Drum (1976 film)

Drum
Drum
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Steve Carver
Screenplay by	Norman Wexler
Based on	Drum; by Kyle Onstott
Produced by	Dino De Laurentiis; Raph B. Serpe;
Starring	Warren Oates; Isela Vega; Ken Norton; Pam Grier; Yaphet Kotto; John Colicos; Fiona Lewis; Paula Kelly; Brenda Sykes;
Cinematography	Lucien Ballard
Edited by	Carl Kress
Music by	Charlie Smalls
Production; company	Dino De Laurentiis Company
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	July 30, 1976;
Running time	110 minutes; 100 minutes (UK)
Country	United States
Language	English

Drum is a 1976 American drama film based on the 1962 Kyle Onstott novel of the same name.^[1] It was released by United Artists and is a sequel to the film Mandingo, released in 1975. The film stars Warren Oates, Pam Grier and Ken Norton, and was directed by Steve Carver.^[2]

Plot

Drum has been born to a white prostitute, who raises him with her black lesbian lover. Drum grows up to be a fighter and is often forced to bare-knuckle-box other slaves to the brink of death for the entertainment of the owners, one of whom is a gay Frenchman named Bernard DeMarigny. DeMarigny wants to sleep with Drum, but his advances are rejected by the slave and DeMarigny vows revenge against Drum. Drum and his friend Blaise are eventually sold to plantation owner Hammond Maxwell, and are both taken to his plantation to work. Regine is purchased by Maxwell as well and is taken to the plantation for his own personal desires as a bedwench.

After arriving at Maxwell's plantation, Regine is set up in the bedroom above Hammond. Augusta Chauvel, Maxwell's fiancé is jealous and has other plans for Regine. Maxwell's daughter Sophie wants to sleep with Drum, but he won't for fear of being killed. Sophie also attempts to sleep with Blaise, and after being rejected, tells her father that Blaise has raped her. Blaise is put in chains and Maxwell decides that he must be castrated for the alleged rape. Sophie gets sent off to boarding school after getting caught showing Blaise what he's been missing, while he is chained up.

Meanwhile, a dinner party has been arranged to celebrate the engagement of Maxwell and Chauvel. DeMarigny has been invited to attend the celebration and the guests end up discussing the best way to castrate a slave at the dinner party. While the party is taking place, Drum frees Blaise from his chains and there ends up being a revolt from the slaves at the engagement party. An agreement was made that they would not shoot Blaise; while Drum is attempting to deescalate a possible revolt, DeMarigny shoots Blaise. Drum then turns and grabs hold of DeMarigny's privates and rips them off, telling the slaves to take the house and the revolt begins. Both slaves and slavers are killed during the battle, but Maxwell and Chauvel are all saved by Drum. Maxwell tells Drum he must run during the revolt because if the slavers catch him after the revolt he will have to kill him. Chauvel tells Maxwell that all he has to do is tell the slavers that Drum was loyal and they won't kill him, but Maxwell says he still must kill Drum. Drum is then seen running from the plantation.

Cast

Warren Oates as Hammond Maxwell
Pam Grier as Regine
Ken Norton as Drum
Isela Vega as Marianna
Yaphet Kotto as Blaise
John Colicos as Bernard DeMarigny
Fiona Lewis as Augusta Chauvel
Paula Kelly as Rachel
Royal Dano as Zeke Montgomery
Lillian Hayman as Lucretia Borgia
Rainbeaux Smith as Sophie Maxwell
Brenda Sykes as Calinda
Clay Tanner as Mr. Holcomb
Lila Finn as Mrs. Holcomb

Production

Development

The film was initially being directed by Burt Kennedy, but he was replaced due to creative differences with the executive producer, Dino De Laurentiis. Carver then took over as director with only four days of preparation, the film's print made use of material filmed by both Kennedy and Carver.^[3] According to a 2020 interview with Carver, Burt Kennedy had only shot the opening sequence in Puerto Rico. Embarrassed by the script, Kennedy walked off the picture. Carver stated that "a lot of the actors followed him off of the picture". Carver then had to recast several roles and brought on "Pam Grier, Royal Dano and Brenda Sykes and several others".^[4]

Release

Home media

A restored edition of Drum has been released on DVD and blu-ray by Kino Lorber (2014), which includes an audio commentary by director Steve Carver.^[5]

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a score of 11% based on nine reviews, with an average rating of 4.5/10.^[6] Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote: "Life on the old plantation was horrendous, I agree, but movies like this are less interested in information than titillation, which, in turn, reflects contemporary obsessions rather more than historical truths."^[2]