If you're a film buff and hear the name Val Lewton, a Western is the last thing that might come to mind. Nevertheless Lewton ended his career with a Western, and APACHE DRUMS shows that under the right circumstances Lewton could transform this genre just as he did the horror film with his 1940s movies at RKO. Those circumstances included working within the restrictions of a B movie budget, having a solid company of actors who could properly articulate his literate dialogue (Lewton always prepared the final shooting script himself), and collaborating hand in hand with a like minded director (in this case Hugo Fregonese instead of Jacques Tourneur) to realize his cinematic vision.
Between 1946 and 1951 (the year of his death at only 46), Lewton was unable to do these things while he worked for Paramount and MGM. It is rather ironic that he found what he needed at Universal, the studio he had competed against while at RKO. Then known as Universal-International, this studio concentrated not on monsters, as they had in the 1930s and 40s, but on other genres and worked with smaller budgets than the larger studios. This suited Lewton admirably and he wound up producing the least expensive Technicolor picture ever made. APACHE DRUMS was Lewton's only color movie and he used Technicolor as assuredly as he had black and white while at RKO.
The basic story is standard Western fare. Disparate people of a small Texas town on the Mexican border band together to fight off marauding Apaches with the final stand taking place inside an adobe church. Within this standard scenario, Lewton introduces some of his favorite themes including ethical ambivalence, a sympathetic and intelligent treatment of non-Whites (including the Apaches), and the creative use of sound including the titular drums as well as a traditional Welsh hymn that would play an important part in the 1964 film ZULU. If this sounds interesting, it is - thanks to Lewton's usual mixing of the non traditional within the traditional. The climactic siege is as rousing and surprising today as it was in 1951.
U-I was more than pleased with the result and immediately offered Lewton another picture but he left to pursue an independent offer and died before making another movie. Like so many of Lewton's other movies, APACHE DRUMS received mixed reviews at the time of its release but has grown in stature over the years. It has been hard to find on home video. Although a VHS copy was released in the early 1990s. This particular DVD comes from Germany and has English and German soundtracks. The time has come for Universal to give APACHE DRUMS a proper Region 1 DVD / Blu-Ray release so that it can take its rightful place in the Lewton canon...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
Between 1946 and 1951 (the year of his death at only 46), Lewton was unable to do these things while he worked for Paramount and MGM. It is rather ironic that he found what he needed at Universal, the studio he had competed against while at RKO. Then known as Universal-International, this studio concentrated not on monsters, as they had in the 1930s and 40s, but on other genres and worked with smaller budgets than the larger studios. This suited Lewton admirably and he wound up producing the least expensive Technicolor picture ever made. APACHE DRUMS was Lewton's only color movie and he used Technicolor as assuredly as he had black and white while at RKO.
The basic story is standard Western fare. Disparate people of a small Texas town on the Mexican border band together to fight off marauding Apaches with the final stand taking place inside an adobe church. Within this standard scenario, Lewton introduces some of his favorite themes including ethical ambivalence, a sympathetic and intelligent treatment of non-Whites (including the Apaches), and the creative use of sound including the titular drums as well as a traditional Welsh hymn that would play an important part in the 1964 film ZULU. If this sounds interesting, it is - thanks to Lewton's usual mixing of the non traditional within the traditional. The climactic siege is as rousing and surprising today as it was in 1951.
U-I was more than pleased with the result and immediately offered Lewton another picture but he left to pursue an independent offer and died before making another movie. Like so many of Lewton's other movies, APACHE DRUMS received mixed reviews at the time of its release but has grown in stature over the years. It has been hard to find on home video. Although a VHS copy was released in the early 1990s. This particular DVD comes from Germany and has English and German soundtracks. The time has come for Universal to give APACHE DRUMS a proper Region 1 DVD / Blu-Ray release so that it can take its rightful place in the Lewton canon...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.