Drum Beat

Drum Beat
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDelmer Daves
Written byDelmer Daves
Produced byDelmer Daves
Alan Ladd (uncredited)
StarringAlan Ladd
Audrey Dalton
Marisa Pavan
CinematographyJ. Peverell Marley
Edited byClarence Kolster
Music byVictor Young
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • November 10, 1954 (1954-11-10)
Running time
111 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.1 million[1]
Box office$3 million (US)[2]

Drum Beat is a 1954 American CinemaScope Western film in WarnerColor written and directed by Delmer Daves and co-produced by Daves and Alan Ladd[3] in his first film for his Jaguar Productions company. Ladd stars along with Audrey Dalton, Charles Bronson as Captain Jack, and Hayden Rorke as President Ulysses S. Grant.[3]

The story uses elements of the 1873 Modoc War in its narrative, with Ladd playing a white man asked by the U.S. Army to attempt negotiations with Native Modocs who are about to wage war.

An early role for Charles Bronson (originally Buchinsky), who plays Captain Jack as a memorable villain wearing the coat of a deceased US Cavalry Captain. Prior to murdering General Edward Canby (Warner Anderson) during a peace negotiation, Bronson's character puts on a General's coat and announces to the audience "Me GENERAL Jack now!"

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference tcm was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1955', Variety Weekly, January 25, 1956
  3. ^ a b "Drum Beat". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 3, 2024.