''Death Drums Along the River'' (titled ''Sanders'' in the USA) is a 1963 British-German

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companies ...

, using the characters from

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...

's 1911 novel ''Sanders of the River'' and

Zoltán Korda Zoltan Korda (June 3, 1895 – October 13, 1961) was a Hungarian-born motion picture screenwriter, director and producer. He made his first film in Hungary in 1918, and worked with his brother Alexander Korda on film-making there and in London. ...

's 1935 film based on the novel, but placed in a totally different story. Filmed on location in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, it features

Richard Todd Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd (11 June 19193 December 2009) was an Irish-British actor known for his leading man roles of the 1950s. He received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, and an Academy Award for Best Actor n ...

and

Marianne Koch Marianne Koch (; born 19 August 1931) is a German actress of the 1950s and 1960s, best known for her appearances in Spaghetti Westerns and adventure films of the 1960s. She later worked as a television host and as a physician. Career Betwee ...

leading a cast of British, German and South African actors. The film was the first

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

of British producer

Harry Alan Towers Harry Alan Towers (19 October 1920 – 31 July 2009) was a British radio and independent film producer and screenwriter. He wrote numerous screenplays for the films he produced, often under the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over 80 ...

Plot

In an unnamed small British colony on the west coast of Africa, somewhat resembling

the Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

, and according to the dialogue next to

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

, two policemen patrolling a

wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...

sight a sack of

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

s dropped by

stevedore A stevedore (), also called a longshoreman, a docker or a dockworker, is a waterfront manual laborer who is involved in loading and unloading ships, trucks, trains or airplanes. After the shipping container revolution of the 1960s, the number o ...

s. As the sack breaks the workers discover a pouch in it that is quickly grabbed by a man who then runs away. The policemen chase him and he eventually kills one of them before disappearing. Police Commissioner Sanders (Todd) questions Pearson (Bill Brewer), a suspected criminal, but finds no information. At the same time a Dr Jung (Koch) arrives at the airport and is met by Todd's assistant,

Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

Hamilton (

Jeremy Lloyd John Jeremy Lloyd, OBE (22 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an English writer, screenwriter, author, poet and actor. He was the co-writer of several successful British sitcoms, including ''Are You Being Served?'' and '' 'Allo 'Allo!''. Ea ...

). Hamilton is pleasantly surprised that Dr Jung is both female and pretty. Dr Jung is going to see Dr Schneider who runs a clinic up-river, close to the colony's eastern border. Also on the plane with her is an American journalist (

Robert Arden Robert Arden (11 December 1922 – 25 March 2004) was an English film, television and radio actor born in LondonAaker, Everett (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 20-23. who worked and live ...

) who wishes to visit the clinic to do a story and turns out to be an old friend of Pearson. Commissioner Sanders begins to suspect that the clinic is a location for diamonds being smuggled across the border. He asks what distant drumming means and is told that they signal a funeral. He interrupts this native burial ceremony as he wishes to identify the body. They are allegedly burying the murderer from the first scene. Sanders doesn't believe this, but just as he finds the murderer and arrests him, a shot fires out, and truly kills him. Meanwhile it is revealed that Dr Schneider, who is very ill, is receiving a 10% dose of the drug he needs instead of 100%. He is aware of the diamonds on his land but wants to give it back to the natives when he dies. Ultimately it is his assistant Dr Weiss who is revealed as the smuggler.

Main cast

as Commissioner Harry Sanders *

as Dr Inge Jung *

Albert Lieven Albert Lieven (born Albert Fritz Liévin; 22 June 1906 – 22 December 1971) was a German actor. Early life Lieven was born in Hohenstein, East Prussia (Olszynek, Poland). His father was the head physician of the Tuberculosis sanatorium H ...

as Dr Weiss *

Walter Rilla Walter Rilla (22 August 1894 – 21 November 1980) was a German film actor of Jewish descent. Siegbert Salomon Prawer, ''Between Two Worlds: The Jewish Presence in German and Austrian Film, 1910-1933'', Berghahn Books (2007), pg. 213 He appe ...

as Dr Schneider *

as Hamilton *

as Hunter *

Vivi Bach Vivi Bach (3 September 1939 – 22 April 2013) was a Danish film actress. She appeared in 48 films between 1958 and 1974. Bach was born as Vivi Bak in Copenhagen, Denmark, and died on Ibiza, Spain, where she lived with her husband, the Aus ...

as Marlene * Bill Brewer as Pearson * Simon Sabela as Bosambo

Sequel

Todd reprised the role of Harry Sanders in '

Coast of Skeletons ''Coast of Skeletons'' is a 1965 adventure film, directed by Robert Lynn and starring Richard Todd and Dale Robertson. It is a sequel to the 1963 film ''Death Drums Along the River'', and just as that film, it uses the characters from Edgar W ...

'' (1965).

Production

produced several films in South Africa with financing from

Constantin Film The Constantin Film AG is a German mini-major film production and distribution company based in Munich. The company, which belongs to Swiss media conglomerate Highlight Communications AG, is a large independent German maker and distributor of pr ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

and casts of actors from that country. The film was marketed in West Germany as one of the then popular series of

films, but it has very little to do with Wallace's novel ''Sanders of the River'', or the previous films based on it, apart from the name Sanders and the boat ''Zaire'', though here it is a small motorboat rather than a steamer. The intertribal warfare in Wallace's work has been replaced by a standard detective story involving murder and diamond-smuggling. The fictional colony is not given a name, but in the spirit of the times Dr Jung asks Sanders what he will do when it is granted independence and Sanders replies that he will stay on "if they'll have me". Richard Todd had been in Africa filming ''

The Hellions ''The Hellions'' is a 1961 British adventure film directed by Ken Annakin starring Richard Todd, Anne Aubrey, Lionel Jeffries, Ronald Fraser and Colin Blakely that was set and filmed in South Africa. Plot A lone law enforcement officer, Sam ...

'' and was attempting to produce a film of

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...

's ''

The Diamond Smugglers ''The Diamond Smugglers'' is a non-fiction work by Ian Fleming that was first published in 1957 in the United Kingdom and in 1958 in the United States. The book is based on two weeks of interviews Fleming undertook with John Collard, a member o ...

''.

Locations

The film was shot in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

Durban North Durban North is an area to the north of Durban in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Durban North lies between the N2 freeway and the eastern seashore, with the Umgeni River forming its southern boundary. It ha ...

, Zululand and Lake St Lucia.

Notes

External links

* {{Harry Alan Towers 1963 films 1960s adventure drama films British adventure drama films German adventure drama films West German films 1960s English-language films English-language German films English-language South African films Films set in Africa Films shot in South Africa Films based on works by Edgar Wallace Films based on British novels South African adventure drama films Constantin Film films 1963 drama films 1960s British films 1960s German films