Drango

Jeff Chandler in the title role of Clint Drango has a disagreeable and difficult duty to perform as military governor of a small Georgia town that not even a year before he had ridden through with General Sherman's army. They did not leave much standing and when the town learns of his military record, Chandler's not left with much support for the difficult job he's trying to do. To bring peace to a conquered and proud people.

The film starts with the lynching of northern sympathizer Morris Ankrum and his daughter Joanne Dru though she hates Chandler at first for not sending Ankrum to safety, she becomes his biggest supporter mainly because she has nowhere else to go.

Behind the resistance is former Confederate officer Ronald Howard who never looked more like his father Leslie than in this film. He was certainly evocative of Ashley Wilkes another Georgia aristocrat. Donald Crisp is Howard's father here and Julie London is another southern aristocrat who Howard uses to gain information. Of course Ashley's attitude toward the conquering Yankees was light years different than than Ronald Howard's in Drango.

Drango's not a bad western, but quite frankly the total absence of blacks from the film is puzzling. There are places in the south which did not have cotton plantations and hence no significant black population at the time of the Civil War. But looking at the mansions that Crisp and London have belies that notion for this section of Georgia.

That absence makes Drango a decent, but very flawed picture.

Intriguing bit of history circa 1865, as a Union Army major is assigned to bring law and order to a burnt-out, starving Georgia town, but finds the residents hostile to post-Civil War change. Director Hall Bartlett also wrote and co-produced this forgotten film for United Artists, which deals with some complex issues and fiercely tangled emotions and loyalties. Jeff Chandler is forthright in the lead, attempting to do his job politely and carefully, unarmed, but forced to fight an entire town seemingly bent on destruction and savagery. The dramatic scope of the proceedings is minimized for a 90-minute format, and the circumstances Bartlett chooses to focus on--a local man's trial, a tyrannical land baron's desired leadership--nearly reduces the power the director manages to build up in smaller corners (such as Chandler bringing a winter coat to an orphaned youngster). The absence of blacks (the freed slaves) is noticeable, though judging the movie on what is presented culls up much bigger problems. The townsfolk flip-flop laughably between the two sides (vicariously cheering evil, glinty-eyed Southerner Ronald Howard one minute, then turning inward and solemn once Chandler's Major Drango takes the floor). We don't see a full-scale view of what is transpiring personally within these people's lives (probably due to a limited budget), and so are forced to rely on the performances (which are adept) and the direction (the writing being alternately too soft and too harsh). The brutalities inherent to the scenario are discreetly presented--with one very important murder happening off-screen--but the affects are still quite strong. An intriguing drama for history buffs. ** from ****

A rather dour Reconstruction Western that's probably too earnest for its own good. Writer Hall Bartlett's heart is in the right place—reconciling North and South following the Civil War. Union Major Drango (Chandler) wants to unite rebellious Confederate town around a regime of humane occupation, despite widespread resistance. The supporting cast is familiar from about every popular TV series of the day—Stone, Phillips, Sande, Ankrum, Baer. Too bad the powerful Donald Crisp is largely wasted in a circumscribed role, and why Julie London's presence other than to build box-office appeal is unclear to me. In fact, her romantic subplot with Lupton sprawls the story without strengthening it.

Also, reviewer Lorenellroy is right—Chandler's major comes across as too stiff and unappealing for a central character. His besieged Major should be serious, but the seriousness is finally carried to a deadening degree. Bartlett was interesting as a producer, especially with Navajo and Unchained. Here, however, I'm afraid he tries to do too much with a screenplay that ends up in too many talky subplots. Then too, direction should have been left to a better stylist since the core material had potential.

In passing—note that no reference to slavery or appearance of a black person occurs anywhere in the movie, a rather startling omission for a film dealing with the post-Civil War South. My guess is that the producers, like others of the period, didn't want to risk dealing with a sensitive subject at a time when Jim Crow laws still prevailed below the Mason-Dixon Line. Anyway, considering the number of Westerns on TV and in theatres in 1957, it's probably not surprising that despite good intentions and a fine performance from Joanne Dru this dour little oddity has remained lost in the mix.

DRANGO is a sturdy little western that has an interesting tale to tell but doesn't quite fulfill its potential as a saga about a town in Georgia that is still bristling with hostility over what the dirty Yanks have done to their burned out village. And what they have yet to learn is that Major Clint Drango (JEFF CHANDLER) had a large part in destroying and pillaging the town under orders from Sherman to do exactly that. Now he's involved in the town's reconstruction.

It's an interesting story, directed in crisp, no nonsense fashion with the major finding out just how hard his job is going to be the moment he sets foot in town with his helpmate Captain Marc Banning, played by JOHN LUPTON. He also has to contend with a woman (JOANNE DRU) who has her own reasons for despising him until she learns that he's a caring man who is only seeking justice in a town torn apart by hatred and fear.

The villain of the piece is Clay Allen (RONALD HOWARD), the man who opposes Drango every step of the way, leading an angry mob to hang Dru's father before his trial can even begin. Julie London is wasted in a colorless supporting role. Ronald Howard is the spitting image of his father, LESLIE HOWARD, only a bit finer in features--but he has the same walk, the same voice pattern and was, judging from this film, a very competent actor.

Overall, it's an unusual western with some slow spots but it's a western best appreciated by Civil War fans.

Either previous reviewers are confused as to exactly who John Lupton is or they're not watching the same movie I am. Previous reviewers state that Lupton's character Capt. Banning is out for revenge against the south-Incorrect! Banning is Major Drango's adjutant. His role in the film is more of a "spear carrier" than anything else. "Capt. escort the lady home"-"Capt. Go get the Doctor"- He expresses almost no opinion through out the film except on Christmas day when he tells the Major he needs to take a day off.

Another reviewer has confused the characters completely and has Capt. Banning as the son of the Judge when in actually it is Ronald Howard, the Confedrete Villin...

On the whole I thought this was a good plot but to squeezed into a short film to explore the subject properly. I like Jeff Chandler, but he overacts way to much in this one.