THE DAWN RIDER

US, 1935, 53 minutes, Black and white.
John Wayne, Marion Burns, Reed Howes, Yakima Canutt.
Directed by Robert N. Bradbury.

The Dawn Rider is a slight John Wayne western, one of eight that he made in 1935. It is a conventional story, Wayne as a man of the west, meeting a young woman who nurses him after he is shot. The irony is that it is her brother who is the leader of the bandits and whom he will confront. Marion Burns, who was to appear in Purple Canyon, is the young woman. The film uses the sets and style of the Lone Star Productions for which Wayne made so many films in the 1930s. He was to star in John Ford’s Stage Coach and become a star for many decades. Of interest, Yakima Canutt is the saloon owner, a rodeo rider, a stuntman, who organised the stunts for Spartacus as well as being second unit director, especially of the chariot race, for Ben Hur. Director and writer Robert N. Bradbury made thirteen of these brief films in 1935 alone.

1.The popularity John Wayne westerns of the 1930s?

2.The plot, conventional? Slight? Entertaining?

3.John Mason, riding into town, the clash with Ben, the fight, their becoming friends? His being shot, his father being killed? Looked after by Alice? The irony that her brother was the killer? The confrontations, the pursuit, the final shootout? Ben dying? John Mason as a western hero?

4.The gang, the robbery, the shootings? The irony of Alice’s brother being the villain? His contact with the saloon owner who gave him information? His trying to get John Mason? The build-up to the confrontation, the shootouts, Ben’s death? His death?

5.Ben, confronting John, the fight, friendship, the drinks, his devotion to Alice? His supporting John, the search for the killer, his death?

6.Alice, her relationship with Ben, with John, her brother? Looking after John? The romance and the happy marriage ending?

7.The supporting cast, the criminals, the people in the saloon, the sheriff? A conventional western?