they're rather more than incarnate evil.And they lynching scene gives them some additional dignity. They take it the way Saddam Hussein took it. Scott tries to stop the lynching but fails. In actual fact, there were not three but ten gang members lynched, in three independent groups, at different times. There was a national uproar over the mob violence, as there should have been.I don't mean to suggest that any of this is handled particularly well by the director. Neat photography and nice location shooting -- nowhere near Indiana -- but director Tim Whelan just rolls everything along on its formulaic track. The shoot out, for instance, is confusingly staged and fecklessly done. The characters shoot without aiming -- sometimes without even LOOKING in the direction they're shooting. Laura Reno, a real figure, falls improbably in love with Scott after the exchange of a few pleasantries. But what originality there is, is in the script, which defines the characters in ways that sometimes, very gently, nudges our conscience. Longfellow was wrong but he had a point when he wrote, "If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility."I wish some thought had gone into the title. "Rage At Dawn." I mean, really, couldn't they do any better than that? It's one of those generic titles. One size fits all. "Guns of Darkness," "Another Dawn," "Trapped." They should have let me have a crack at it. I'd have given them something that would SELL. "Agape and Malevolence in the Western Eidos." God, they'd come from hundreds of miles around to see a 1950 movie with a title like that. And they'd crawl all the way if they had to -- through the snow.

MartinHafer This is yet another exceptional Randolph Scott western. Considering how many wonderful films he made in the 1950s, I certainly wasn't surprised that I liked this one.In a couple ways, however, this film is a bit unconventional. First, Scott doesn't even appear in the film until about 20 minutes into the film! Until then, it consisted of showing the exploits of an outlaw gang in Indiana--a very hilly and California-like version of Indiana (where n real life I'd heard the highest elevation is reportedly 9 inches above sea level). Second, the ending is just plain bizarre--not at all bad, but really caught me by surprise and won't be something the average person could predict. I mention this because although the main plot of the film isn't that unusual (I've seen many similar to it), the thing is handled so well and offers some nice twists that make it well worth seeing--in addition to Scott's usual seemingly effortless performance.Scott enters the film when he's recruited to infiltrate an evil gang that isn't exactly in the old west, but Southern Indiana (I lived just over the boarder--believe me, this is NOT a typical locale for a western). However, as you'd expect, there is a nice and semi-innocent girl who gets tossed into the mix--making Scott wonder if it's possible for him to do his job and the girl...I mean, get the girl.Overall, the film is well acted and directed as well as a lot of fun. Plus, it helps that the supporting actors (such as Forrest Tucker and J. Carroll Naish) are so good. Worth seeing--and a must-see if you love the genre.

