The Trial of Old Drum

When I went to college at Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg Missouri, the story of Old Drum was often told at a coffee house i frequented. Several years later when this movie came on the Hallmark Channel I made it a point to watch...Sure it wasn't a very well made movie but I couldn't help but smile watching in living color a story I had heard over and over again in my college years.

This is a family movie set in 1950's rural America about a boy whose Uncle presses sheep killing charges against his dog Drum, starting not only a family legal feud but community discord as their town begins to take sides.

This is formula film that attempts to be very touching and sweet. Its biggest weakness is that the only people who could really act were Scott Bakula (Defense Lawyer), Ron Perlman (father/Drum's owner) and the dog. (John Shuck and Kathy Garver, "Sissy" from the original "Family Affair," as the Uncle and his wife, were okay.) The children were not that good (basically they looked like they were acting) and that's a problem when the film really revolves around them (Aaron Fors, who plays the bully Donny makes me think of what the actor Russell Crowe must have looked liked as a child, only with no talent but a lot of ham).

Favorite line (spoken by the Prosecutor after Scott Bakula's Defense closing trial speech): "We'll be lucky if they don't lynch us."

Favorite line spoken by Ron Perlman (after his son punches the bully): "Now making him your friend, that will be the hard part."

Cute enough to rent/buy used.

Unlike a previous viewer, I liked the narration by the "adult" character narrating himself as a the "child" in the movie, it reminded me of "The Waltons" in a way. The movie is somewhat reminiscent of "Old Yeller" or "Where the Red Fern Grows", both of which I highly recommend.

Though the original trial of Old Drum was in 1870, the setting for the movie is 1955; which more in the viewer audience can personally relate to. There are other differences between the real historical trial and the movie, in 1870 the dog was killed, and there were several trials and appeals. The dog's owner was awarded $50 (about $700 today) in damages.

As the movie is only inspired by the trial and not a historical documentary, you can enjoy the movie for what it is- a good movie with a historical reality behind it and some nice acting situations.

The DVD I have from Goodtimes has very interesting production scenes as well as the director's narration about how the movie was made- both in the special section on the disk. Some revelations about the filming, actors, scenes, sets,locations etc are quite interesting and a welcome bonus on the DVD!