The Dawn Rider (1935)

Film and Plot Synopsis

After someone kills John Mason’s father, and another wounds him, John finds himself attracted to his nurse Alice while in recovery. However, a conflict quickly arises between him and his friend Ben who plans to marry Alice. John later finds the killer of his father, but goes to face him not knowing Ben has removed the bullets from his gun.

‘The Dawn Rider’ Movie Summary

John Wayne plays John Mason, a man who is chasing after his father’s killer. He rides into a new town and immediately gets into a fist fight with another roughneck by the name of Ben McClure. After going toe to toe for a couple of rounds, the two become friends and start drinking. Shortly thereafter, Mason is the witness to a robbery by a gang of outlaws. When the criminals ride out of town, Mason speeds after them and gets himself shot.

Mason is brought back to town and is nursed back to health by the lovely Alice Gordon. Alice is the sister to Rudd Gordon, one of the outlaws that Mason was chasing. Mason falls for Alice, but the situation is complicated by McClure being in love with Alice as well. To make matters worse, Mason knows Rudd is an outlaw, and after Mason heals up and another robbery occurs, the cowboy comes up with an idea to trick the outlaws into trying to rob a decoy gold shipment.

When the bad guys try to rob the fake shipment, Mason is able to kill a couple of them, and chases Rudd back to his family homestead, where Alice tries to cover for her brother. While Alice keeps Mason busy, Rudd rides into town, followed closely by Mason. When Mason gets there, the outlaws try to ambush Mason, but McClure shoots Rudd and gets shot in return. After Mason kills the remaining outlaws, he rushes to McClure’s side just before he dies.

The film ends with Mason, inexplicably marrying Alice and riding off to live happily ever after.

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