zardoz-13 The notorious Reno outlaw gang ride into the town of North Vernon in Indiana in 1866 and try to rob the bank, but the good citizens have prepared a reception for them, and they manage to surprise and kill one of the gang. Forrest Tucker of "Sands of Iwo Jima" heads up the Reno gang as Frank. His brothers include Sim Reno (J. Carrol Naish of "Tiger Shark"), John Reno (Myron Healey of "Combat Squad"), and Bill Reno (Richard Garland of "The Lawless Breed"). Bill dies during the abortive bank robbery, shot dead on the plank walk outside the bank after the gang had climbed out of a high-walled wagon that they had hidden in during the ride into town.The authorities pursue the gang on horseback to the county line where they have to rein up because the Renos control the law in Jackson County in which they live. Indeed, the Jackson County authorities receive a percentage of the proceeds from each Reno gang robbery so they tolerate the brothers. Anyway, Frank Reno is furious about Bill's death because he suspected that something just wasn't right when they rode into town. Meanwhile, his sister Laura (Mala Powers of "The Storm Rider") isn't overjoyed about it either. She serves as their cook and allows them to live in the house that she inherited from her parents. Laura's relationship with her outlaw brothers ripples with tension. The Renos believe that a spy must have warned the citizens of North Vernon. Initially, Sim accuses their psalm-singing brother Clint (Denver Pyle of "The Dukes of Hazzard") of informing on them, but they discover that the real rat is Murphy (Arthur Space of "Target Earth"), a bartender in town who sends messages to the Chicago-based Peterson Detective Agency. Frank, Sim, and John beat Murphy up, tie his unconscious body to a stall in a horse stable, and torch the place. 'Cremated alive' proclaims the press when word of Murphy's death reaches the Windy City. After word reaches the Peterson Agency, they hire James Barlow (Randolph Scott of "Seven Men from Now") to lead the investigation. The Detective Agency boss tells one of his seasoned hands that he has recalled from Denver, Monk Claxton (Kenneth Tobey of "The Thing from Another World"), that he is to follow all of Barlow's orders "implicitly." According to the Peterson chief, Barlow is worth "an army of men." Western novelist and scriptwriter Frank Gruber of "Northern Pursuit" wrote the story for "Rage at Dawn" and crime novelist Horace McCoy penned the screenplay. This outdoors melodrama is another one of those movies where the hero stages a hold-up to infiltrate a gang, but Barlow plans to have the Reno brothers ask for him to join them than the other way around. Barlow is known to be "irresistible" to the ladies and he helps Laura when he meets her in the store and flashes his cash from the 'supposed' robbery. Meanwhile, Prosecuting Attorney Lattimore (Howard Petrie of "The Tin Star") and the sheriff (Ray Teal of TV's "Bonanza") visit the Reno place and question Frank about the robbery. Repeatedly, Frank assures them that the Renos did not rob the train, but Sim observes that he wished they had waylaid the train and taken the $30-thousand dollars. Frank spits in contempt at the prosecutor, and the sheriff and Lattimore leave as Laurie returns from his grocery shopping. During her shopping in town, she met James Barlow and he helped her carry her goods to her buggy. When two Reno gang henchmen tried to run the unarmed Barlow off, he roughed them up and disarmed them. Barlow is posing as a painter. Not surprisingly, when Lattimore and the sheriff return to town, they have a parley with another member of the local government, the judge (Edgar Buchanan of "Texas"), who is in on the graft and corruption, too. Lattimore is worried because their collusion with the Reno brothers is the worst kept secret in the county. Eventually, the corrupt officials get suspicious about James and Monk and drag them in for questioning. Barlow demands to see the judge and he works out a sweet deal with his honor. The corrupt officials send Barlow along with the Renos in their next hold-up and Barlow shoots the gun out of a clerk's hand during the robbery. The Renos are angry with Barlow because he forced them to flee too early, but Barlow defends his actions. Instead of letting the employees stand up during the robbery, Barlow argues that everybody should have been on the floor. Peterson and Barlow arrange for another robbery for $100-thousand dollars and Barlow informs the judge. Reluctantly, the Renos agree to ride with Barlow and Monk, but Sim threatens to kill Barlow once they've robbed the train.."Rage at Dawn" gets off to a nimble start. Director Tim Whelan introduces us to the nefarious Reno brothers in the opening 20 minutes. After Whelan and McCoy have established the Renos' villainy and the corruption of the Jackson County officials, Scott makes his entrance. Before Scott shows up, the Peterson Detective Agency president builds him up to Monk and his son as a titan. Previously Whelan had directed Randolph Scott in "Badman's Territory" (1946). Moreover, in 1950, Scott and Tucker co-starred in "The Nevadan." "The Nevadan" had a similar plot with Scott going undercover. Ostensibly, "Rage at Dawn" is just another disposable western shoot'em up. Nevertheless, Scott, Tucker, Naish, and a veteran cast are a pleasure to watch and Whelan paces the action agreeably enough in this solid, if uninspired oater. Most of the DVD versions of this public domain western are full-screen, but you can tell from the pictorial compositions that the screen ratio wasn't 1:33.1, but was probably either 1.66 or 1.78, because characters are cut-off in the frame. Ray Rennahan's color photography gives this oater an epic quality. Beware of the PMC Corporation DVD version; the lips are not synchronized properly with the dialogue.

ma-cortes Western about one of the most famous outlaws bandits of them all . The year 1866 , the location is southern Indiana , this is the true story about Reno brothers : Frank , Simeón , John , Bill , being exception the good Clint , a respected farmer (Denver Pyle) . It's a retelling of the wild adventures that made the Reno brothers clan legendary among outlaws passing into American folklore . They were the first train robbers in American history and killing and looting . This famous gang rode through the middle border states , setting the model for the future noted bandit bunches as : Doolin , James , Younger, Dalton.. Forrest Tucker and J.Carroll Naish are the leaders of the Southwestern outlaws gangs pursued by lawmen . Reno brothers join forces with town authorities , judge and sheriffs (Edgar Buchanan and Ray Teal) . Film starts with a fateful raid but they have been betrayed and execute a killing , burning to agent Peterson for revenge . Then , a special agent (Randolph Scott) along with a supporter (Kenneth Tobey) are assigned in order to get the bad guys , as they carry out a set-up , simulating the train robbery . Meanwhile , the protagonist falls in love with gang's sister (Mala Powers). The picture is based on facts that had a sad finale . As ten members of the Reno gang were lynched in three separate incidents in 1868 . The first three were taken by vigilantes from a train . Three others were lynched at a later time . They were technically in federal custody when they were lynched. This is believed to be the only time in U.S. history that a federal prisoner had ever been lynched by a mob before a trial. Good Western in which the Reno gang pull off raid banks , treasure offices , trains , and other robberies in post-civil war , Indiana . Stylish , fast paced , solid , meticulous and a violent look with numerous shootouts . Randolph Scott leaving time ago the secondary roles as when he was still playing supporting characters in top films as ¨Jesse James¨ (Henry King) , ¨Virginia city¨ (Michael Curtiz) and ¨The spoilers¨ (Ray Enright) . Scott also played a famed outlaw in ¨Doolins of Oklahoma¨ (Gordon Douglas) . The support cast makes equally notable performances . The film is shot in California State parks as it is shown on the colorful cinematography by the nice cameraman Ray Rennahan . Storyline by Horace McCoy and Frank Gruber , two usual and important Western screenwriters . The motion picture was splendidly directed by Tim Whelan (co-author ¨Thief of Bagdag¨) . The flick will appeal to Western lovers and Randolph Scott fans