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The Dawn Rider

Play trailer Poster for The Dawn Rider Released Jun 20, 1935 53m Western Play Trailer Watchlist
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John Mason (John Wayne) suffers a cruel homecoming when he witnesses his father's murder as he rides into town. Incensed, he chases after the killers, but he suffers a gunshot wound that cuts his pursuit short. Alice Gordon (Marion Burns) sees to his injury, and Mason is taken by her kindness and beauty. But things turn sour when her beau, Ben (Reed Howes), becomes jealous. After Mason discovers the men who killed his father, his plan for a duel is sabotaged by Ben, who has been manipulated.
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The Dawn Rider

Audience Reviews

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deke p It's 1935! YOUNG JOHN WAYNE! Still the Dawn of Movie making! So, forgive the primitive writing, dialog, & acting, & ridiculously huge 10-Gallon Hats, all of which are laughable at times. This is the kinds of 'Western movies' people watched and kids grew up on in those days, & for years after. I never heard of, nor saw, until on GRIT the Cowboy movie channel, late friday nite 6.25.21 Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the worst westerns I've ever wasted my time on. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Wayne rides into town and immediately gets into a fight with the town roughneck and they become the best of friends. Wayne is in town to visit his dad, who is immediately killed by a gang of bandits. Wayne pursues them, but he's shot. His new buddy's girlfriend tends to the wounded Wayne, and they promptly fall in love. An extremely by-the-numbers outing in the series of westerns made for Lone Star. It's less than an hour long, and that still seems too long. It's a lot of talking and poorly executed action sequences. Legendary stunt man Yakima Canutt has a fairly prominent role. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review don s An early John Wayne vehicle meant to show off how big and tough he is. The acting is below average, the story is light on plot and there is absolutely no character development. This one moves at a fairly good pace and had decent fight scenes. Still not worth your time. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member 120824: I enjoyed this film. Short, simple and fun. Love the fancy holsters. Just classic. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member The same day that John Mason (John Wayne) comes home, he sees his father shot to death during an Express Company hold-up. All that Mason sees of his father's murderer is a pokka-dot bandana as the bad man shoots through a broken window. Afterward, Mason pursues the villains on horseback and blows a couple of the dastards out of their saddles with his well-aimed shots. The villains sling lead his way and wound him. The chief villain's sister, Alice Gordon (Marion Burns), nurses him back to health. Meanwhile, the chief villain, Rudd Gordon (Dennis Moore), pits our ten-gallon hero against his best friend, Ben McClure (Reed Howes), and tells him that Mason is stepping out with his girlfriend. Of course, Ben is jealous and takes all the bullets out of his gun before he realizes that Rudd has tricked him. THE DAWN RIDER is an early John Wayne effort for Lone Star Pictures. The low-budget oater features a couple of fistfights and shoot-outs. The scenery is as rugged as the heroes are virtuous and the villains are nefarious. Watch the ring that Ben gets for Alice. Christian Slater stars in the 2012 that beefs up the plot but basically sticks to it. The villains in the remake wear flour sacks for disguises. Some of the dialogue is quite good. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis John Mason (John Wayne) suffers a cruel homecoming when he witnesses his father's murder as he rides into town. Incensed, he chases after the killers, but he suffers a gunshot wound that cuts his pursuit short. Alice Gordon (Marion Burns) sees to his injury, and Mason is taken by her kindness and beauty. But things turn sour when her beau, Ben (Reed Howes), becomes jealous. After Mason discovers the men who killed his father, his plan for a duel is sabotaged by Ben, who has been manipulated.
Director
Robert N. Bradbury
Producer
Paul Malvern
Production Co
Paul Malvern Productions
Genre
Western
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 20, 1935, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 1, 2012
Runtime
53m
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