Wow! Such a good movie.

Very well executed

i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

The first must-see film of the year.

This is a very typical sort of Alexander & Zoltan Korda film. It has a huge budget by British standards, lots of color and pageantry as well as a strong endorsement of the British colonial system. You are supposed to side with and root for the Brits…but in 2011 and in America, I felt myself, at times, siding with the rebels. After all, this was their country and the British were the occupying force. Colonialism, the bulwark of many 1930s and 40s films, is now out of fashion.The film is set in the kingdom of Tokot. I presumed this place was a fictional place someplace around the Muslim nations of Afghanistan or Pakistan--but the real Tokot is near Sudan in Africa. I assumed it was Asian because the people looked Asian--and not the least bit Sudanese. Their leader is about to sign a treaty of friendship with the British. In other words, he will remain in power….but be 'protected' by the British. However, his people are against this treaty and his brother (Raymond Massey) is planning on using this as a way to seize power. However, after the assassination, the man's son (Sabu) escapes and a frantic search commences to kill the boy who is the rightful leader. However, the main focus through all this really is the British army—and shows what is happening mostly through their perspective. In other words, while Sabu was a huge star for Korda, he really is more of a supporting character. So the main theme is the safety and health of these soldiers and whether or not they'll survive Massey's scheming."The Drum" is a pretty good film but I couldn't help but feel that compared to Korda's other epics, it's a bit bland and easy to skip. Now I am not saying you should—it's a decent film. But I would recommend you download and watch his other films first. It's easy—just follow the links on IMDb.

All is not well on the Northwest Frontier: the dastardly Prince Ghul (Raymond Massey) has assassinated the ruling king so that he can take his kingdom back from the British with the aid of machine guns smuggled in from Afghanistan. To escape the same fate as his father, Prince Azim (Sabu) assumes the identity of a lowly peasant as he tries to warn Captain Carruthers (Roger Livesey) of the danger that awaits him and his men.The Drum is one of those old school British films that glorified our former position as Empire builders by painting us as benign masters deeply concerned about the well-being of those whom we had colonised. The redoubtable Roger Livesey is the embodiment of stiff upper lippery as he strives to foil the skulduggery of the evil Ghul - a wonderfully malign performance from a black-faced Raymond Massey - and return Azim to his rightful place on the throne of Tokot. Livesey wasn't really well-suited to the dashing hero type, although he was the epitome of the British colonial officer. Although he was only in his mid-thirties when he made this film, he looks much older, as if he'd be more at home over a fat cigar and a glass of port in the study than battling fuzzy-wuzzies in the searing heat. Valerie Hobson plays his devoted wife with that glacial air reserved for the wives of officers or upper-class businessmen in pre-WWII Brit flicks, and it's impossible to imagine her locked in a passionate embrace with her husband. In fact that is probably where the biggest problem with this film lies: there's very little passion for anything evident in any of the characters: they are simply facing - or creating - one problem after another and stoically devising ways of dealing with them.The plot is fairly stodgy by today's standards. There's a lot of talk and precious little action until the last reel or two, which means many people will find it hard going. Suffice to say, the equilibrium is restored by the final reel and our Colonial subjects are left to live peaceful lives beneath our benign and ever-watchful gaze.

A wicked Khan plans to use THE DRUM perched high up in his palace walls to signal the massacre of British soldiers invited to a banquet.Sir Alexander Korda's London Films was responsible for this lively Technicolor action film which boasted outdoor scenes shot near the North-West Frontier with the assistance of the Mehtar of Chitral. It blends excitement, humor & history - definitely from a British viewpoint - into an attractive package sure to entertain the viewer lucky enough to find it.Indian actor Sabu stars as the young Prince of Tokot who finds his life suddenly become very dangerous when he's forced to flee his usurping uncle and accept protection from the British Raj. Plummy-voiced Roger Livesey plays the Raj's stalwart envoy to Tokot who must find a way to stop the import of weapons to the evil new Khan, Raymond Massey, who is fomenting a rebellion. All three actors play their parts very well, with Massey especially attacking his villainous role with gusto.Also in the cast are Valerie Hobson as Livesey's courageous wife; David Tree as a junior officer; and corpulent Francis L. Sullivan as the local Governor in Peshawar. Alfred Goddard appears unbilled as the hapless private Kelly.*************************Born Sabu Dastagir in 1924, Sabu was employed in the Maharaja of Mysore's stables when he was discovered by Korda's company and set before the cameras. His first four films (ELEPHANT BOY-1937, THE DRUM-1938, THE THIEF OF BAGDAD-1940, JUNGLE BOOK-1942) were his best and he found himself working out of Hollywood when they were completed. After distinguished military service in World War II he resumed his film career, but he became endlessly confined for years playing ethnic roles in undistinguished minor films, BLACK NARCISSUS (1947) being the one great exception. His final movie, Walt Disney's A TIGER WALKS (1964) was an improvement, but it was too late. Sabu had died of a heart attack in late 1963, only 39 years of age.

Unabashedly pro-Raj, the story of a young Indian Prince and his friendship with some British army types. The release of this film was reported to have sparked anti-British riots in India. Sabu outdoes himself as the spunky and, ultimately, obsequious Prince who lines up with his friend/occupiers to battle the deliciously evil Raymond Massey. Very politically incorrect by today's standards the film is a good adventure yarn as well as a Korda tribute to the the rapidly vanishing British Empire. The plot borrows elements from the real life killing of Sir Louis Cavagnari and his party years earlier in Afghanistan. In reality British and colonial forces were actively engaged in military operations in Waziristan at the time of the making of the film.