Is 1954’s Dawn at Socorro based on a true story?

Is 1954’s Dawn at Socorro based on a true story?

Peter Birkin

Kadina, South Australia, Australia

Dawn at Socorro brings back memories. I first watched it as a 15-year-old kid at the Yavapai Theater in Ash Fork, Arizona. Back then, Rory Calhoun was one of Hollywood’s most glamorous Western stars.

Calhoun plays the role of a gunfighter-gambler who goes up against a crooked saloon owner played by David Brian. Beautiful red-haired Piper Laurie is the third part of this triangle while that great character actor, Edgar Buchanan, plays the nervous sheriff, gadflying on the fringe of the plot. The movie is lively and entertaining, but it’s the standard Hollywood Western, and it’s pure fiction.