Drum Beat

Drum Beat is a 1954 CinemaScope western film in WarnerColor written and directed by Delmer Daves and co-produced by Daves and Alan Ladd in his first film for his Jaguar Productions company. Ladd stars along with Audrey Dalton, Charles Bronson as Captain Jack, and Hayden Rorke as President Ulysses S. Grant. Filmed in Sedona, Arizona, the story uses elements of the 1873 Modoc War in its narrative, with Ladd playing a white man asked by the U.S. Army to attempt negotiations with Native Modocs who are about to wage war. An early role for Charles Bronson (originally Buchinsky), who plays Captain Jack as a memorable villain wearing the coat of a deceased US Cavalry Captain. After murdering General Edward Canby (Warner Anderson) during a peace negotiation, Bronson puts on the late General's coat and announces to the audience "Me GENERAL Jack now!"