Drango (1957)

Jeff Chandler plays the title character, Major Clint Drango, who has returned to Kennesaw Pass at the end of the Civil War to serve as its military governor.

Immediately, he encounters hatred and prejudice. And when he tries to win over the residents with a show of impartiality, the Union sympathizer he tries to put on trial is taken from jail and hanged.

Soon after, the town doctor, his only supporter, is shot trying to protect a stash of food and medicine to help the ravaged town through the winter.

And the situation only gets worse when Clay Allen (Ronald Howard), son of the town’s former judge, reveals the truth about Drango: He’s the same officer whose men nearly destroyed the town during Sherman’s March to the Sea.

Still, Drango is determined to bring peace to Kennesaw Pass. Slowly, he gains a small group of supporters.

But can they stand up to Allen, who’s ready to arm and lead his own militia in a new uprising against the Northerners who now control Georgia?

Jeff Chandler as Drango, facing an armed revolt from the people he was sent to help in Drango (1957)

Joanne Dru as Kate Calder, reacting to the lynching of her father in Drango (1957)

Review:

Powerful, intelligent, mature film that focuses on the post-Civil War Reconstruction South, a period seldom explored by filmmakers.

Directors Bartlett and Bricken do a fine job of conveying not only the hatred felt by men of the South at the end of the war, but the despair and futility facing the women and children as well.

In one scene, a cute girl takes one look at Drango’s uniform. “Union,” she says, then spits to the ground. Drango later wins a smile from the girl by delivering her a new coat for Christmas.

Joanne Dru plays Kate Calder, daughter of the Union sympathizer who dies early in the film when Drango insists he stand trial in Kennesaw Pass rather than be whisked off to safety.

Julie London is southern belle Shelby Ransom, who plots with Allen to help the South rise again, even if it means flirting with Drango’s second in command (John Lupton as Capt. Banning) to get information on what the North is planning.

Ronald Howard as Clay Allen, ready for the south to rise again in Drango (1957)

Julie London as Shelby Ransom, the young woman plotting with Clay Allen in Drango (1957)

Directed by:
Hall Bartlett
Jules Bricken

Cast:
Jeff Chandler … Maj. Drango
John Lupton … Capt. Banning
Joanne Dru … Kate Calder
Donald Crisp … Judge Allen
Ronald Howard … Clay Allen
Helen Wallace … Mrs. Allen
Julie London … Shelby Ransom
Walter Sande … Dr. Blair
Milburn Stone … Col. Bracken
Morris Ankrum … Henry Calder
Parley Baer … George Randolph
Amzie Strickland … Mrs. George Randolph
David Saber … Tommy Randolph
Damian O’Flynn … Gareth Blackford
Edith Evanson … Mrs. Blackford
Barney Phillips … Rev. Giles Cameron
Charles Horvath … Ragan
Katherine Warren … Mrs. Scott
Chubby Johnson … Zeb
David Stollery … Jeb Bryant
Mimi Gibson … Ellen Bryant
Anthony Jochim … Stryker (school teacher
Paul Lukather … Burke
Phil Chambers … Luke
James Murphy … Bartender

Runtime: 92 min.

Title tune: “Drango” by Rex Allen

John Lupton as Capt. Banning, Drango’s second in command in Drango (1957)

Donald Crisp as Judge Allen, a southern gentleman ruined by the Civil War in Drango (1957)

Memorable lines

Clay Allen, at the end of his first meeting with Django: “Oh, major, a word of warning. Our people won’t live under a military governor. If you stay, they’ll kill you.”
Capt. Banning, Drango’s 2nd in command, as they walk away from the encounter: “(They) sure make a man feel at home.”

Judge Allen: “Has the power to command crawled into your mind until you’re the only human being who counts?”
Clay Allen: “Have you lost your courage, father?”

Maj. Drango: “War changes people. Some of them stay changed. They live on hate and revenge.”

Walter Sande as Dr. Blair, the one resident of Kennesaw Pass willing to help Drango in Drango (1957)

Morris Ankrum as Henry Calder, the northern sympathizer Drango tries to put on trial in Drango (1957)

Kate Calder: “I know a soldier’s need for a woman. I’ve seen the women go to the camps. With their children beside them. Trading themselves for a sack of meal. Can’t you understand what happens to women in a country that’s lost a war? It’s ugly.”

Kate Calder: “Why did you come back?”
Maj. Drango: “Why? Do you know what it is to look in the faces of men and women, little children, knowing they’re going to starve and die because of you? I wanted to give back the life I’ve taken.”

Col. Bracken to Drango “Are you fool enough to think these people are ever going to accept you? You stand for everything they hate. For defeat, major. And don’t ever forget it.”

Jeff Chandler as Maj. Drango and John Lupton as Capt. Banning, making their introductions to the Allen family in Drango (1957)

Julie London as Shelby Ransom and Ronald Howard as Clay Allen in Drango (1957)

Milburn Stone as Col. Bracken, the commander quickly losing faith in Drango in Drango (1957)

David Stollery as Jeb Bryant, the orphan determined to care for his family of four in Drango (1957)

Mimi Gibson as Ellen Bryant, the young orphan Drango wins over with a new coat in Drango (1957)

Joanne Dru as Kate Calder, worried about what’s about to happen in Kennesaw Pass in Drango (1957)

Jeff Chandler as Drango, operating on wounded Dr. Blair (Walter Sande) in Drango (1957)