Product Details

• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Color, Widescreen, NTSC
• Running time: 111 minutes

Customer Reviews

"Alan Ladd Series ... Drum Beat (1954) ... Warner Bros."
Warner Bros. presents "DRUM BEAT" (17 November 1954) (111 mins/Color) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- Alan Walbridge Ladd was an American film actor appeared in dozens of films in bits and small roles, including Citizen Kane --- These barely kept him and his household afloat --- He had married a high-school acquaintance, Midge Harrold, with whom he had a son, Alan Ladd, Jr that ended in a divorce in 1941.

Ladd married his agent/manager and former movie actress Sue Carol in 1942 --- It was at this point that Carol found a vehicle which made Ladd's career, "This Gun for Hire" --- His performance as a hitman with a conscience made him a sensation --- Ladd went on to become one of Paramount Pictures' most popular stars --- A brief timeout for military service with the United States Army Air Force's First Motion Picture Unit did not diminish his popularity --- None of his subsequent films of the 1940s were as notable as "This Gun for Hire", but he did appear to good effect in Raymond Chandler's story "The Blue Dahlia" (1946) alongside the similarly diminutive Veronica Lake (5'2" or 1.57 m), with whom he had been paired in "This Gun for Hire" (1942) --- His Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950) was notable for its soundtrack containing Nat King Cole's classic song, "Mona Lisa".

He formed his own production companies for film and radio and starred in his own syndicated series "Box 13", which ran from 1948 to 1949 --- In 1956, Ladd proposed a television series based on his radio series "Box 13". The idea didn't sell. Ladd himself had played his "Box 13" character Dan Holiday in the "Committed" episode of "General Electric Theater" (1953) on television. In 1963, Ladd said he hoped to reunite several of his 1940s era co-stars, including William Bendix and Veronica Lake, for a big screen version of "Box 13" --- He and Veronica Lake made seven movies together: "The Blue Dahlia" (1946), "Duffy's Tavern" (1945), "The Glass Key" (1942), "Saigon" (1948), "Star Spangled Rhythm" (1942), "This Gun for Hire" (1942) and "Variety Girl" (1947). "In Variety Girl" (1947), "Star Spangled Rhythm" (1942) and "Duffy's Tavern" (1945), they appear as themselves.

Ladd became most famous for his title role as a gunslinger in the classic 1953 western "Shane" --- Ladd made the Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll 3 times, in 1947, 1953 and 1954 --- Alan Ladd has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1601 Vine Street --- His handprint appears in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theater, in Hollywood -- (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Under the production staff of:
Delmer Daves - Director / Screenwriter / Producer
Alan Ladd - Producer
J. Peverell Marley - Cinematographer
Victor Young - Composer (Music Score)
Clarence Kolster - Editor
Leo K. Kuter - Art Director
William L. Kuehl - Set Designer
H.F. Koenekamp - Special Effects
Ben Corbett - Consultant/advisor
George Ross - Consultant/advisor

Our story line and plot, President Ulysses S. Grant (Hayden Rorke) orders Indian fighter Johnny MacKay (Alan Ladd) to negotiate with the Modocs of northern California and southern Oregon --- On the way he must escort Nancy Meek (Audrey Dalton) to the home of her aunt and uncle. After Modoc renegade Captain Jack (Charles Bronson) engages in ambush and other atrocities, MacKay must fight him one-on-one with guns, knives and fists --- Based on a true story Director Delmer Daves wrote the story & screenplay, the film is distinguished by J. Peverell Marley's breathtaking exterior photography, and by Victor Young's ballad-like musical score --- For the first and only time an American general was killed during the wars against the Indian tribes --- The little known Modoc war was another of those lesser known conflicts, as action against the Sioux on the Great Plains and the Apache in the Arizona desert got far more attention.

the cast includes:
Alan Ladd ... Johnny MacKay
Audrey Dalton ... Nancy Meek
Marisa Pavan ... Toby
Robert Keith ... Bill Satterwhite
Rodolfo Acosta ... Scarface Charlie
Charles Bronson ... Kintpuash, aka Captain Jack
Warner Anderson ... Gen. Canby
Elisha Cook Jr. ... Blaine Crackel
Anthony Caruso ... Manok
Richard Gaines ... Dr. Thomas
Hayden Rorke ... President Ulysses S. Grant
Frank DeKova ... Modoc Jim
Perry Lopez ... Bogus Charlie
Isabel Jewell ... Lily White
Peggy Converse ... Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant
Pat Lawless ... O'Brien
Frank Ferguson ... Mr. Dyar
George J. Lewis ... Capt. Alonzo Clark
Peter Hansen ... Lt. Goodsall
Willis Bouchey ... Gen. Gilliam
Strother Martin ... Scotty
Edgar Stehli ... Jesse Grant
Richard H. Cutting ... Col. Meek
Michael Daves ... Young Boddy (as Mike Lawrence)
George Lloyd ... Settler
Denver Pyle ... Fairchild

SPECIAL FEATURES:
BIO:
1. Alan Ladd
Date of Birth: 3 September 1913 - Hot Springs, Arkansas
Date of Death: 29 January 1964 - Palm Springs, California

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc) and Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") as they have rekindled my interest once again for B-Westerns and Serials --- If you're into the memories of B-Westerns with high drama, this is the one you've been anxiously waiting for --- please stand up and take a bow Western Classics --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 111 min on DVD ~ Warner Bros. ~ (9/13/2005)

"Drum Beat" is Ladd's best film since "Shane."
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...