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johnmiatech
Reviews
Rage at Dawn (1955)
great cast and unusual locale.....
I am a great fan of westerns. Knowing the state of California quite well, I particularly like to identify locations used in films. As the primary California locations are the Alabama Hills in Inyo Co., Vasquez Rocks in LA Co., Red Rock Canyon in Kern Co. and various areas near Bishop, I was interested in the locale used here....just south of the present New Melones Reservoir in Calaveras Co. and the state park in Columbia... especially as they were supposed to be somewhere in southern Indiana. This movie had a very strong cast but a bit of a choppy plot. I would also add that neither the vegetation nor the rock outcroppings fit with Indiana, and for a western buff, will distract from an otherwise acceptable film.
Yellow Sky (1948)
A band of bank robbers meet their match......
Yellow Sky is an excellent western, especially to a western buff like me. Along with a top-notch cast, fabulous lighting and great cinematography, I truly enjoyed picking out the locations, most of which were from the Inyo County area of California. Due to my passion for mining in my free time, I was able to spot the Alabama Hills (where the set of the town was located) and the Dunes north of Panamint Springs as two of the locales from the film. Action sequences were well done. The plot, though predictable, has interesting twists, especially those involving Peck and Sheridan. Peck's character is also interesting in that it follows more along the lines of John Wayne's character in the Searchers, someone hardened to life who finally comes around to his humanity. I first encountered this film about a week ago on AMC. I do not know if it is availible on VHS or DVD. If someone could let me know if it is availible in these formats, I would appreciate it. All in all, a great film!