The Drum

Exactly what you would expect from the era in which it was produced and given the man behind its production. A rip-roaring adventure yarn which attempts to convince its audience it is set in (then-)modern times, (with radio transmitters strapped onto to pack mules and attempts to slip in 'contemporary' songs, (of which more below)), but whose heart is really in the 1890s or thereabouts, extolling the virtues of British rule of the Raj, the comradeship formed across races by jointly facing adversity and evil plotters aiming to overthrow British rule - all wrapped up in a Kiplingnesque atmosphere and with LOTS of bagpipe music, highland dancing and marching ranks of soldiers. The acting/screen presence of Sabu and Roger Livesey are very good and commanding, as is also the case with Raymond Massey, (always watchable in any case), as the scheming 'baddie'. Val Hobson appears suitably 'fragant' and stiff-lipped in the lead female role, BUT whoever was responsible for the idea of getting her to mime to the 'contemporary' love song inserted in one of the dinner party scenes should certainly have been handed over to the insurgents for a VERY slow and agonising end! Conclusion: switch off the PC monitor, go back seventy years and just go with the flow of an entertainment movie which will zip by rapidly and leave you feeling you have spent 90 minutes in a care-free manner, (especially if you can hit the mute button when 'that song' comes on!)