Rage at Dawn

Rating:
Summary: Sturdy Randolph Scott Western...
Review: Another offering from the Roan Group.

"Rage at Dawn" is an interesting, but not particularly classic western. What makes it stand apart from most is the introduction of espionage.

Sturdy as ever, Scott is a "Peterson" man, an obvious allusion to the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency. He must infiltrate a gang of murderous outlaw brothers, and trick them into causing their own downfall. Their beautiful sister, a non-crook, and Scott naturally hit it off.

Familiar faces? How about a clean-shaven Denver Pyle? Pyle, best known to TV viewers of the 1970's as the white-bearded Mad Jack on "Grizzly Adams", or Uncle Jessie Duke on "The Dukes of Hazzard", Pyle was a supporting player in many westerns. Here, he plays the good brother who won't join in with his brothers' crookery.

Then there's Edgar Buchanan, famous as old Uncle Joe from "Petticoat Junction". In this film, he plays a crooked judge, on the bad brothers' payroll.

Of course, Forrest Tucker is the head bad guy, and J. Carrol Naish is along as another bad brother.

A good, sturdy western, with Scott playing his usual smiling tough guy (kind of a non-emoting Gary Cooper). Always fun to see Scott playing it cool in the face of the bad guys.

Rating:
Summary: Good Ole Oater...But....Not The Best Buy...
Review: Rage At Dawn": From 1955, this one is in technicolor and is based on the Reno Brothers. Robbing banks, terrorizing the good townspeople, and just being a general menace to society, these guys needed to be stopped! Enter one brave lawman James Barlow( Randolph Scott), who infiltrates the outfit and tries to restore law and order to the community. It's not easy though, as the town leaders are getting kick backs from the bad guys are are not willing partcipants to seeing justice done! More wonderful stars include Forrest Tucker and an appearance by Edgar Buchanan. Directed by Tim Whelan.

This film may also be purchased in a set of 4 other "oaters" by Platinum disc. The set is called "Great American Western Vol 1".
The other films included are "To The Last Man"/1933,"The Fighting Westerner"/1935, and "Abilene Town"/1946. They all star Randolph Scott, and include lots of famous faces from the era. There are many of these sets available with up to 40 films, and for those who love these old oaters is a much more inexpensive way to go. These films are not pristeen. The older ones show their age. There are scatches from the prints, and there is occasional humming noise in the background. But for the most part the pictures themselves were surprisingly clear and all have had the sound enhanced in DD5.1.The color seemed a little off in "Rage At Dawn"....But hey..for the price, I thought Platinum, did a great job of putting together so many of these packages for us Western lovers to choose from. There isn't anything on these transfers that take away from the enjoyment of the view, and from what I have read here, there isnt anything better about this more expensive edition.

Happy Trails...and enjoy...Laurie

Rating:
Summary: Roan needs to go back to the studio on this one
Review: This is a great old "B" western, starring Randolph Scott, and some great character actors in Edgar Buchanan and Denver Pyle.

As for Roan Group's transfer of this movie...I'm sure it is better than those cheapy pan and scan transfers offered by other companies of public domain movies.

However....

While I've been pretty impressed with Roan up to now, I'd have to say that this...the first anamorphic widescreen movie I've purchased from them...needs a lot of work.

From the outset, the picture is jittery, making the opening credits quite challenging. Add to that, quite a bit of source damage, a general picture softness, and, toward the end, a good amount of grain, and you have what would be considered a "bad" transfer by a major studio.

Odd thing about the DVD is....the theatrical trailer has a superb picture...quite the opposite of most releases. This shows that most of the problem with this DVD was probably the source movie. I'd recommend Roan take another shot at this one...or at least learn a lesson on their future anamorphic releases.