This adventure is a good film that has reliable Gary Cooper for star power and he doesn't disappoint in a rousing cavalry-Indian yarn that unfolds in the Everglades during the Seminole War. Cooper's men battle gun runners, jungle rot, dangerous reptiles and savage Indians as the military aims to quell the Seminole menace for good. Most of the film has the soldiers trying to stay one jump ahead of the pursuing Indians while being slowed by hostages, including striking Mari Aldon, who supplies the romance for Cooper later on. The action lags here and there but the clashes between the soldiers and the Indians pack a wallop, especially the final siege and confrontation at Cooper's island refuge at the finish. The camera work is fine and Max Steiner again contributes a nice score. This film is perhaps Cooper's least-known western adventure but it's a winning feature with a solid cast.
Review of Distant Drums
