User Reviews

"Drums Across the River" is another of the excellent 80 minute Audie Murphy westerns turned out by Universal in the 1950s. This one has a fine supporting cast filled with recognizable faces.

The story in brief has all of the gold mines around Crown City Colorado being played out and the only way to save the town is to cross the river into Ute Indian lands and mine the gold found there. Gary Brannon (Murphy) is conned into helping unscrupulous townsman Frank Walker (Lyle Bettger) convince the town elders to support a trek across the river into Indian lands. Gary's father Sam (Walter Brennan) tries to prevent him.

After the group crosses the river Walker along with his two brothers (James Anderson, George Wallace) and the Costa brothers (Bob Steele, Lane Bradford) incite an attack on the Indians sent to stop them. Townsman Nathan Marlowe (Emil Meyer) is captured by the Utes. An Indian brave is also captured by Gary and an exchange is arranged. Sam having been wounded allows Gary to go in his place to the Indian village.

Meanwhile Frank Walker sends for all in black gunman Morgan (Hugh O'Brian) to assist him. Later, Walker stages an "Indian attack" on the stage where a gold shipment is stolen. Gary gets blamed for the resulting deaths and ends up being tried for murder. In bargaining for his life, Gary agrees to lead the bad guys to the gold but..............

Others appearing in the cast include Lisa Gaye as the good girl, Mara Corday as the bad girl, Morris Ankrum as the dying Chief, Chief Yowlachie as the Ute Medicine Man, Howard McNear as townsman Stillwell, Regis Toomey as the town Sheriff and Robert Bray and Edmund Cobb in other roles.

Audie Murphy was a better actor than most give him credit for. His portrayal of the prejudiced Gary is quite good. Brennan has a few good moments in the early part of the film but is tied up for most of the second half. Lyle Bettger was one of the best of the smooth talking villains of the 50s. He would appear with Murphy again in "Destry" the following year. Bob Steele and Lane Bradford, veterans of the "B" westerns of the 40s have hardly any lines although Steele gets to work Brennan over and has a campfire fight with Murphy.

One of the better Murphy westerns.

As this film opens with Gary Brannon preparing to lead a group of men in to the San Juan Mountains; the mountains are the territory of the Ute Indians but with no other gold left near the mining town of Crown City people are prepared to take a chance and cross the river into the San Juans. Gary's father tries to persuade him not to go but he ignores him; shortly after the group leaves his father is attacked; that doesn't stop him heading after the group though. They don't get far into Ute territory before they get jumped and one of the group is captured. Gary captures an Indian and thanks to his father's negotiating they trade him for the captured man. This wasn't what Walker, the man who hired Gary wanted... he wanted to ferment a war with the Indians so that the army could be called in to force them off their land and into a reservation. To this end he and his men open fire on the departing Indians killing many of them. A war seems inevitable but Gary goes to the Indians alone and talks to the new chief; it looks like he has established a peace but Walker hasn't given up yet. He has a second plan that will frame the Brannon's for a robbery and make it look as though they were working with the Utes... Gary will have his work cut out if he is to save his father, avoid getting hanged and prevent a war!

This is another solid western staring Audie Murphy; as usual he does a fine job as the hero. His character is given a bit of depth by the fact that he can't forgive the Utes because one of them killed his mother; we later learn that the killer was the chief's son and the chief had him killed for his crime... of course Gary comes to see that he can't judge a people by the actions of one man and comes to respect them. The bad guys are suitably villainous; Lyle Bettger does a decent job as the devious Walker and Hugh O'Brian is menacing as the hired gun Morgan. Director Nathan Juran kept the action going nicely with fistfights, shootouts and villains being dragged behind Indian horses. Filmed in California, as were so many B Westerns, rather than in Colorado the film still looks good with some spectacular scenery shot in vivid Technicolor. While this isn't a classic I'm sure fans of the genre will enjoy it.

Crown City, Colorado was born and built on gold, but by 1880 the town was tapped out, with the only remaining mineral left to mine located in the San Juan Mountains, right in the middle of Ute Indian Territory. Gary Brannon (Audie Murphy) is on the side of the miners, and wants to see his town survive along with it's citizens. But father Sam (Walter Brennan) has been able to maintain an uneasy peace with the Utes and their Chief Ouray (Morris Ankrum), even after the death of his wife at the hands of a drunken Ute brave. Gary finds it harder to forgive and forget, and would rather consider all Indians his enemy based on the actions of a few.

Heavy Frank Walker (Lyle Bettger) leads the mining faction and insists on creating havoc with the Indians, finding ways to undo the truce established with the Utes by the elder Brannon. He brings in a black clad gunman named Morgan, enthusiastically portrayed by Hugh O'Brian in an uncharacteristic role. The future TV Wyatt Earp plays his part with gusto until brought down by Gary.

Ouray's son Taos (Jay Silverheels) becomes Chief when the elder Indian dies, setting the stage for what will figure in the movie's finale. With young Brannon present for the Chief's burial on sacred ground, Taos warns him never to return at the risk of death. Knowing this, and having been framed for murder by Walker, Brannon leads Walker and his men into the sacred mountain area to be ambushed by the Utes, thereby risking his own neck in order to save it.

