Drums in the Deep South

1951
Approved
1h 27m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

James Craig, Guy Madison, and Barbara Payton in 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.Two old friends find themselves on opposite sides during the Civil War in a desperate battle atop an impregnable mountain.Two old friends find themselves on opposite sides during the Civil War in a desperate battle atop an impregnable mountain.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

459

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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
There was no such thing as a "12 pound Brooke gun". Brooke guns were produced for use by the Confederate Navy and in some forts. They were never used as field guns by the Confederate field forces. Brooke rifles came in 6.4", 7", and 8". Brooke smoothbores came in 8", 10", and 11". None of these fired a round as small as 12 pounds. The guns shown appear to be 12-pound Napoleons.

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

Soundtracks
Dixie
(uncredited)
Music by Daniel Decatur Emmett
Quoted often in the score

User reviews28

Review

Featured review

Slow-Moving, Otherwise Not Bad

Other than moving quite slowly at times, especially in the beginning, this Civil War feature is not bad. The story is interesting, and eventually it has a fair amount of action and tension. The cast and characters are adequate, if nothing more, and while the settings and details sometimes stretch history and/or credibility, in a more general sense the situation rings true with the kinds of things that happened during the conflict.

The beginning sets up two potential conflicts, with a romantic rivalry intersecting with a friendship that will be tested by the fighting between north and south. It takes rather longer than necessary to establish things, but it moves at a better pace when the main story starts. The main plot, which concerns the desperation effort of a small band of Confederate soldiers to break up a crucial Union supply line, produces some interesting drama and is told with generally interesting details. It's a solid feature with enough to make it worth seeing.