Lavishly produced and spiritedly directed, The Drum benefits greatly from its actual Indian locations - even though these are not always blended too convincingly with the Denham Studios material. The cast of course is great. Miss Hobson looks attractive, if somewhat thin by my standards of feminine beauty; the villainous Massey is deliciously wily; Sabu perfect.
A typical Korda production in that it's crowded with spectacle - all superbly photographed. A pity that despite clever film editing, the location scenes are a bit obtrusive because photographed in a different style to the studio footage. Admittedly, it would be hard to match the beautiful textures created by Osmond Borradaile who after all had marvellous locations to inspire him and plenty of sun to light his scenes.
Yet with all the spectacle, some fans might feel justified in complaining that the movie is somewhat short on bloodthirsty action. As someone more interested in pageant and color, in the exotic, and in times past, this sort of shortage doesn't worry me. The costumes look so splendid in color, the sets and the deployment of crowds of extras are to me sufficiently thrilling in themselves.
Always directed with competence, often with style, and superbly acted from the least to the most major roles, The Drum is a fabulously entertaining slice of Empire. (A Manga DVD).
A typical Korda production in that it's crowded with spectacle - all superbly photographed. A pity that despite clever film editing, the location scenes are a bit obtrusive because photographed in a different style to the studio footage. Admittedly, it would be hard to match the beautiful textures created by Osmond Borradaile who after all had marvellous locations to inspire him and plenty of sun to light his scenes.
Yet with all the spectacle, some fans might feel justified in complaining that the movie is somewhat short on bloodthirsty action. As someone more interested in pageant and color, in the exotic, and in times past, this sort of shortage doesn't worry me. The costumes look so splendid in color, the sets and the deployment of crowds of extras are to me sufficiently thrilling in themselves.
Always directed with competence, often with style, and superbly acted from the least to the most major roles, The Drum is a fabulously entertaining slice of Empire. (A Manga DVD).