The Naked Dawn (1955)

Director:

Edgar G. Ulmer

Writer (WGA):

Julian Zimet (written by) (originally as Nina and Herman Schneider)

Release Date:

11 November 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Western | Action | Romance

Plot:

Santiago, a jolly modern bandito, has just lost his partner when he happens on the isolated farm of young Manuel and Maria Lopez...

Plot Keywords:

Double Cross | Greed | Duplicity | Wife | Gun Battle

Cast

Arthur Kennedy	...	Santiago
Betta St. John	...	Maria Lopez
Eugene Iglesias	...	Manuel Lopez
Charlita	...	Tita (entertainer)
Roy Engel	...	Guntz (fence)
Tony Martinez	...	Vicente
Francis McDonald	...	Railroad guard

Also Known As:

The Naked Dawn (UK)

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved | Finland:(Banned) (1955) | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivia:

Loosely adapted from a short story by Maxim Gorky

Quotes:

Santiago: Aww! You know how to die. You watch plenty others.

Soundtrack:

AI HOMBRE

Likable, different

There is something very likable about this low budget, "poetic" story of an aging outlaw who comes upon the small farm of an ambitious peon and his willful wife. The atmosphere is a bit thick perhaps, constant philosophizing in a "poetic" Spanish accent, with a guitar playing in the background. But Kennedy is particularly good as the outlaw, worldly-wise and mellow with flashes of toughness, anger and cynicism. The other players carry their weight well enough, though Iglesias sometimes goes a bit overboard with his characterization of the naive, greedy young man. There's not much to the story, but it's well told. Here, certainly, is a film that, whatever its ultimate virtues, is unique. Though the subject makes it a Western, the style (as well as the Mexican setting and the apparent thirties time-frame) makes it something completely different. This is the sort of film one expects from Ulmer's reputation; small but personal. I really did like it, but I don't know if I would go as far as Francois Truffaut: "Poetic and violent, tender and droll, moving and subtle, joyously energetic and wholesome... reminds us inevitably of Renoir and Ophuls."