Drum Beat *** (1954, Alan Ladd, Audrey Dalton, Marisa Pavan, Robert Keith, Rodolpho Acosta, Charles Bronson, Warner Anderson, Elisha Cook Jr, Anthony Caruso, Richard Gaines) – Classic Movie Review 6826

Writer-director Delmer Daves’s 1954 Western stars a laid-back Alan Ladd, who plays Indian fighter Johnny MacKay, the man assigned by President Ulysses S Grant (Hayden Rorke) to sort out the problems between the white settlers and the Modoc Indians, led by the renegade Kintpuash, aka Captain Jack (a very young Charles Bronson in his first major role).

Drum Beat may in some ways be a routine, standard Fifties Western, but it is pulled out of the rut by its quality craftsmanship. J Peverell Marley’s impressive CinemaScope and WarnerColor cinematography, lots of shooting, and a fine old Western cast are all niftily handled by director Daves. And it was popular – costing $1,100,000, it grossed $3,000,000 in the US. It was shot at the Coconino National Forest, Arizona.

It also features Audrey Dalton, Marisa Pavan, Robert Keith, Rodolpho Acosta, Warner Anderson, Elisha Cook Jr, Anthony Caruso, Richard Gaines, Edgar Stehl, Hayden Rorke, Frank De Kova, Perry Lopez, Willis Bouchey, Isabel Jewell, Frank Ferguson and Peggy Converse.

Drum Beat is directed by Delmer Daves, runs 111 minutes, is produced by Jaguar Productions, is released by Warner Bros, is written by Delmer Daves (both story and screenplay), is shot in CinemaScope and WarnerColor by J Peverell Marley and scored by Victor Young.

Before this Bronson’s minor roles were billed under his real name of Charles Buchinski. He uses Bronson for the first time in this film, and remained so.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6826

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