Dawn at Socorro is directed by George Sherman and written by George Zuckerman. It stars Rory Calhoun, Piper Laurie, David Brian, Kathleen Hughes, Alex Nicol and Edgar Buchanan. Music is by Joseph Gershenson and cinematography by Carl Guthrie.One Night In Socorro.A cracker-jack Western this. Plot essentially has Calhoun as Brett Wade, a tough gunfighter who is suffering badly from ill health. Taking advice from his doctor he decides to retire to healthier pastures, but his past and new enemies refuse to let him go. OK! So it's very much a composite of a number of famous Westerns, but to dismiss this as a cheap knock off would be foolish. The script is very literate and the screenplay never gets tired or preposterous. From an action stand point it scores favourably, right from the opening in Lordsburgh where we get a stockyard shoot-out, pic is never dull.I wont arrest you for being naked.There's good black humour in here as well, and some outstanding scenes such as Brett playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata at his own funeral (you will understand when you see it) and a poker game where the stake is the fetching Piper Laurie! There's a constant running feud between Wade and Jimmy Rapp (Nicol), a well written part of the film as it brings in codes and ethics that play opposite another character.The tech credits are bang on the money. Location photography out of Apple Valley and Victorville is gorgeous, as is Guthrie's colour lensing for the interiors. Props and set design is hugely appealing, including a super locomotive for the train enthusiasts to gorge on. While the front line cast members (Lee Van Cleef & Skip Homeier have small roles) turn in very good work, with Calhoun once again showing his qualities in the genre.My past - every dark miserable day of it!But it's with the characterisations where the film strikes the finest. Laurie's Rannah Hayes has been cast out the family home for apparently being a hussy, she's constantly carrying that baggage with her. She finds a soul mate in Wade, a man dragged down by his life, and the weight of such could be his downfall - and he knows it. Buchanan is wonderfully ebullient as the lawman trying to get Wade out of town ASAP, Nicol is hopped up on booze and a thirst for vengeance, whilst David Brian is entrepreneur Dick Braden, a devious man with no code or honour.Highly recommended to Western fans. 8/10

Take a dash of "My Darling Clementine," a pinch of "Stagecoach" and a touch of "High Noon" and you get "Dawn at Socorro," a string of western clichés so predictable you may have trouble staying awake. Rory Calhoun, with fake temple gray so outlandish it looks as if he's wearing a bad hairpiece, plays the thinly disguised Doc Holliday character. Piper Laurie, surprisingly attractive and magnetic plays his love interest. The always smarmy David Brian plays the chief heavy. If this movie didn't have such gorgeous Technicolor, imaginative camera setups and crisp direction, it would be a big "nothingburger." As played, it's a reasonably passable western. I give "Dawn at Socorro" a "5."

Over the years I missed seeing this Western Film of the 1950's. I have always followed the career of Rory Calhoun,(Brell Ruthledge Wade),"The Red House",'47, who rides into a Western town on a stagecoach and meets Piper Laurie,(Rannah Hayes),"The Grass Harp",'95, and becomes very attracted to her very innocent and loving appearance. Brell tells Rannah that he is going to Colorado Springs for health reasons and soon changes his mind after he follows her into a 'BIG CASINO' in town and finds out she has chosen a different profession than he figured she would have chosen. David Brian,(Dick Braden),"The Seven Minutes",'71, owns the 'BIG CASINO', and wants also to own Rannah Body & Soul so to speak. The Sheriff, Edgar Buchanan,(Cauthen),"Gunpoint",'66, keeps his eyes on Brell and wants him to get out of town on the next train as soon as possible to Colorado. This is a great film to view if you can catch it on TV!

I just saw this movie last night as I was channel surfing. I of course watched it as it is set in my quaint little city of Socorro, NM, right on the Rio Grande. I'd like to find out where it was filmed. Just made me even more homesick, as I work in Washington, DC and miss the quiet peacefulness of Socorro. Was a pretty good movie too. As far as westerns go, it is no "Big Jake" (though the director of this movie actually teamed with John Wayne to direct Big Jake") or Silverado, but I did find it an easy watch. Predictable, but when you've seen as many movies as I, not much surprises me, unless the writing is just down right amazing. Again, just amazed that my little seemingly insignificant hometown was ever featured or mentioned in a movie.