Drums In The Deep South

2013. DRUMS IN THE DEEP SOUTH (1951-usa). Color. With james craig, barBARA PAYTON, GUY MADISON, BARTON MacLANE, CRAIG STEVENS. Music composed . directed by DIMITRI TIOMPKIN. Designed and directed by WILLIAM CAMERON MENZIES. An exciting Civil War tale which tells the story of three dashing comrades who graduated from West Point in the same class. Two of them, Clay and Brax, are Georgians, the third. Will, is a “Yankee from Boston.” Upon the firing on Fort Sumpter and the start of the war, the men find themselves different sides of the battle lines. The core of the story focuses on the advancement of Gen. Sherman’s army toward Atlanta. The South is doomed if Sherman takes the city. Clay, a Reb man is ordered to set out on an urgent mission into Northern-held territory. His goal is to sabotage Sherman’s supply line by blasting railroad tracks faster than the Northerners can repair them the assignment takes Clay back to his home where old memories are stirred as he finds himself reunited with the woman he loves. She is Cathy, a Southern belle who had wed Brax before the war. Clay eventually finds himself going head to head against his old friend Will in a battle to destroy the railroad tracks. While the film is rousing and entertaining, it pointedly shows the manner in which Civil War altered the lives of its combatants as it pitted American against American and friend against friend. This also is one of a number of films directed by William Cameron Menzies, perhaps the most famous are director working in Hollywood during the movies “Golden Age.” 85 minutes. Historical Drama