Between 1926 and 1935, when this film was made, John Wayne appeared in more than 50 films. His silent films were mostly with Fox and he worked on many films with John Ford directing (e.g., "Four Sons" and "Hangman's Horse" with Victor McClaglen in 1928), almost always as an extra. He moved to Columbia in 1931 and started getting better parts, then to Warners and finally to Lone Star in 1933 where he emerged as a singing cowboy ("Riders of Destiny") and was teamed with the great Gabby Hayes.

"The Dawn Rider" was his 15th film with Lone Star, and he would make only one more  with them before they merged with Republic. Monogram churned out films by the month, usually in the summer, with little attention to detail or character development. Wayne said - "For any actor trying to get on in the business, working at Monogram was not a good career move. Most of the contract players there may have had regular work, but they generally didn't move up from there into the major studios - they went down and that's the direction I thought I was headed."

Then in 1939 he made "Stagecoach" with John Ford, and his career started to look up. Stagecoach earned 5 Oscars including Best Picture. Wayne followed up with  "Dark Command" (1940) directed by Rail Walsh, and  then a series of war movies (e.g.,  "Flying Tigers" in 1942, "The Fighting Seabees"  in 1944, "Back to Bataan" and "They Were Expendable" in 1945) and his classic westerns including "3 Godfathers" (1948),  "Fort Apache" (1948), "Red River" (1948), "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" (1949, "Rio Bravo" (1959), and "The Alamo" (1960) . Wayne was nominated for Best Actor for "Sands of Iwo Jima" (1949) and he would finally earn an Oscar for "True Grit" (1969).

The film co-stars Marion Burns, who worked with Wayne again in "Paradise Canyon", and Yakima Canutt, with whom he started working in 1933. For Burns, this was the highlight of her career. She made a few more films, then did a little work in TV, and then retired completely.

Yakima Canutt is a legendary stunt man. We was a world champion Rodeo rider and as a result of his friendship with Douglas Fairbanks, started appearing in films in 1915. He made nearly 50 silent films, and met Wayne in 1932. They made dozens of films together, and Canutt became Republic's top stunt man, appearing in Lone Ranger and Zorro series in addition to the westerns. In the 40s he made the transition to directing.

This is a fairly standard B western that Monogram, Lone Star and Republic churned out every few weeks. In addition to John Wayne, their stable included Gabby Hayes, Bob Steele, Tim McCoy, and Johnny Mack Brown. Robert Bradbury was the writer and director for many of these films. These were known as the "poverty row" productions, made for about $10,000 each, and filmed at the famous Placerita Canyon Ranch in Newhall, California.

Robert Bradbury (1886-1949) was the father of another 30s western star, Bob Steele (1907-1988), who was a good friend of Wayne from his USC years (Wayne and Steel appeared in 6 films together between 1953 and 1970). Bradbury's other son, Bob's twin, dubbed the songs Wayne sung in the Monogram films (and he used the money he made to pay for medical school). Bradbury made more than 100 films between and 1918 and 1941

FWIW - Bradbury's 1926 silent film "Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo" was Wayne's inspiration for his own 1960 Alamo film which he directed and in which he starred.

There's very little to recommend the film. It is one of the better B westerns produced at the time and there is ample time to see how athletic the young Wayne was (he was 28 when the film was made). It's also one of the better roles for Canutt as the evil saloon keeper.
Between 1926 and 1935, when this film was made, John Wayne appeared in more than 50 films. His silent films were mostly with Fox and he worked on many films with John Ford directing (e. g., "Four Sons" and "Hangman's Horse" with Victor McClaglen in 1928), almost always as an extra. He moved to Columbia in 1931 and started getting better parts, then to Warners and finally to Lone Star in 1933 where he emerged as a singing cowboy ("Riders of Destiny") and was teamed with the great Gabby Hayes. "The Dawn Rider" was his 15th film with Lone Star, and he would make only one more  with them before they merged with Republic. Monogram churned out films by the month, usually in the summer, with little attention to detail or character development. Wayne said - "For any actor trying to get on in the business, working at Monogram was not a good career move. Most of the contract players there may have had regular work, but they generally didn't move up from there into the major studios - they went down and that's the direction I thought I was headed. "

Then in 1939 he made "Stagecoach" with John Ford, and his career started to look up. Stagecoach earned 5 Oscars including Best Picture. Wayne followed up with  "Dark Command" (1940) directed by Rail Walsh, and  then a series of war movies (e. g.,  "Flying Tigers" in 1942, "The Fighting Seabees"  in 1944, "Back to Bataan" and "They Were Expendable" in 1945) and his classic westerns including "3 Godfathers" (1948),  "Fort Apache" (1948), "Red River" (1948), "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" (1949, "Rio Bravo" (1959), and "The Alamo" (1960). Wayne was nominated for Best Actor for "Sands of Iwo Jima" (1949) and he would finally earn an Oscar for "True Grit" (1969). The film co-stars Marion Burns, who worked with Wayne again in "Paradise Canyon", and Yakima Canutt, with whom he started working in 1933. For Burns, this was the highlight of her career. She made a few more films, then did a little work in TV, and then retired completely. Yakima Canutt is a legendary stunt man. We was a world champion Rodeo rider and as a result of his friendship with Douglas Fairbanks, started appearing in films in 1915. He made nearly 50 silent films, and met Wayne in 1932. They made dozens of films together, and Canutt became Republic's top stunt man, appearing in Lone Ranger and Zorro series in addition to the westerns. In the 40s he made the transition to directing. This is a fairly standard B western that Monogram, Lone Star and Republic churned out every few weeks. In addition to John Wayne, their stable included Gabby Hayes, Bob Steele, Tim McCoy, and Johnny Mack Brown. Robert Bradbury was the writer and director for many of these films. These were known as the "poverty row" productions, made for about $10,000 each, and filmed at the famous Placerita Canyon Ranch in Newhall, California. Robert Bradbury (1886-1949) was the father of another 30s western star, Bob Steele (1907-1988), who was a good friend of Wayne from his USC years (Wayne and Steel appeared in 6 films together between 1953 and 1970). Bradbury's other son, Bob's twin, dubbed the songs Wayne sung in the Monogram films (and he used the money he made to pay for medical school). Bradbury made more than 100 films between and 1918 and 1941

FWIW - Bradbury's 1926 silent film "Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo" was Wayne's inspiration for his own 1960 Alamo film which he directed and in which he starred. There's very little to recommend the film. It is one of the better B westerns produced at the time and there is ample time to see how athletic the young Wayne was (he was 28 when the film was made). It's also one of the better roles for Canutt as the evil saloon keeper.