The Dawn Rider (1935) - John Wayne Western - 16mm Original Print

Description

This is a 16mm Original print of the John Wayne western, The Dawn Rider (1935). I would describe it as a very good condition Original print on AG2S / AG1S film stock with minimal wear. There is no vinegar odor. It is on two - 1200' reels. It has a running time of approximately 53 minutes.
The Dawn Rider (1935) Directed by Robert N. Bradbury. Cast: John Wayne, Marion Burns, Dennis Moore, Reed Howes, Joseph De Grasse, Yakima Canutt, Earl Dwire, Nelson McDowell, Chris Allen, Chuck Baldra, Barney Beasley, Bert Dillard, Jack Evans, Herman Hack, Jack Jones, George Morrell, Tex Palmer, Fred Parker, Tex Phelps, Archie Ricks and James Sheridan.
The Dawn Rider has all the right elements for a great movie: a love triangle, loyalties between friends and relatives, revenge, right versus wrong, and a strong-willed hero...all packaged into a just under an hour long cowboy western.
As John Mason, John Wayne never loses focus in his pursuit of his father's killer. At the same time he is oblivious to the yearnings of his best friend's girl, Alice Gordon (Marion Burns). Alice is unaware of her brother's criminal doings. The best friend, Ben McClure (Reed Howes), is suspicious of Mason when he is around Alice. Rudd Gordon (Dennis Moore) needs to stop Mason before being revealed as a murderer. All the while Yakima Canutt oversees everything as the evil saloon owner.
The story is very straightforward and every scene works toward the climax. The Dawn Rider holds up very well as a movie that clearly tells its story and gets to the point without losing the viewer.
Now, I know what you're thinking. How do I know it's an original print? That is a good question. How do we know ANY print is original? I mean, if I had to go to court and give conclusive evidence to prove to a judge and jury that a print was an original or not...I don't believe I'd be able to do it...and I don't believe you would either.
All I can do is give you some provenance and offer my opinion.
I purchased this film several years ago from a film dealer located in Tinley Park, IL with whom I had many transactions. She was a person I enjoyed doing business with because she was knowledgeable and reliable. She was in the process of liquidating the collection of a film collector who had passed away. This collector, whose name I just can't remember, had a reputation for having the best prints he could acquire. She was assisted in her labor by a film collector who himself passed away a couple of years ago, Packy Smith. Now, Packy told her that it was original and she passed the info on to me. I, myself, was somewhat skeptical. The reason I doubted the print was original was that it is in the public domain. It has been my experience that acquiring original prints of public domain films, while not impossible, was indeed difficult.
I trusted my friend and I trusted Packy Smith's reputation, so I took the chance and made the purchase. It was indeed a very nice original print.
Now, getting back to the question, how do I know it's original? Well, the honest answer is I don't. I don't believe anyone does. The actual question maybe should be, what do you believe it to be? Well, all I can tell you is that in my 50 plus years of collecting 16mm film, I have seen countless dupes and countless original prints and countless reversals. Some of those dupes were good. In fact, some were REAL good. A few of them you could almost swear were original...almost being the operative word. I viewed this film again just before listing on eBay. I was looking particularly close to make sure it was an original. I had forgotten what a nice condition print it was and I'm still convinced it is an original...but I can't prove it in a court of law. I will say this, if it is a dupe, and I don't for one moment believe it is, it would be, by FAR, among the BEST dupes I have EVER seen in my entire life bar none...but I STILL believe it is an original.