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This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

Randy Scott goes undercover to bring the dastardly Reno brothers to justice, and manages to fall for their feisty sister as he does so. Based on real incidents, Tim Whelan's mid-1950s programmer probably bears little resemblance to the true facts. Scott's his usually chipper self, his character loaded with a self-confidence that never tips over into arrogance or conceit; he has no doubts, no fear and a single-mindedness of purpose that is downright robotic. The bad guys – a band of brothers terrorising the Indiana countryside – are more interesting; they're stereotypical baddies in one sense, but they share for the most part a sense of duty to one another. Their sister is a real Maureen O'Hara type – only she's not played by Maureen O'Hara, which is a shame because Maureen might at least have bought some fire to the role. Edgar Buchanan as a corrupt judge is also good fun, but overall this modest little western fails to impress.

This is yet another exceptional Randolph Scott western. Considering how many wonderful films he made in the 1950s, I certainly wasn't surprised that I liked this one.In a couple ways, however, this film is a bit unconventional. First, Scott doesn't even appear in the film until about 20 minutes into the film! Until then, it consisted of showing the exploits of an outlaw gang in Indiana--a very hilly and California-like version of Indiana (where n real life I'd heard the highest elevation is reportedly 9 inches above sea level). Second, the ending is just plain bizarre--not at all bad, but really caught me by surprise and won't be something the average person could predict. I mention this because although the main plot of the film isn't that unusual (I've seen many similar to it), the thing is handled so well and offers some nice twists that make it well worth seeing--in addition to Scott's usual seemingly effortless performance.Scott enters the film when he's recruited to infiltrate an evil gang that isn't exactly in the old west, but Southern Indiana (I lived just over the boarder--believe me, this is NOT a typical locale for a western). However, as you'd expect, there is a nice and semi-innocent girl who gets tossed into the mix--making Scott wonder if it's possible for him to do his job and the girl...I mean, get the girl.Overall, the film is well acted and directed as well as a lot of fun. Plus, it helps that the supporting actors (such as Forrest Tucker and J. Carroll Naish) are so good. Worth seeing--and a must-see if you love the genre.

RAGE AT DAWN, directed by Tim Whelan, with a screenplay by Horace McCoy, features Randolph Scott and tells the story of a band of bank robbers, the Reno brothers; bringing them before the law needs a trick to be pulled upon them—a secret agent, played with relative detachment and some good—humor by the phlegmatic Scott, the legendary western lead, will become a gang member.Without being a bad movie, RAGE AT DAWN is representative for the unspectacular, even mediocre outings with which slightly uninspiring though essentially dependable western actors like Scott and Murphy are usually associated. Some notes here would signal to you the rugged, brutish and mean physiognomies of the Reno brothers—fact underlined by them always appearing grouped; some satire aiming at the small—town corruption; the essentially barren, austere, dry landscape. Now daddy Scott was a slightly low—profile actor, rural and average enough to let the movie go as it intends.

It is more than twenty minutes into the movie before its star Randolph Scott makes his appearance and his lean craggy presence gives a decided lift to proceedings .He plays an undercover agent sent to pose as a train robber and infiltrate the Reno brothers gang who -aided by corrupt local officials -are wreaking havoc in Indiana .He then persuades the gang to embark on a train robbery with a view to entrapping them . The script is by the cult pulp crime novelist Horace McCoy and is based on a story by another feted pulpster ,Frank Gruber, and it is slick and efficient with solid performance from a sturdy supporting cast which includes dependable performers like Forrest Tucker ,and J Carroll Naish as two of the Reno brothers Handsome photography and the brisk direction of Tim Whelan are distinct assets and the historically accurate finale ends proceedings on a gritty and powerful note as frontier justice takes over from the rule of law .A good little movie which Western devotees will like