The Drum

Fun little movie that depicts the British and Indians living in some sort of Utopia together, with an evil villain (Raymond Massey, hamming it up with a vengeance) planning to slaughter the British troops at a banquet. It's up to his prince nephew, Sabu--the greatest of all child actors--to stop him. Definitely politically incorrect (although not outright racist), but with a lot of heart and humor. The humor disappears at the end in place of heavy suspense, and it's all wrapped up with a rousing, drawn-out battle scene. Hey, any movie with Scottish highlanders singing around a campfire is worth watching if you ask me. And it's in Technicolor to boot. 7/10.

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!)

From 'Kim' to 'Carry On up the Khyber', from the famous to the infamous (stand up, Harry Flashman!), the North-West Frontier has proved a fertile source of conflict both fictional and historical... and deposed rulers and fiery mullahs have figured largely from that day to this. The plot of 'The Drum' cribs heavily (and at one point openly, with an impudently-inserted piece of dialogue listing the historical parallels that had been niggling at me!) from real-life events, especially in Afghanistan, and as other stories before and since have been based on the same material, this can result in a certain 'seen-it-all-before' sensation. But the winning element in this film is the touch of humanity and humour which helps the characters to become more than cardboard templates, from the drummer-boy and his misfortunes to the wry jests of the newly-appointed British representative walking open-eyed into a trap. Not to mention that, after a spate of films with seemingly pointless titles, I found it obscurely satisfying to encounter one where the eponymous instrument is actually significant both to the plot and its climax!

The always-excellent Sabu steals the film, as ever, in his role first as a self-possessed princeling and then as a fugitive in exile from his throne; the romantic leads, while well-performed, are less memorable. The tension in the banquet scene is tangible, and Raymond Massey as the usurper brings brains as well as menace to his role. The one element that rather shocked me -- with the exception of the inadvertent glimpse of buttock that reveals exactly what Scotsmen do or don't wear under their kilts! -- was the scene in which the said usurper is shot down by our wounded hero in cold blood, having thrown down his weapon. It's not customary for such an act to be depicted in an apparently approving manner; and certainly not in a film of this period...

I must admit that the question of the period itself had me slightly puzzled, although the mention of syncopation in the drum part for the dance should have given me a clue. I had automatically assumed the story to be set in nineteenth-century India in the heyday of the Raj rather than the contemporary world, and with few European civilian fashions on display, there was nothing to disabuse me of this until the heroine made an appearance in jodhpurs, which came as something of a shock! (And the subconscious resonance with the valleys of 'Carry On up the Khyber' turns out to be based in fact: locations from both were shot in Wales...)

But 'The Drum' is a rousing adventure as they used to make 'em, in the tradition of 'Charge of the Light Brigade' or 'Northwest Frontier'; if you like the genre, this one is a cracker.

Plot-- British colonial rule in parts of India is imperiled by the murder of the local monarch by his sinister brother (Massey). Now the British contingent (Livesey, Hobson, et al.) must rely on the young pro-British nephew (Sabu) to rally against the usurper.

As a boy growing up in a small mid-western town, I never missed this epic and its companion feature Four Feathers (1939) in our theater. After all, where else in pre-TV middle America could all that scenic exotica be seen. The be-turbaned Indian natives, the be-skirted English soldiers, the high mountain passes, all in rich Technicolor, along with the rich pageantry of masses of people moving here and there. And shouldn't forget the crackling, if somewhat clichéd, storyline, along with a charmingly youthful Sabu, a gloweringly sinister Raymond Massey, and a slim, long-limbed Valerie Hobson. Then there's that thundering drum, along with slinky native girls and twirling British Highlanders. The Korda's certainly spared no expense and it shows, from spirited opening to satisfying close. Sure, the subtext amounts to British colonial propaganda that no longer wears well. Still, the lavish spectacle remains, a treat for the eye. Of course, I've changed in many ways from those earlier days, but the Korda production can still entertain and impress, if given half a chance.

A wicked Khan plans to use THE DRUM perched high up in his palace walls to signal the massacre of British soldiers invited to a banquet.

Sir Alexander Korda's London Films was responsible for this lively Technicolor action film which boasted outdoor scenes shot near the North-West Frontier with the assistance of the Mehtar of Chitral. It blends excitement, humor & history - definitely from a British viewpoint - into an attractive package sure to entertain the viewer lucky enough to find it.

Indian actor Sabu stars as the young Prince of Tokot who finds his life suddenly become very dangerous when he's forced to flee his usurping uncle and accept protection from the British Raj. Plummy-voiced Roger Livesey plays the Raj's stalwart envoy to Tokot who must find a way to stop the import of weapons to the evil new Khan, Raymond Massey, who is fomenting a rebellion. All three actors play their parts very well, with Massey especially attacking his villainous role with gusto.

Also in the cast are Valerie Hobson as Livesey's courageous wife; David Tree as a junior officer; and corpulent Francis L. Sullivan as the local Governor in Peshawar. Alfred Goddard appears unbilled as the hapless private Kelly.

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Born Sabu Dastagir in 1924, Sabu was employed in the Maharaja of Mysore's stables when he was discovered by Korda's company and set before the cameras. His first four films (ELEPHANT BOY-1937, THE DRUM-1938, THE THIEF OF BAGDAD-1940, JUNGLE BOOK-1942) were his best and he found himself working out of Hollywood when they were completed. After distinguished military service in World War II he resumed his film career, but he became endlessly confined for years playing ethnic roles in undistinguished minor films, BLACK NARCISSUS (1947) being the one great exception. His final movie, Walt Disney's A TIGER WALKS (1964) was an improvement, but it was too late. Sabu had died of a heart attack in late 1963, only 39 years of age.