| The Drum | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Zoltan Korda |
| Produced by | Alexander Korda |
| Written by | A. E. W. Mason Lajos Biró Arthur Wimperis Patrick Kirwan Hugh Gray |
| Starring | Sabu Raymond Massey Roger Livesey Valerie Hobson |
| Music by | John Greenwood |
| Cinematography | Georges Périnal Osmond Borradaile (Indian location scenes) |
| Distributed by | London Films |
| Release date(s) |  April 1, 1938 |
| Running time | 104 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Drum is a 1938 film from the book by A.E.W. Mason. The film was directed by Zoltan Korda and produced by Alexander Korda. Korda’s company London Films made three films about the Empire in the 1930s – Sanders of the River (1936), The Drum (1938) and The Four Feathers (1939). They are often known as the Empire trilogy though they weren’t conceived as such. Today the Empire trilogy look hopelessly out of date in terms of their view of the British Empire or the notion of empire in general, and even when they were released their views were somewhat old fashioned and reflected what was essentially a Victorian view of the Empire and its peoples. The Drum is apparently set in 1938 and yet looks to be set in about 1890 on viewing it. It is hard to believe that the Britain that is about to be plunged into WW2 has anything to do with the notions of Britain depicted in the film. The basic conflict in The Drum is between the evil Prince Ghul (Canadian Raymond Massey in blackface) and the plucky Prince Azim (Sabu) rather than between the indigenous people and their British Colonial rulers. When Prince Azim learns of an anti-British conspiracy lead by Prince Ghul, he must choose between betraying his fellow countryman or supporting the British colonial regime. Since Ghul has previously killed Azim's father, Azim (who has been taught the value of fairness by Captain Curruthers) sides with British and warns them of Ghul's intended ambush by beating out a warning on a drum. Ghul is killed in the ensuing battle and Azim is installed as his replacement
Cast
- Sabu
- Raymond Massey
- Roger Livesey
- Valerie Hobson
- David Tree
- Desmond Tester
- Francis L. Sullivan
- Archibald Batty
External links
- The Drum at the Internet Movie Database
