Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

classicsoncall The nods to "Gunfight at the OK Corral", the Earps and the Clanton Gang are more than evident only a few minutes into the picture, particularly when Rory Calhoun starts coughing up a storm in the middle of a card game. His take on gambler Brett Wade is a dead giveaway for Doc Holliday, but unless I'm mistaken, the brief description of the story line here on the IMDb and supported by a few reviewers is incorrect. The word tuberculosis wasn't used to describe Wade's condition; Doc Jameson (Roy Roberts) suggested that Wade hadn't properly taken care of himself after taking a slug in the ribs a couple of years earlier.Calhoun gives the impression of a strong, resolute gunman as he generously stares down his opposition in scene after scene. Taking a fancy to young Miss Rannah Hayes (Piper Laurie), Brett Wade decides to linger a while at Dick Braden's Big Casino as Hayes dons the flashy red dress of a working saloon gal. There's a high stakes poker showdown between Wade and Braden (David Brian) that goes against our hero, but he manages to turn things around by the final curtain.Altogether not a bad little flick, though some of the other reviews here are overly generous in it's praise in my opinion. Only the film's length and Technicolor format help it rise slightly over it's B Western origins, as the cast includes a nice sprinkling of cool supporting players like Lee Van Cleef, Edgar Buchanan, Stanley Andrews and Skip Homeier. There's a fair amount of clever dialog too; who could argue with Rory Calhoun's character when he proclaims "There's a lot of good shooting days before Christmas."

JohnHowardReid 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!

whpratt1 Over the years I missed seeing this Western Film of the 1950's. I have always followed the career of Rory Calhoun,(Brell Ruthledge Wade),"The Red House",'47, who rides into a Western town on a stagecoach and meets Piper Laurie,(Rannah Hayes),"The Grass Harp",'95, and becomes very attracted to her very innocent and loving appearance. Brell tells Rannah that he is going to Colorado Springs for health reasons and soon changes his mind after he follows her into a 'BIG CASINO' in town and finds out she has chosen a different profession than he figured she would have chosen. David Brian,(Dick Braden),"The Seven Minutes",'71, owns the 'BIG CASINO', and wants also to own Rannah Body & Soul so to speak. The Sheriff, Edgar Buchanan,(Cauthen),"Gunpoint",'66, keeps his eyes on Brell and wants him to get out of town on the next train as soon as possible to Colorado. This is a great film to view if you can catch it on TV!

bruce lander Any student of real western history will recognise the characters and part of the plot as being related to the Doc Holliday / Wyatt Earp /Clanton feud in Tombstone. Rory Calhoun is pretty obviously Doc while James Millican is Wyatt. The shootout in the stockyards is based on the OK corral and the screenwriters offer an interesting story on what happened next. Alex Nicol as Jimmy Rapp (John Ringo) is nicely portrayed and the movie moves along with a good pace of action, motivation and characterisation. Certainly a classic, considering the studio system in operation at the time it was made.A lot of effort and thought obviously went into its production. Well worth seeing.