Rebell der roten Berge

Smouldering senorita Joyce Taylor opts for a life in war paint & trousers kicking ass by the side of long-haired, blue-eyed Apache warrior Lex Barker (midway between Edgar Rice Burroughs & Karl May) in this pro-Indian De Luxe Color western set just before the Civil War which provides a bonus in the form of the presence of a still relatively young & fresh-faced Ben Johnson midway between John Ford & Sam Peckinpah.

I'll watch Ben Johnson in just about anything, and I just did. Though I've been a fan of Lex Barker's since his Tarzan days, in this he makes Ben Johnson look like Sir John Gielgud. This is possibly the worst Western I've ever seen, and I've spent my life studying them. This movie takes place in some weird Bizarro-Apache world, where the pseudo-word "Ayee!" is apparently the only word in the Apache language, because it's used for every possible meaning; where the tribe has a central camp, but the people blithely live in isolated single wikiup lodges apparently miles from each other, where the majority of the tribal folk have blue eyes, where Apache wedding gowns are apparently made by Laura Ashley, where a Mexican captive woman suddenly falls in love with her hated captor in the space of a two-minute fight scene, and where in about the same length of time she is transformed into a fierce warlike female co-chief in a beaded tank-top. There's not a moment of believable human behavior in the film. A handful of gold miners deep in Apache territory shoot a little Indian boy and let an Indian girl take him back to the tribe while they unconcernedly go back to panning for gold, despite the fact that even an idiot would know the entire tribe is going to show up in a few minutes looking for scalps...which is just what happens. A good drinking game would be to take a slug every time someone says, "Ayee!" or whenever someone does something stupidly and obviously against his own interests. It's also pretty convenient how often the heroes get devastating wounds yet ride off fairly comfortably after a little rest. Fortunately the photography is so drab and dim that it's hard always to be sure what's happening on screen--except in the day-for-night shots, which are sometimes brighter than the day-for-day shots! The only positive element of the entire film is some good stunt work and watching Ben Johnson gallop on horseback. That's always good to see. I hope he got a big paycheck for this one, though. At least it didn't have a title song.

War Drums is directed by Reginald Le Borg and written by Gerald Drayson Adams. Its stars Lex Barker, Joan Taylor, Ben Johnson, Larry Chance and Richard H. Cutting. Music is by Les Baxter and cinematography by William Margulies.

Story pitches Barker as Apache chief Mangas Coloradas, who in spite of his strong friendship with white man Luke Fargo (Johnson), finds himself having to take arms up against his friend and his kind.

Familiar territory on the surface here, it's a story that has featured numerous times in Westerns across the decades. Yet even though the execution is sadly drab, and the ridiculous casting for some of the principal characters is irksome, the honourable intentions withing the story keep it from the dustbin.

The pro Native American angle is played with some feeling, though it required more depth and dramatic verve. Also of note is the deft handling of Taylor's character arc, who goes from being abused by all the men around her, into a warrior woman of substance, giving the pic a strong feminist bent.

Musical score is of the traditional Cowboys and Indians fare so beloved of "B" Western movie makers of the era, sitting somewhat uncomfortably with the more serious strands of the narrative. The Kanab locations in De Luxe Color are most pleasing, as is the stunt work on offer.

Though there's a few servings of action, such as ambush, Apache's fighting each other to the death, even a girl scrap! Pic never really gets out of a low gear for excitement purpose, while the ending just sort of fizzles out without fanfare. But for undemanding Western lovers there's enough here to not class it as a waste of time. 6/10

Mangas Coloradas (Lex Barker), an Apache chief and white trader Luke Fargo (Ben Johnson) are bound by friendship and their mutual love for Riva (Joan Taylor), a Mexican-Native American girl rescued from horse thieves. Riva marries Mangas, who teaches her the warrior's ways and she later warns the Apaches of an ambush by white soldiers. When Fargo, who did not intend an attack, is injured, Riva helps him - a kindness he must choose whether or not to return when war with the Apaches erupts.

Judging by some of the reviews I read about this 1957 western you would think this is a below par western, but in my opinion it's a really good film with a sympathetic portrait of the Apaches. Here they are the ones clearly wronged, and it also depicts the clashes between Mexicans and Apaches in the beginning, which isn't always covered. It balances action, drama and conflict and even a bit of romance really well. Of course, it's not historically accurate, but I didn't expect it to be. If anything, with its colours and costumes, it looks like a comic strip, but the acting is far from juvenile- Lex Barker is really good as Mangas Colorado, giving him a human element as well as a warrior one, Joan Taylor as the Mexican who becomes his wife is given a refreshing role as a female warrior, but it's Ben Johnson who really adds some depth here as Mangas Colorado's friend. What I think was needed was a longer running time and more character developing, but I'm nitpicking. It's a really good western.

I enjoyed this one despite the typical mistakes in actual history. It is set around 1860 and everyone on both sides has repeating rifles. The actual Mangus Colorado died a horrible death in 1863 at the hand of soldiers. However he was well over 60 when he died, not the strapping character portrayed in the movie.