The Dawn Rider (1935)

My Review

John Wayne stars as “The Dawn Rider,” a man who is pursuing his father’s killer. The talented Wayne stands out in a lackluster cast and in a film that does not have the best production values, a characteristic of B pictures of the 1930’s. Director-screenwriter Robert N. Bradbury and producer Paul Malvern developed the film from a story by Lloyd Nosler of Lone Star Pictures.

The 53 minute black-and-white movie was distributed by Monogram Pictures, and co-stars Marion Burns, Dennis Moore, Reed Howes, Joseph De Grasse, Earl Dwire, Nelson McDowell, and famous actor-stuntman Yakima Canutt, who went on to be the stunt director of MGM’s 1959 epic “Ben Hur.” It was filmed at various outdoor ranch locations around Southern California.