The city of dead souls

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Movie
German title The city of dead souls
Original title Rage at Dawn
Country of production USA
original language English
Publishing year 1955
length 87 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Tim Whelan
script Horace McCoy
production Nat Holt
music Paul Sawtell
camera Ray Rennahan
cut Harry Marker
occupation

The City of Dead Souls (also called The Four Outlaws ; Original Title: Rage at Dawn ) is an American western directed by Tim Whelan from 1955 . Horace McCoy's screenplay is based on his novel of the same name about the gang of the Reno brothers . The film premiered on March 26, 1955 in Los Angeles . It was released in German cinemas on November 4, 1955 - four weeks after its premiere in France as the first country outside the USA. The film was produced in 35 mm three-color Technicolor and single-channel technology. The plot is about the first railroad robbery in the United States.

plot

  • Frank Reno

  • John Reno

The plot is based on a true story that happened in 1866 in the southern border area of ​​the states of Indiana and Illinois . The four brothers Frank, Sim, John and Bill Reno come from a respected farming family. The daughter Laura, who inherited the farm, shows herself to be law-abiding, contrary to her four brothers, and condemns the machinations, but she runs the household errands. Another brother, Clint, also condemns the robberies and prophesies lynching as the end of those crimes. In their hometown of Seymour , the sheriff , judge and public prosecutor protect the raids of the Reno brothers because they are corrupt and are being bribed by the brothers .

A bank robbery fails because the brothers were betrayed. Bill dies and is left behind by the others. Clint brings the body home later. The supposed traitor, the bartender Matthew, is burned alive by the brothers as revenge. Newspapers in distant Chicago also report about it on their main page. Special agent James Barlow is sent there undercover to arrest the brothers. He also poses as a criminal and after a short time apparently makes common cause with them in order to gain their trust and to be able to convict them in the process.

The brothers plan to rob a train with Barlow, but this proves to be a trap. They are captured after a shooting and taken to an area prison outside the jurisdiction of the corrupt officials in their hometown. Barlow can't stop an angry mob from breaking into the prison and lynching the brothers before they can be brought to justice.

background

The Reno brothers are credited with the first civilian raids on railways in US history. Other gangs such as the Dalton brothers and the James Younger gang later orient themselves to the crimes of the Reno gang . Probably the lynching of the captured gang members was the only case in US history that federal prisoners were lynched by a mob before a trial.

The lawless conditions, which are also discussed in the German title of the film, are accused in various scenes, for example when two women talk about the lack of women's suffrage , which means that the city leaders cannot be elected by them. Another subject that has been criticized is vigilante justice , which is escalating due to a lack of state authority.

production

This strip, created as a B-Western , is the last feature film from Nat Holt Productions , which split off from RKO Pictures in 1948 , and is also the last of four westerns produced since the 1940s under the direction of Nat Holt . Randolph Scott starred in all four films. For Scott, who was in front of the camera between 1928 and 1962, this was the 89th of 101 productions.

Most of the filming took place on the Columbia State Historic Park production site in California . Other venues are:

In some places in the film anachronistic objects can be seen that could not possibly have existed at the locations in the 1860s, such as the concrete entrance portal at the rear exit of the bank, which is being robbed, or power lines.

reception

In general, both the cast and the staging with a tight script was praised. On the other hand, it was criticized that the scenery did not reflect the locations (it was filmed recognizably in California).

Kino.de describes the film as a "solid western in which Randolph Scott leads [several] genre veterans". Internet Movie Database speaks of a “well-cast, well-staged film with a tight script. The cast is amazing for an RKO film that had to be shot on a relatively low budget in the mid-1950s. "

Web links

Commons : The city of dead souls  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Funk, Arville L: A Sketchbook of Indiana History . Christian Book Press, Rochester, Indiana 1983. , p. 102
  2. ^ Funk, Arville L: A Sketchbook of Indiana History . Christian Book Press, Rochester, Indiana 1983. , p. 106
  3. ^ Rage at Dawn (1955), Trivia on IMDb
  4. ↑ Ingo Löchel: The Western in Film and Television: Randolph Scott . Online magic mirror
  5. ^ Filming and Production
  6. ↑ Rage at Dawn on Kino.de
  7. ↑ The City of Dead Souls , on Youtube , December 11, 2020