Drums in the Deep South (1951)

Two old friends find themselves on opposite sides during the Civil War in a desperate battle atop an impregnable mountain.

Director:

William Cameron Menzies

Writers:

Philip Yordan (screenplay), Sidney Harmon (screenplay)

Stars:

James Craig, Barbara Payton, Guy Madison

Cast

Complete credited cast:
James Craig	...	Maj. Clay Clayburn
Barbara Payton	...	Kathy Summers
Guy Madison	...	Maj. Will Denning
Barton MacLane	...	Sgt. Mac McCardle
Robert Osterloh	...	Sgt. Harper
Tom Fadden	...	Purdy
Robert Easton	...	Jerry
Louis Jean Heydt	...	Col. House
Craig Stevens	...	Col. Braxton Summers
Taylor Holmes	...	Albert Monroe
Lewis Martin	...	Gen. Johnston
Peter Brocco	...	Union Corporal
Dan White	...	Cpl. Jennings

Storyline

Best friends Clay Clayburn and Will Denning graduate from West Point only to soon find themselves fighting on opposite sides of the Civil War. When the two men meet each other in combat, neither knows it as each is in an artillery position hundreds of yards from the other. However, the love of Clay's life, Kathy Summers, does know and tries desperately to save her two good friends from killing each other.

---

Plot Keywords:

civil war | mountain | suicide mission | romantic rivalry | southern belle | 

---

Taglines:

A handful of heroes on a powder-keg mountain !

---

Genres:

Drama | History | Romance | War | Western

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 October 1951 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Confederate Story

Filming Locations:

Sonora, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$300,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

King Brothers Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Supercinecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely (and usually badly) edited and/or of extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation (or more) copies of the film.

---

Goofs

When the Union artillery begins firing on the mountain the officer orders the guns double shotted to increase the range. Double shotting (putting in two cannonballs) would notably decrease the range. Actually, the order the officer gives is for the cannon to be double-charged -- i.e., using twice the usual amount of gunpowder to propel a single ball or shell -- which would increase the range but would also increase the stress on the barrel, which is why they have to reinforce it by wrapping it with piano wire.

---

Quotes

Gen. Johnston: A good soldier dies only once, and death is someone he knows.

---

Soundtracks

When Johnny Comes Marching Home
Words and music by Louis Lambert [Pseudonym of Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore]
Used as part of the underscoring for scenes involving Union troops

User Reviews

Interesting Menzies visual reading of script.

William Cameron Menzies is perhaps the best production designer in American motion picture history (Gone With the Wind, et alia) and his work as director applies the design principles which he espoused, such as with this film, including a prime emphasis upon cinema as a graphic art, a visual rather than literal interpretation of a script, filling that metaphysical space between scenario and direction with an artist's point of view, while avoiding a potentially incorrect objective sensibility. The narrative tells of a pair of best friends and West Point classmates, Georgian Clay Clayburn (James Craig) and Yankee Will Denning (Guy Madison) who are wearing officers' coats of opposing artillery units during the War Between The States, and of the inevitable military engagement between them, featuring a most dramatic segment involving the difficult placement of Confederate cannons atop a mountain overlooking Union rail supply lines, shot with Menzies' intriguing pictorial effects and unique camera angles. An independent King Brothers production under the aegis of RKO, DRUMS IN THE DEEP SOUTH is not replete with good performances, although Craig is solid as is his custom, while Barbara Payton, as Clayburn's lover, tries hard and is at the pinnacle of her short-lived beauty, with Dimitri Tiomkin's lush score properly evocative for this generally prescriptive film.