Dawn at Socorro (1954)

Touches You

Powerful

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

As Good As It Gets

There's a good story buried somewhere in the cluttered screenplay. Trouble is there're enough bad guys drifting in and out or getting splattered that you may need the proverbial scorecard. Too bad we lose one of the premier obnoxious punks of the period much, much too early-- Skip Homeier as Buddy Ferris. In fact, however, it's a stellar line-up of baddies— VanCleef, Nicol, Brian, and Homeier, along with other lesser knowns. So will consumptive Brett Wade make it to the good-air mountains of Colorado to recover before one of these cut-throats does him in. He's an ex-gunfighter, so he's racked up a lot of enemies lurking about. But Wade just wants to retire, maybe with dancehall girl Rannah Hayes (Laurie). Too bad that actress Laurie acts like she swallowed a lemon before showing up for work, so sour and unchanging is her expression throughout. Judging from her bio, she was likely obligated contractually with Universal to do a movie she didn't want to do.Calhoun does a good job as the squinty-eyed ex-gunslinger. The trouble is the screenplay can't seem to untangle which of his enemies is the most threatening and why. So Wade's got a lot of shooting to do. Seems like every western of this period had the great raspy voiced Edgar Buchanan somewhere in the line-up furnishing his singular brand of color. Here he's a sheriff, of all things. On the whole, there's nothing special here, just one more passable entry in Universal's lengthy list of 50's Technicolor westerns.(In passing—as a native of Colorado Springs, which features prominently in the screenplay, I can attest to its early attraction for tubercular patients. The mineral springs nearby were supposed to be of special help, including the clear mountain air of that non-urbanized time.)

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!

Rory Calhoun is a world weary and consumptive gunfighter who just would like to hang up his six shooter, but a whole passel of enemies he's made over the years just won't let him quit. A little bit of Gunfight at the OK Corral and The Gunfighter tossed together.After a shootout in one town he arrives by stage to Socorro where Sheriff Edgar Buchanan wants to get him out of town before any more blood is spilled on his turf. But Calhoun lingers and lingers, impressed by the beauty of Piper Laurie who he's ridden to town with on the stage.It's a good B western, directed by a veteran of that genre, George Sherman. Sherman keeps the action going at a good clip and the cast knows their way around a western set.Dawn at Socorro was probably a B feature that didn't bore too many people who went to see the A picture from Universal it was playing with.

Not bad little movie, shows up on TCM every so often. And darned if Rory Calhoun doesn't look exactly like GEORGE CLOONEY at times, or is it vice versa? Anyway, interesting turn on the gunfighter trying to go straight story with an appealing Piper Laurie and mean gambling hall owner David Brian. They play cards and throw dice for the girl, with fortunes going back and forth. Edgar Buchanan plays a nervous sheriff and not the usual dimwit he's known for and Alex Nicol chews the furniture as the edgy slinger waiting to gun down Calhoun. But then comes the typical Hollywood ending where none of the characters show even a lick of common sense. Sorry to see that ending, this isn't a half bad film until the last five minutes, and then it's Universal Studios back lot fireworks. Too bad.