In 1954, Jay Silverheels was still in the middle of his co-starring role as Tonto in the Lone Ranger Television Series. In this film though, he's brought to more regal bearing as the Indian Chief Taos, and looks particularly impressive in full war bonnet. For his part, the young Audie Murphy looks a bit out of his element among the heavies of the film, though he manages to prevail against every henchman presented. The film ends with the Utes and the Crown City citizens exchanging mining rights for hunting privileges on each other's side of the mountains, a reasonable enough compromise that probably could have been worked out without the bloodshed, but then, there wouldn't have been a story.

Director: NATHAN JURAN. Screenplay: John K. Butler, Lawrence Roman. Story: John K. Butler. Photographed in Technicolor by Harold Lipstein. Film editor: Virgil Vogel. Art directors: Bernard Herzbrun and Richard H. Riedel. Set decorators: Russell A. Gausman and Julia Heron. Costumes: Jay Morley. Make-up: Bud Westmore. Hair styles: Joan St Oegger. Assistant director: Tom Shaw. Sound recording: Leslie I. Carey and Richard DeWeese. Producer: Melville Tucker.

Copyright 11 May 1954 by Universal Pictures Co, inc. A Universal- International picture. No New York opening. U.S. release: 1 June 1954. U.K. release through G.F.D. on the lower half of a double bill: 2 October 1954. Australian release: 10 December 1954. 6,913 feet. 77 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: A villainous white man tries to stir up an Indian war for his own commercial advantage.

COMMENT: Very attractively photographed. The studio night scenes particularly appeal. The camera-work reveals a dramatic depth of creative composition not usually associated with the work of Nathan Juran (though the man is a former art director after all).

A few other inventive touches like the track ahead to the tree stump and the constantly clever use of pans in establishing shots, lend Mr Juran's direction even added luster and style. The exteriors are equally impressive. In fact, production values generally — even though lumbered with one or two obvious stock shots — are of an unusually high order.

Unfortunately, the script and most of the players are something else again. The story is almost an entry in the unusual alliances cycle, except that this device is not over-emphasized in the manner of many later movies. Lyle Bettger, as usual, shines as the smiling heavy.

It's also great to find Bob Steele in a meaty role as a bad-favored henchman. But Lisa Gaye makes a ridiculous if well-proportioned heroine, whilst Mara Corday is only slightly more credible as Bettger's moll. Still, neither girl has much of a part.

"Drums Across the River" boasts enough action to satisfy the fans, even if the doubles do all the work.

This stellar western, by a great director, is definitely worth looking into, and definitely a highlight from what is often proclaimed as the "golden age" of the genre.

The actors all do an incredible job, and most of them are pretty well known and good names, conveying the story beautifully, it is filled with the usual and right amount of bloodshed, drama and action that one would expect from such filmd. Pretty decent script, overall.

The cinematography, cutting and editing is very good, all around very fluid, and beautifully put together.

All around, definitely an exciting and well made western, and one that I would very much recommend!

Audie Murphy's motion picture career peaked in the 1950s, when he was cast in a series of westerns at Universal. As a war hero whose military achievements were well-known to Americans, he was a natural choice for these types of movies. He was not a theatrically trained actor, but he seems to learn as he goes, giving stronger performances in each subsequent picture.

In DRUMS ACROSS THE RIVER, he works nicely alongside Walter Brennan who plays his dad. Their performance styles are different, which adds to the dimension of their scenes together. In the movie, they are a father-son team that runs a freight business. While hauling cargo, they have to contend with others who stand in the way of their success. Some serious obstacles must be overcome.

One obstacle involves a slick operator (Lyle Bettger) who aims to stir up trouble with a nearby native tribe. Bettger's goal is to embroil the local settlers in a war with the natives, so that they will be too busy fighting...and this will make it easier for his men to steal gold and transport it out of the region.

Because Murphy's character has already forged a truce with the native leader (Jay Silverheels) and is keeping an eye on any potential trouble, this causes problems for Bettger. As a result, Bettger puts a new plan in motion. He brings an outlaw (Hugh O'Brian) to town who will force Murphy to cooperate with them.

It's interesting to see Mr. O'Brian play such a baddie, just a short time before playing heroic Wyatt Earp on television. O'Brian and the rest of the gang cause a lot of chaos. They kidnap Brennan, frame Murphy and kill innocent people. Despite the fact that his father is still in danger, Murphy realizes he has no choice but to strike back. The movie features many fist fights. There seems to be one every ten minutes!

While he has his hands full with O'Brian and Bettger, the Cavalry is dispatched to deal with the natives. It seems the tribe has grown restless because of skirmishes threatening the peace that had been brokered earlier with Murphy.

Related to this is a backstory which relates to the death of Brennan's late wife. We are told how a native warrior had killed the woman, and that the chief (Morris Ankrum) had the warrior dragged by horses to his death. This was done because the murder of a white woman had jeopardized peace which the natives were seeking with the settlers. The warrior that the chief had to kill, to set an example to the other tribesmen, was one of his own sons.

So we have more than just a standard tale of gold, greed, kidnapping and murder. We have groups of people trying to bring law and order to the west, to make the region habitable. At the same time they're involved in a series of disputes, (re)negotiations and military actions that require them all to get along.

At one point Murphy's character ends up in jail, when it looks like Bettger has succeeded in framing him. He is visited by a girl he's been dating (Lisa Gaye), and she knows that he won't rest until he is able to save his father and ensure there's no more warring. It is noteworthy that our star, who had killed so many in real-life battles just a decade earlier in Europe, is being used for opposite purposes in this western anti-war film.