Yaqui Drums (1956)

Rod Cameron is Webb Dunham, heading to a ranch near the Mexico border to find out who killed his brother and take possession of his land.

Along the way, he encounters and helps a wounded man who identifies himself as Yaqui Jack (J. Carrol Naish).

Jack’s vague about how he was wounded. But he makes this clear. If he’s ever in a position to repay the favor by helping Webb Dunham, he will.

Continuing to his brother’s ranch, Dunham learns that Matt Quigg and his son Lute are pushing small ranchers off their land and using a questionable Spanish land grant and the support of the local sheriff to do it.

They want Dunham off his property as well, but he’s not inclined to turn tail, despite taking a pretty brutal beating from Matt.

That’s especially true once he learns that Lute Quigg is romancing a saloon singer named Linda (Mary Castle), the gal he once loved.

Yaqui Jack is interested in the Quigg family too. Because they’re well off and would be in a position to help finance the revolution he’s planning, if he could get them into a position where they’d be inclined to do so.

Rob Cameron as Webb Dunham, rushing to Linda’s aid after he hears her scream in Yaqui Drums (1956)

J. Carrol Naish as Yaqui Jack, explaining how much Matt Quigg will have to cough up to win his freedom in Yaqui Drums (1956)

Review:

Not the movie the film’s title or poster leads one to believe they’ll be watching.

Oh, the sound of drums beat a couple of times in the background, promising potential trouble from the Yaquis.

But there are no hordes of Yaqui warriors crazed with “blood lust” as they defend their homeland.

Instead, Western fans are treated to a rather pedestrian land-grab plot. And 60-year-old J. Carol Naish playing his role more like a comic book Mexican bandit than the leader of a vicious renegade band of Indians.

Rod Cameron was reaching the end of a long line of starring roles in Westerns when this film was released. He was also approaching 50 years old, and looks it.

Mary Castle as Linda, a saloon singer reunited with her former lover Webb Dunham in Yaqui Drums (1956)

Roy Roberts as Matt Quigg, firing a shot at a stagecoach holdup bandit in Yaqui Drums (1956)

Directed by:
Jean Yarbrough

Cast:
Rod Cameron … Webb Dunham
Mary Castle … Linda Quigg
J. Carrol Naish … Yaqui Jack
Robert Hutton … Lute Quigg
Roy Roberts … Matt Quigg
Denver Pyle … Lefty Barr
Ray Walker … Sheriff
Keith Richards … Tom Prescott
G. Pat Collins … Bartender
Donald Kerr … Piano player

Runtime: 71 min.

Robert Hutton as Lute Quigg, encountering rancher who won’t turn tail and a competitor for Linda’s affections in Yaqui Drums (1956)

Denver Pyle as Lefty Barr, Matt Quigg’s fast gun, nursing an elbow wound in Yaqui Drums (1956)

Memorable lines:

Yaqui Jack: “If I had known there was a lady in the coach …
Linda Quigg: “What would you have done?”
Yaqui Jack: “Hold it up anyway.”

Wade Dunham: “How’d you get shot?”
Yaqui Jack: “With a gun.”
Dunham: “Sounds logical.”

Linda: “I never said no to anything in my life. Maybe that’s what’s wrong with me.”

Yaqui Jack: “Come for revolution. I make you big man.”
Wade Dunham: “We’re all the same size, Jack, hanging at the end of a rope.”

Wade Dunham: “Why do you think you can win when everybody else has failed? Every time a cactus moves down here, there’s a revolution.”
Yaqui Jack: “They never fought my Yaquis. My people have been pushed like cattle. But when the time comes, you watch what they do. All of these around here, they only my tame ones. Wait ’til you see my wild ones when they come down from the mountains.”

Ray Walker as the sheriff, known for pulling strings for Matt Quigg and his family in Yaqui Drums (1956)

Keith Richards as Tom Prescott, a small rancher being pushed off his land by the Quigg family in Yaqui Drums (1956)

Roy Roberts as Matt Quigg and Robert Hutton as his son Lute, explaining the Spanish Land Grant they’re using to gain control of all the nearby ranches in Yaqui Drums (1956)

Rod Cameron as Webb Dunham and Mary Castle as Linda, getting reacquainted in Yaqui Drums (1956)