''Apache Drums'' is a 1951 American
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
film directed by
Hugo Fregonese
Hugo Geronimo Fregonese (April 8, 1908 in Mendoza – January 11, 1987 in Tigre) was an Argentine film director and screenwriter who worked both in Hollywood and his home country.''Cine Nacional''Hugo Fregonese filmographyCinenacional.com
...
and produced by
Val Lewton
Val Lewton (May 7, 1904 – March 14, 1951) was a Russian-American novelist, film producer and screenwriter best known for a string of low-budget horror films he produced for RKO Pictures in the 1940s. His son, also named Val Lewton, was a paint ...
. The drama features
Stephen McNally
Stephen McNally (born Horace Vincent McNally; July 29, 1911 – June 4, 1994) was an American actor remembered mostly for his appearances in many Westerns and action films. He often played hard-hearted characters, criminals, bullies, and othe ...
,
Coleen Gray
Coleen Gray (born Doris Bernice Jensen; October 23, 1922 – August 3, 2015) was an American actress. She was best known for her roles in the films '' Nightmare Alley'' (1947), '' Red River'' (1948), and Stanley Kubrick's '' The Killing'' ( ...
, and
Willard Parker
Willard Parker (born Worster Van Eps; February 5, 1912 – December 4, 1996) was an American film and television actor. He was a leading man under contract to Columbia Pictures in the 1940s and starred in the TV series ''Tales of the Texas Rang ...
. The film was based on an original story: ''Stand at Spanish Boot'', by
Harry Brown. ''Apache Drums'' was the last film Val Lewton produced before his death.
Plot
A notorious gambler is thrown out of a small town named Spanish Boot, but he quickly returns when he discovers the town is threatened by the
Mescalero Apaches
Mescalero or Mescalero Apache ( apm, Naa'dahéńdé) is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan–speaking Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation, located in south-ce ...
led by Chief Victorio.
Cast
*
Stephen McNally
Stephen McNally (born Horace Vincent McNally; July 29, 1911 – June 4, 1994) was an American actor remembered mostly for his appearances in many Westerns and action films. He often played hard-hearted characters, criminals, bullies, and othe ...
as Sam Leeds
*
Coleen Gray
Coleen Gray (born Doris Bernice Jensen; October 23, 1922 – August 3, 2015) was an American actress. She was best known for her roles in the films '' Nightmare Alley'' (1947), '' Red River'' (1948), and Stanley Kubrick's '' The Killing'' ( ...
as Sally
*
Willard Parker
Willard Parker (born Worster Van Eps; February 5, 1912 – December 4, 1996) was an American film and television actor. He was a leading man under contract to Columbia Pictures in the 1940s and starred in the TV series ''Tales of the Texas Rang ...
as Joe Madden
*
Arthur Shields
Arthur Shields (15 February 1896 – 27 April 1970) was an Irish actor on television, stage and film.
Early years
Born into an Irish Protestant family in Portobello, Dublin, Shields started acting in the Abbey Theatre when he was 17 years old. ...
as Reverend Griffin
*
James Griffith
James Jeffrey Griffith (February 13, 1916 – September 17, 1993) was an American character actor, musician and screenwriter.
Education
Griffith attended Santa Monica High School, where he was a classmate with Glenn Ford. Both were active in s ...
as Lt. Glidden
*
Armando Silvestre
Armando Silvestre Carrascosa (born January 28, 1926) is a Mexican-American actor.
Life and career
Silvestre was born on January 28, 1926 in San Diego, California, but he is originally from Tijuana, Mexico. He dropped out of college in order to ...
as Pedro-Peter
*
Georgia Backus
Georgia Belden Backus (October 13, 1901 – September 7, 1983) was an American character actress on stage, radio and screen. She was also a writer, director and producer of radio dramas. In 1930 she was named dramatic director of the Columbia Bro ...
as Mrs. Keon
*
Clarence Muse
Clarence Muse (October 14, 1889 – October 13, 1979) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, singer, and composer. He was the first African American to appear in a starring role in a film, 1929's ''Hearts in Dixie''. He acted for ...
as Jehu
*
Ruthelma Stevens
Ruthelma Stevens (1903–1984) was an American film actress.Solomon p.357
Filmography
References
Bibliography
* Solomon, Aubrey. ''The Fox Film Corporation, 1915-1935: A History and Filmography''. McFarland, 2011.
External links
*
190 ...
as Betty Careless
*
James Best
Jewel Franklin Guy (July 26, 1926 – April 6, 2015), known professionally as James Best, was an American television, film, stage, and voice actor, as well as a writer, director, acting coach, artist, college professor, and musician. Duri ...
as Bert Keon
* Chinto Guzman as Chacho
* Ray Bennett as Mr. Keon
Reception
When the film was released ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' gave the film a mixed review and wrote, "''Apache Drums'' is tense and exciting fare when its green and red-painted Indians, yelping and keening, ride to attack or literally bite the dust with authentic thuds. When it is loquaciously appraising its principals, it is, to quote one of them, 'kind of dull and tame.'"
Recently, film critic Dennis Schwartz reviewed the film favorably, writing, "It's the kind of effective kickass B western where the cavalry comes in the nick of time to rescue the white folks from the attacking Indians. Director Hugo Fregonese (''Untamed Frontier'') gives a nod to Lewton's eye for detail and shadowy photography...David Chandler turns in a crisp screenplay that's always tense and filled with exciting action sequences except when he keeps things too chatty, which tamps down the narrative with a dull soap opera romantic feud...Pretty darn good stuff for such a modest western, showing that it takes all kinds to be brave and that the worst situation might bring out the best in a man."
''
Time Out Londons review was also complimentary, writing, "Beautifully staged by Fregonese, especially the climactic attack on the church where the survivors make their stand, with painted Apaches erupting through the high windows like demons from hell. Val Lewton's last production, it is full of touches instantly recognisable from his RKO series: the subtle ambivalence undermining attitudes and ethical principles, the generous stance against racism, the concern for childhood (the gambler distracts the frightened kids with an exhibition of
sleight of hand
Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' ()) refers to fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card ...
), the love of traditional songs (the kids led into a chorus of '
Oranges and Lemons
"Oranges and Lemons" is a traditional English nursery rhyme, folksong, and singing game which refers to the bells of several churches, all within or close to the City of London. It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index as No 13190. The earlies ...
'; the minister countering the Apache chanting by launching into '
The Men of Harlech')."
''Time Out London''
Film review. Last accessed: February 11, 2011
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Apache Drums
1951 films
1950s historical films
1951 Western (genre) films
American historical films
American Western (genre) films
Western (genre) cavalry films
Apache Wars films
1950s English-language films
Films based on American novels
Films based on Western (genre) novels
Films directed by Hugo Fregonese
Films produced by Val Lewton
Films set in the 1880s
Films shot in California
Universal Pictures films
Films scored by Hans J. Salter
1950s American films