VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Spikeopath Drum Beat is written and directed by Delmer Daves. It stars Alan Ladd, Charles Bronson, Robert Keith, Audrey Dalton, Marisa Pavan, Rodolfo Acosta, Warner Anderson, Elisha Cook Jr and Anthony Caruso. A CinemaScope/Warnercolor production, music is scored by Victor Young and cinematography by J. Peverell Marley.Alan Ladd is Indian fighter Johnny Mackay, who is ordered by President Ulysses Grant (Hayden Rorke) to negotiate with the Modoc Indians in an attempt to avert war...Utterly frustrating! One of the most attractive looking Westerns of the fifties, Daves' movie doesn't quite have the courage of its convictions. The core basis of the film is sound, though as we are told from the off, it features fictionalised enhancements to further dramatic impact. Snatching from a little known part of the Indian Wars from 1872/3 (to be applauded), that of the Modoc Uprising, film is set in 1869 around the Oregon-California border. Plot and story are put in place neatly, where the characters are interesting, the back drop of various Arizona locations is simply in "scope" gorgeous, and the narrative promises some boldness as the first person killed is an innocent woman and the white man protagonists are fuelled by anger and hatred. But...Unfortunately with a running time of one hour and fifty minutes, many passages of chatter never really expand the characters. Something which is not usually applicable to Delmer Daves when he was on form. We should be getting high grade dramatic worth from the principle players, their conversations should ping with emotion and depth, after being set up as people with voices to be heard, we never get a real grasp of Mackay's inner conflict, or Captain Jack's (Bronson) staunch loyalty to his cause, or even the depth and reasoning of Bill Satterwhite's (Keith) hatred. While there is, as the historians will tell you, a severe dilution of the story to suit the white man's cause. It's hard to believe this is the same director of Broken Arrow from four years earlier! But then Daves wasn't writing the screenplay....Maybe Daves felt he needed to better the screenplay for Broken Arrow? To show he could put down on the page some "liberal" quality as well as directing? He would prove post Drum Beat that he could "co-write" great Western screenplays (Jubal/White Feather/The Last Wagon), but here on his own he falls short. Not only does it skulk in the shadow of Broken Arrow, it also pales into insignificance to Anthony Mann's brilliant Devil's Doorway, which was also from 1950. You can feel Daves striving for relevance in the mid fifties, but he is trumped by narrative zest elsewhere, a shame since the acting performances and production quality make Drum Beat very watchable.Visually it's superb, Sedona's various natural beauties are excellently captured by Peverell Marley (The Left Handed Gun/Westbound), while Daves proves adept at utilising the landscapes as part of his action sequences (check out the red rock rifle engagement scene). Young's score is a goodie, blending bombastic beats with ballad strains, and the Warnercolor is gorgeous, one of the better Warnercolor productions that I have seen. Acting wise it's Bronson's movie, physically perfect and featuring a shifty aggressive ebullience that's most appealing. Ladd scores well, too, nicely underplayed at the critical moments, Keith has a thespian quality that suits the role of an Indian hating aggressor, and Elisha Cook provides weasel smarts that make us yearn for his part to have been bigger.Some have questioned why this isn't better known or worthy of a widespread home format release? The answer is that simply it has more style than substance, and Daves, as much as us Western fans love him, is to blame from a writing perspective. Visually and aurally the film ranks a comfortable 9/10. As a whole, sadly, it rounds out as 6.5/10.

Neil Doyle While the plot of DRUM BEAT is based on a true incident during frontier days on the plains, nothing about the film suggests that it's any more than a standard Cavalry vs. Indians western seen hundreds of times since the movies were born.However, credit director Delmer Daves for finding some gorgeous locations for his story and casting Charles Bronson and Anthony Caruso as Indians who look marvelously authentic in their make-up. Not so fortunate are Marisa Pavan and Audrey Dalton in the weak female roles that could have been played by any young ingénue on the Warner lot.Alan Ladd is the Indian expert hired by President Grant to make peaceful overtures to the Modocs, headed by Bronson. Elisha Cook, Jr. is interesting as a corrupt Indian trader and most of the supporting roles get good results, especially in the action scenes, all of which are well-staged by director Daves. Especially good is a climactic fight between Ladd and Bronson as they tumble down a rushing stream and fall over the rocky terrain. Ladd seems to be doing most of his stunts in this action-packed scene.But otherwise, he delivers a rather stoic performance, showing barely any expression even in his brief love scenes with Audrey Dalton. Hard to tell if he was bored or just impatient with the routine script.All in all, worth watching for the action scenes and the handsome landscapes filmed in beautiful WideScreen Technicolor.

NewEnglandPat This western is one of Alan Ladd's best films and he is the peace commissioner turned Indian fighter who finally brings peace in the far west. The film is based on factual events as Modoc boss Captain Jack ignores repeated overtures for peace and leaves the cavalry no choice but to resort to arms to stop the killing and outrages. Ladd and Charles Bronson, the Indian leader, make fine adversaries and the movie has lots of action and beautiful scenery. A great cast of western favorites are in the film and Ladd even has a moment or two to clinch with with pretty Audrey Dalton. Marisa Pavan is an Indian maiden who also has a yen for Ladd. Delmer Daves directed this film, which is another in a succession of excellent Daves westerns. Victor Young's fine music accompanies the film.

Nazi_Fighter_David Delmer Daves' initial success came with the influential 'Broken Arrow,' which was a beautiful and humane film... Daves made another film about Indians, 'Drum Beat', which he recognizes to be the most authentic of his movies...The hallmark of Daves' Westerns is their authenticity... Where Ford pictured the West as it should have been, Daves has tried to recapture the West as it was...The film provides Bronson with his real break-through role as a screen actor... He makes indelible impression on audiences in his vivid role as the renegade Indian heavy Captain Jack who repudiates peace talk... Captain Jack is proud, ruthless and treacherous, scaring everybody plenty... The setting for this fact-based story is Oregon represented by location shooting in Northern Arizona's Coconino National Forest in 1872...Indian expert Johnny MacKay (Alan Ladd) is presidentially appointed as Peace Commissioner, assigned to effect a treaty, without resort to arms, with the Modoc Indians of the Oregon-California border...The Modoc majority leans toward the hoped-for peace, but a renegade band strongly resists, under the self-appointed leadership of the vicious Captain Jack (Bronson), whose men ravage the area and skirmish with the soldiers of Fort Klamath...In the film's exciting climax, MacKay personally tracks down Jack and battle him in fierce hand-to-hand combat into the sweeping current of a river...The sweet Audrey Dalton portrays the lovely eastern girl who loves Johnny 'more than any peace on earth.'Marisa Pavan is the friendly Toby who dares to believe that she can bring peace and goodwill to her people...Hayden Rorke is President Grant who knows in his heart that 'peace doesn't come cheaply.'Anthony Caruso is the friendly Modoc chief who never trust Captain Jack...Elisha Cook, Jr. is the unscrupulous trader who sells Winchesters to the Modoc Indians...Rodolfo Acosta is Scarface Charlie who warns Captain Jack: 'You kill, or they kill you.'Robert Keith is Bill the coachman, who yells after the murder of his woman, Lily: 'You dish out your peace, Johnny. I'll dish out my end.'"Drum Beat" is a lively item, thanks to Delmer Daves, who keeps the familiar story line moving at a fair clip... The material is trite but the production value gives it gloss, and the film benefits greatly from its applied research on Indian character...