DRUM

This film is held by the BFI (ID: 28373).

Synopsis

Melodrama in which an independent Indian state revolts and is subdued by British troops.

 

Context

The Drum takes place in the fictional town of Tokot, situated on the border of the contentious frontier province of Afghanistan. The region was historically a difficult territory for the British to control and had a volatile history of Afghan wars. A policy of divide and rule pertained whereby British control was exercised informally through trading, and often by offering military assistance to local rulers, as depicted in The Drum. The fictitious figure of Ghul, with his anti-Britishness and dreams of restoring the Moghul empire and dislodging the British from India, represents this instability and even though order has been restored at the end of the film, the British Empire’s vulnerability in this region has been exposed within a wider context of nationalist resistance.

The Drum was popular in Britain and the USA. When it was screened in Madras and Bombay, however, there were riots and the film was banned (Richards, 1984: 137). The film was greeted as a Technicolor masterpiece, with reviews claiming that it was ‘the first film to make one really grateful for colour’ (New Statesman and Nation 15, 9 April, 1938: 612). Other reviews concentrated on the film’s spectacular qualities, with one review on re-release in 1944 describing it as a ‘breathtaking tribute to British rule in India’ (Kinematograph Weekly, no. 1916, 6 Jan 1944: 21). On the other hand, the film was not without its contemporary critics in Britain, one reviewer declaring it to be no more than an anachronistic and jingoistic fiction harking back to Boy’s Own Paper popular fiction (Robson and Robson, 1939: 174-5). Critics have interpreted the film as a paradoxical text in which empire is celebrated but exposed as unstable and on the wane (Street, 2009: 52-55).

 

Analysis

The film begins with a shot of a rotating globe which is stopped to focus on India and the north-west frontier in particular. Some spectacular panning shots of mountainous scenery are followed by a cut to a signpost indicating ‘tribal territory’ and we hear the thud of tribal drums. The drumbeat then changes to military beats and we see soldiers ascending a mountain path, followed by the sharp sounds of machine-gun fire, a British soldier commenting with surprise that the Indians have such weapons. Ghul’s men later use machine-guns against the British at the Tokot massacre. The sounds signify the conflicting narrative themes which are to follow: native culture vs. British identity; Indian use of western military technology vs. British policing the Raj. The climax of the film is the feast, when the audience knows of Ghul’s plans to massacre the British. A long display of Indian dancing is followed by the Scottish regiment’s attempt to show ‘these people something that’ll astonish them’: highland sword-dancing accompanied by bagpipes, a jingoistic response to what they clearly find strange. We then hear the drumbeats of Azim’s danger signal, the massacre begins and Margery Carruthers, who has previously been depicted as a placid example of English womanhood in India, comments: ‘I never want to hear another drum again’. For most of the film she is a plucky Englishwoman until her final intolerant outburst reveals her alienation.

The Drum is riddled with more contradictory themes, sounds and images which emphasise the sense of imperial insecurity which pervaded the 1930s. The British are established as protectors against warring native factions, with Carruthers as the benign English gentleman who teaches Azim clemency when they first meet. Representations such as this suggest the myth that imperialism involved ‘good colonisers’ with a ‘mission’ to introduce western notions of ‘civilisation’ to barbaric territories. Consequently, Carruthers rides into Tokot to negotiate with Azim’s father and, as a reprise of the film’s opening, is greeted by the sound of native drums sharply interrupted by gunshot. It turns out that the shots were instigated by Azim. He plans to shoot the guilty marksmen while Carruthers recommends whipping as a more suitable punishment, and a gentlemanly, more humane alternative to Azim’s barbaric inclinations. Margery Carruthers, as the stoical imperial handmaiden, supports this delineation of Britishness. Set against this representation of the British in India is the jingoism of the soldiers and the tension at the feast. The bagpipes are used many times in the film to signify a strident nationalism which qualifies the image of peaceful native and British co-existence. Interestingly, the Scottish regiment is depicted as working class, in opposition to figures like upper-class Captain Carruthers whose view, it is suggested, of the empire is more civilised: conquest with decorum, not violence.

The depiction of the dangerous Ghul is interesting for Raymond Massey’s performance of the character as clever, eloquent and at times charming. As Jaikumar points out, contemporary reviewers tend to overlook these aspects of his character in assessing his role as a villain. (Jaikumar, 2006: 151-2). The deployment of Technicolor emphasised the exoticism of the East, as with other colour films in the empire genre. The majority of the exterior locations were shot in Wales, while some shots were filmed in Chitral, a princely state under British control, whose ruler Nasir ul-Mulk had a modern British education and served in the British military.

