War Drums (1957)

Lex Barker plays famed Apache chief Mangas Colorados, a man committed to peace with the whites until gold-hungry miners invade his land and start terrorizing his people.

Then he goes on the warpath, determined to chase all the whites from the territory.

He raids a Mexican camp and takes a pretty young half-breed named Riva (Joan Taylor) captive.

His white friend, Luke Fargo (Ben Johnson) twice tries to trade for Riva, wanting her for his wife.

Mangas refuses to trade Riva. He’s intrigued by her feisty spirit. He intends to take her for his own.

Riva’s a more than willing Indian bride, as long as she doesn’t have to do the work of an Apache woman.

She demands to become a woman warrior, and so follows Mangas on the warpath.

Meanwhile, longtime friends Luke and Mangus will have that friendship tested, first when Luke’s peace-keeping mission into Apache territory is mistaken for an ambush and later when he joins the cavalry at the outbreak of the Civil War.

Lex Barker as Mangus Coloradas, happy for a reunion with old friend Luke Fargo in War Drums (1957)

Ben Johnson as Luke Fargo, gifting the lovely Riva a buckskin horse in War Drums (1957)

Review:

A lovely looking peace of fluff that’s also entertaining, if you don’t take it seriously. And how can you?

For her warrior training, Joan Taylor dons an Apache halter top and short skirt. At one point, the Apache braves break out into one of the strangest war dances you’re likely to see, with several of them donning what look like black S&M masks.

This marks a rare starring role for veteran character actor Ben Johnson. And Westerns were a natural landing place for former Tarzan Lex Barker, who would go on to star in a number of the German Winnetou films.

As for Taylor, she made more Westerns than any other type of film, but is best known for her role in two sci-fi flicks, “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956) and “20 Million Miles to Earth” (1957).

Joan Taylor as Riva, signaling her affect for Mangus on their wedding night in War Drums (1957)

Larry Chance as Ponce, questioning Mangus’s decision to make a Mexican captive his wife in War Drums (1957)

Directed by:
Reginald LeBorg

Cast:
Lex Barker … Mangas
Joan Taylor … Riva
Ben Johnson … Luke Fargo
Larry Chance … Ponce
Richard Cutting … Judge Benton
John Pickard … Sheriff Bullard
James Parnell … Arizona
John Colicos … Chino
Tom Monroe … Dutch Herman
Jil Jarmyn … Nona
Jeanne Carmen … Yellow Moon
Mauritz Hugo … Clay Staub
Ward Ellis … Delgadito
Jack Hupp … Lt. Roberts

Runtime: 71 min.

James Parnell as Arizona, Luke Fargo’s right-hand man and traveling companion in War Drums (1957)

John Pickard as Sheriff Bullard and Richard H. Cutting as Judge Benton, listening to Luke Fargo’s suggestion for dealing with Mangus and the Apaches in War Drums (1957)

Memorable lines:

Medicine Man Chino, warning of the disaster that would result if Mangas marries a Mexican: “If Mangas makes this woman his wife, the great spirit of the white mountain will turn his face from us. The deer and the elk will walk away. The springs will go dry. And there will be darkness over the land of the Apaches.”

Arizona, indicating smoke signals: “That don’t look like no regular Apache palaver.”
Luke: “Ain’t. It’s war talk. Some blasted lunatic must have tossed bear grease in the fire.”

Arizona to Luke, as he rides off to find Mangas: “Don’t be a fool, Luke. An Apache ain’t got no friends when he’s on the warpath. You’ll lose your hair for certain.”

Joan Taylor as Riva, being treated harshly by one of the Mexican men just before an Apache attack in War Drums (1957)

Lex Barker as Mangus reclaims his captive just as Riva (Joan Taylor) and Luke Fargo (Ben Johnson) were getting closer in War Drums (1957)

Miner #1, as Mangas is about to be whipped: “Sign your name in his stinkin’ hide.”
Miner #2: “I would, if I knew how to write.”

Luke to Riva: “Your hands are gentle and tender. Yet there is a strong wildness in you, a lust to kill. I find this very hard to understand.”
Riva: “My father was Americano, but my mother was a full-blooded Comanche.”

Mangas to Riva, after falling from his horse, wounded: “I fear the wound is big.”

Lex Barker as Mangas Coloradas, celebrating the taking of a white man’s scalp in War Drums (1957)

Jil Jarmyn as Nona (right), with a knife against the back of Riva (John Taylor) as Mangus fights for his life while Yellow Moon (Jeanne Carmen) looks on in War Drums (1957)

Jil Jarmyn as Nona and John Colicos as medicine man Chino, expecting Riva to be punished for refusing women’s work and suggesting she become a warrior in War Drums (1957)

Fred Sherman as Dr. Gordon, the man who winds up trying to save Mangus’s life after he’s badly wounded in War Drums (1957)

Larry Chance as Ponce and Joan Taylor as Riva, hearing an ‘Americano medicine man’ explain Mangas’s wound in War Drums (1957)

Ben Johnson as Luke Fargo, comparing reservation life to slavery in a talk with the judge in War Drums (1957)