Dawn on the Great Divide

This couldn't have been a better swan song for western great Buck Jones. Dawn is a great story with a magnificent cast. While Rough Rider Tim McCoy is doing his patriotic duty in WWII, Rex Bell is filling is nicely as the undercover agent posing as the town gambler. Beaver Lake is run by Hollywood's favorite villain Harry Woods and his brother Judge John Corkle (Robert Frazer) is on the wagon train coming to solidify the crime cartel. Of course Raymond Hatton as Sandy Hopkins as the best sidekick ever gives Buck and Rex all the help they can hope for. Matinee idol Betty Blythe shows why she was so popular with a great performance as the judgmental busy body Elmira Corkle. A well written story with plenty of drama and action with a who's who of henchmen and stuntmen.

Seeing how well Republic had done with The Three Mesquiteer cowboy trio concept and that it had also worked for Paramount with Hopalong Cassidy, Monogram decided to form its own trio for low budget westerns, the Rough Riders. Not that there were any high budget films done at that studio.

The Rough Riders were originally Buck Jones, Raymond Hatton and Tim McCoy, all of whom started out on the silent screen. McCoy bowed out and Rex Bell took his place as a Rough Rider.

Sadly this B western for Monogram would prove to be the end of the trail for Buck Jones as he was tragically killed in the famous Cocoanut Grove Nightclub fire in Boston. Not much of an epitaph from the film industry for a great western star.

Town boss Harry Woods and chief henchman Roy Barcroft don't want the railroad coming in because too many settlers might just mean the end of having things their way. Barcroft has a nice little sideline as a white man who runs an outlaw band that attacks and massacres wagon trains to keep the settlement population down.

Of course with Jones and Hatton on the outside and Bell working on the inside things are soon put to rights. Jones even has time for a fling with Mona Barrie, a poker Alice type gambling lady.

Dawn of the Great Divide got butchered badly in the editing department, there's a lot more footage out there I'm sure. But we'll never see it, I doubt they'll be demand for a director's cut of a Monogram feature.

From great western-monogram, this stars buck jones and mona barrie. The united states marshalls are escorting a wagon train convoy of supplies to the west. But corkle and his cronies are determined to use dirty tricks to rob the wagons of the supplies. The only names i recognize are buck jones, mona barrie, and charles saldani. He played "the indian" in so many films and tv series. The usual galloping horses, wagons tipping over, gun fights. Some scenes are so dark, we can't really see what's going on. Lots of fawncy hats on mona barrie... for a wagon ride. Through indian territory. This is probably one of the films where they didn't renew the copyright, so people are free to make copies of copies, and they get worse each time. The story is okay, but the picture quality is a bit iffy. Some great scenery of big bear and the hills of newhall, north of los angeles. Directed by howie bretherton. Jones and barrie both died quite young. Ironically, jones died in a horrible fire, at a facility that was honoring him and his current monogram project.

It's Buck Jones' last film, which is sad, but he is supported by some of the greatest western players in a Monogram film, with a bigger budget than many of the other B westerns of the era.

Besides the superb cast, the editing is by the great Carl Pierson, who was himself a director of skill, no doubt because of his editing experience.

Mack Wright, a director of note himself, was assistant director on "Dawn," with Howard Bretherton the director.

There is even a really pleasant music score, better than so many low-budget westerns, which sometimes even had no, or almost no, music. Edward Kay, of whom I know nothing else, was the music director.

Whatever flaws "Dawn" might have, any film -- ANY film -- with such actors as Chief Yowlatchie, Art Mix, Bud Osborne, Reed Howes, and so many more really talented performers, all appearing with no credit, has to be recognized as an excellent western.

That it was the last time for Buck Jones, well, that is just too much to pass up. I highly recommend this movie, for that and other reasons.

This is Buck Jones' last film. Sadly, the guy would die soon after this in a fire--along with a lot of other innocent folks. While it's not among his best films, it is a solid B movie and a decent way for him to end his career.

The film does NOT start off well. It has many moments where folks give long expositions instead of talking naturally or allowing things to happen normally. Often, folks just start talking to their friends--giving them back story that the friend SHOULD already know but which is provided for the audience. It's very unnatural and is a case of bad writing. Fortunately, the rest of the film is a bit better. The plot is the standard greedy baddie who wants to destroy and steal-- all hiding in the guise of his men dressed up as American Indians.

So why did I still give this one a 5? Well, there are more than the usual number of scenes which are sentimental and show character development. Plus, the story has a few nice moments. Worth seeing if you are a Buck Jones fan.