Though Randolph Scott is the nominal star, Rage At Dawn really isn't about him. It's about the gang he's sent to capture, the infamous Reno brothers who operated out of Indiana right after the Civil War. Scott in fact does not make an appearance until a quarter of the film is over.
After one Reno brother is killed in a failed bank robbery, the three remaining outlaw Renos, Forrest Tucker, J. Carrol Naish, and Myron Healey, are still very much in business. They kill an informant who was working for the Peterson(Pinkerton) Detective Agency and plan future robberies at the home of their sister Laura who is played by Mala Powers.
William Peterson assigns two new men to the job, Kenneth Tobey and a former Confederate spy Randolph Scott. The rest of the story is about their capture and the aftermath.
With a little research I found the story hardly sticks to the facts. Scott for instance is a totally fictional character though the Pinkertons were very much involved in the apprehension. Mala Powers is portrayed as deploring their crimes, but still loyal to her brothers, in fact she was quite the wild child in her day and aided and abetted the male Renos in every way. Only two of the Renos were in fact lynched in the end by a mob, the character of John Reno who Myron Healey plays died in prison.
One thing is true, by intimidation and bribery the Renos did have a safe haven in their home county in Indiana. The three county officials who were on the Reno tab are Edgar Buchanan-judge, Ray Teal-sheriff, and Howard Petrie-county prosecutor. The three of them are the best thing in Rage At Dawn. I don't blame Randolph Scott for saying that he'd rather go after them than the Reno brothers.
Scott is a cynical hero in this one, part of his job in the Civil War as a spy was romancing the wives of high placed union officials, so he's got no problem courting Mala Powers to get the job done. I doubt the real Laura Reno would have fallen for it. Still Scott turns in a good performance.
As does the rest of the cast in this film, though I will say Indiana is not the usual setting for a western. Maybe this one should be called a Midwestern.
After one Reno brother is killed in a failed bank robbery, the three remaining outlaw Renos, Forrest Tucker, J. Carrol Naish, and Myron Healey, are still very much in business. They kill an informant who was working for the Peterson(Pinkerton) Detective Agency and plan future robberies at the home of their sister Laura who is played by Mala Powers.
William Peterson assigns two new men to the job, Kenneth Tobey and a former Confederate spy Randolph Scott. The rest of the story is about their capture and the aftermath.
With a little research I found the story hardly sticks to the facts. Scott for instance is a totally fictional character though the Pinkertons were very much involved in the apprehension. Mala Powers is portrayed as deploring their crimes, but still loyal to her brothers, in fact she was quite the wild child in her day and aided and abetted the male Renos in every way. Only two of the Renos were in fact lynched in the end by a mob, the character of John Reno who Myron Healey plays died in prison.
One thing is true, by intimidation and bribery the Renos did have a safe haven in their home county in Indiana. The three county officials who were on the Reno tab are Edgar Buchanan-judge, Ray Teal-sheriff, and Howard Petrie-county prosecutor. The three of them are the best thing in Rage At Dawn. I don't blame Randolph Scott for saying that he'd rather go after them than the Reno brothers.
Scott is a cynical hero in this one, part of his job in the Civil War as a spy was romancing the wives of high placed union officials, so he's got no problem courting Mala Powers to get the job done. I doubt the real Laura Reno would have fallen for it. Still Scott turns in a good performance.
As does the rest of the cast in this film, though I will say Indiana is not the usual setting for a western. Maybe this one should be called a Midwestern.