Colour also exoticised and eroticized the figure of Azim, played by Indian actor Sabu (who was subsequently cast in British and American films in similar roles which further established his persona as the exotic but benign ‘other’). Despite an overtly harmonious, homosocial representation, the relationship between Azim and Bill the drummer-boy is laden with class and racial overtones. When Azim asks Bill if he can try on his uniform Bill is hesitant, speaking of ‘regulations’ and how Azim is a ‘toff’. When Ghul has usurped Azim’s claim to succeed his father, Azim asks Bill if he can become a drummer in the British army. Bill looks startled at the request, declaring it a ‘non-starter’ because Azim is not a competent drummer and is a prince. On the contrary, we have already seen him learn the drum signal with no trouble, leading to the unspoken conclusion that the idea of Azim joining the British ranks is unthinkable on racial grounds, although it is possible to argue that this exchange is about class barriers with Bill insisting that a ‘toff’ cannot be a mere drummer. So, on the one hand we are presented with a picture of tolerance and benign British interest in India, while on the other unspoken prejudices and racial tensions are clearly evident. The protests against the film in India were in part provoked by the depiction of Azim. The Drum has been described as an example of the imperial romantic adventure film (Jaikumar, 2006: 138-64), and it is an excellent example of how a popular genre film raises questions about empire, external trappings of Britishness, race and class in the 1930s.

Sarah Street 

 

Works Cited

‘Two Reissues’, Kinematograph Weekly, no. 1916, 6 Jan 1944. p. 21.

Review of The Drum, New Statesman and Nation15, 9 April, 1938, p. 612.

Jaikumar, Priya, Cinema and the End of Empire: A Politics of Transition in Britain and India (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2006), pp. 138-64.

Richards, Jeffrey, The Age of the Dream Palace: Cinema and Society in Britain, 1930-39 (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984).

Robson, Emanuel W., and Mary Major Robson, The Film Answers Back: An Historical Appreciation of Cinema (London: John Lane, 1939, pp. 174-5).

Street, Sarah, British National Cinema (London: Routledge, 1997, 2nd edition 2009), pp. 52-55.

 

Titles

  • DRUMS (Alternative)
  • DRUM
 

Technical Data

Year:
1938
Running Time:
104 minutes
Film Gauge (Format):
35mm Film
Colour:
Colour (Technicolor)
Sound:
Sound
Footage:
9205 ft
 

Production Credits

Production Countries:
Great Britain
Camera Operator
KRASKER, Robert
Director
KORDA, Zoltan
Producer
KORDA, Alexander
2nd Unit Photographer
BORRADAILE, Osmond
Adaptation
BIRÓ, Lajos
Art Director
BELLAN, Ferdinand
Assistant Editor
HARLEY, Maurice
Author of the Original Work
MASON, A.E.W.
cast member
ADAM, Ronald
cast member
BASKCOMB, Lawrence
cast member
BATTY, Archibald
cast member
CAMPION, Gerald
cast member
CULLEY, Frederick
cast member
EMERTON, Roy
cast member
GENN, Leo
cast member
GODDARD, Alf
cast member
HOBSON, Valerie
cast member
LEXY, Edward
cast member
LIVESEY, Roger
cast member
MARTIN-HARVEY, Michael
cast member
MASSEY, Raymond
cast member
MITCHELL, Julien
cast member
OLIVER, Charles
cast member
PIERIS, Miriam
cast member
SABU
cast member
SARNER, Alexander
cast member
SULLIVAN, Francis L.
cast member
TAFTAZANI, Amid
cast member
TESTER, Desmond
cast member
TREE, David
cast member
TRUMAN, Ralph
cast member
UNDERDOWN, Edward
cast member
WALKER, Martin
Clapper
UNSWORTH, Geoffrey
Colour Consultant
ERMINI, Aldo
Colour Consultant
KALMUS, Natalie
Consultant
Mehtar of Chitral
Editor
CORNELIUS, Henry
Editor
HORNBECK, William
Focus Puller
CHALLIS, Christopher
Music
GREENWOOD, John
Music
RÓZSA, Miklós
Music Director
MATHIESON, Muir
Photography
PÉRINAL, Georges
Production Assistant
de TOTH, André
Production Company
Denham Productions
Production Company
London Film Productions
Production Company
United Artists
Production Designer
KORDA, Vincent
Production Manager
CUNYNGHAME, David B.
Screenplay
GRAY, Hugh
Screenplay
KIRWAN, Patrick
Screenplay
WIMPERIS, Arthur
Sound
WATKINS, A.W.
Sound
Western Electric Mirrophonic
Special Effects
COLMAN, Edward
Studio
Denham Studios
Technical Adviser
CAMPBELL, Hector
Technical Adviser
HENSLOWE, F.D.
 

Countries

 

Genres