I watched DRUMS OF THE DEEP SOUTH for two reasons: because it's directed by visual genius William Cameron Menzies and it stars Guy Williams. Well, I wasn't disappointed by it. Even though it started slowly and this is basically a B-movie, the film eventually overcame those weaknesses because it contains one of the coolest things I've seen in a movie in a long time: a battle, with cannons, in and on Devil's Tower! The bulk of the film is about this battle and I was giddy as a kid on Christmas' Eve. Visually, the whole battle is effen brilliant! The story's setting is not in Wyoming, where Devil's Tower is actually located, but in Georgia and, like your typical B-movie, the script is filled with easy coincidences. Many will object to these things but I didn't care because the battle sequence is already up there as one of my favorite cinematic moments ever. Besides, historical and geographical inaccuracies in movies such as THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY never prevented them from being regarded as great.
The score by Dimitri Tiomkin is excellent and provides the right amount of omph to the many battle or suspense scenes. Make no mistake about it, this is more of an action movie than a drama set in the South. The start of the movie is all drama and set-up but the last hour is all action and tension.
The actors are serviceable with Guy Williams being the stand-out. What a dashing actor. Unfortunately, his role is almost an afterthought. The story concentrates mainly on James Craig and Barbara Payton's love affair. The (spectacular) resolution of their love affair is surprisingly sad, and nearly elevates the movie from a standard B-movie to a grade-A one. Had the friendship between James, Barbara and Guy's characters been a bit more fleshed out, the human aspect of the story could have been as riveting as the visual aspects, which is what really makes this little gem shine. It's obvious that Steven Spielberg saw DRUMS OF THE DEEP SOUTH and was "inspired" to use the Devil's Tower as a setting for CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND.
The image & sound quality of the DVD was pretty bad. Hopefully, this movie will be released with a pristine transfer so we can finally see this cool William Cameron Menzies film as it was meant to be seen and heard.
