''Drango'' is a 1957 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

film produced by Jeff Chandler's production company Earlmar Productions, written and directed by

Hall Bartlett Hall Bartlett (November 27, 1922 – September 7, 1993) was an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. Early life Hall Bartlett was born in Kansas City, Missouri, he graduated from Yale University Phi Beta Kappa, and was a Rhodes Sc ...

, and released by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

. Starring Chandler in the title role, the film also features Ronald Howard,

Joanne Dru Joanne Dru (born Joan Letitia LaCock;Known as Joan Lacock in th1930 United States census/ref> January 31, 1922 – September 10, 1996) was an American film and television actress, known for such films as '' Red River'', ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbo ...

Julie London Julie London (née Peck; September 26, 1926 – October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress whose career spanned more than 40 years. A torch singer noted for her sultry, languid contralto vocals, London recorded over thirty album ...

and

Donald Crisp Donald William Crisp (27 July 188225 May 1974) was an English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor ...

. Set in the town of

Kennesaw, Georgia Kennesaw is a suburban city northwest of Atlanta in Cobb County, Georgia, United States, located within the greater Atlanta metropolitan area. Known from its original settlement in the 1830s until 1887 as Big Shanty, it became Kennesaw under its ...

in the months immediately following the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

, the story depicts the efforts of a resolute

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

officer who had participated in the town's destruction during Sherman's March determined to make amends.

Plot

Union officers Major Drango and Captain Banning ride into Kennesaw Pass, Georgia, at the end of the Civil War; a town ravaged by the war, particularly during

Sherman's March to the Sea Sherman's March to the Sea (also known as the Savannah campaign or simply Sherman's March) was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 until December 21, 1864, by William Tecumseh Sherman, majo ...

, its citizens are still bitter about the lives and property lost. Drango is the new military governor, but townspeople including Judge Allen and his son Clay make it clear that these Yankees are not welcome. A local man seen as disloyal to the Confederacy, set to be tried by Drango's demand for a recent killing, is lynched after the townspeople refuse to serve as jurors. The man's daughter, Kate Calder, blames Drango for letting it happen, while Judge Allen is distraught by how justice has utterly failed his town. Drango attempts to bring the men responsible to justice, but wealthy citizen Shelby Ransom harbors the fugitives, including her lover Clay. A doctor and newspaper editor offer Drango their support in restoring order. Colonel Bracken from nearby Fort Dalton finds fault with Drango for not being tough enough, so he confiscates the town's food supply and rations it. Clay's men stage a raid. The doctor is wounded during Clay's raid, the newspaper office is set ablaze and the editor's young son is accidentally killed. Despite the revelation to the townspeople that the root of Drango's presence in Kennesaw Pass is to atone for his part in Sherman's march, Drango's fairness and honesty in his command during the Union rationing over time has won him some more support within town, including Kate Calder. An angered Shelby tries to order Clay from her home, but he slaps her and makes her lure the absent Captain Banning to an ambush. Drango, away from town pleading his case to Colonel Bracken, returns to find Banning, killed in Clay's ambush, being laid to rest by several townspeople; the ambush an unfortunate success. The judge confronts his son over his unlawful acts, as Clay now aims to lay siege to Fort Dalton, but Clay refuses to listen. In a desperate last stand to stop open revolt, Drango stands in the street, only to be shot and injured for his defiance. But Clay in turn is shot and killed by his own father (who earlier said he would rather see his own son killed in the street than wage war against the Union), restoring law and order to the town. Drango and several townspeople, ally and not, depart for Fort Dalton to end the rationing in a peaceful way.

Cast

Jeff Chandler Jeff Chandler (born Ira Grossel; yi, יראַ גראָססעל; December 15, 1918 – June 17, 1961) was an American actor, film producer, and singer, best remembered for playing Cochise in '' Broken Arrow'' (1950), for which he was nom ...

as Major Clint Drango *

as Kate Calder *

as Shelby Ransom *

as Judge Allen * Ronald Howard as Clay Allen * John Lupton as Capt. Marc Banning *

Walter Sande Walter Sande (July 9, 1906 – November 22, 1971) was an American character actor, known for numerous supporting film and television roles. Films Born in Denver, Colorado, he was one of those stern, heavyset character actors in Hollywood no p ...

as Dr. Blair * Milburn Stone as Col. Bracken *

Morris Ankrum Morris Ankrum (born Morris Nussbaum; August 28, 1897 – September 2, 1964) was an American radio, television, and film character actor. Early life Born in Danville in Vermilion County in eastern Illinois, Ankrum originally began a career in ...

as Henry Calder *

Parley Baer Parley Edward Baer (August 5, 1914 – November 22, 2002) was an American actor in radio and later in television and film. Despite dozens of appearances in television series and theatrical films, he remains best known as the original "Cheste ...

as George Randolph, Daily Herold * Damian O'Flynn as Gareth Blackford *

Barney Phillips Bernard Philip Ofner (October 20, 1913 – August 17, 1982), better known by his stage name Barney Phillips, was an American film, television, and radio actor. His most prominent roles include that of Sgt. Ed Jacobs on the 1950s '' Dragnet ...

as Rev. Giles Cameron *Charles Horvath as Ragan * Katherine Warren as Mrs. Scott * Chubby Johnson as Zeb *

David Stollery David John Stollery, III (born January 18, 1941 in Los Angeles, California) is a former American child actor and, as an adult, an industrial designer. He appeared in numerous Disney movies and television programs in the 1950s. He is best known for ...

as Jeb Bryant *

Edith Evanson Edith Evanson ( Carlson; April 29, 1896 – November 29, 1980) was an American actress of film, character and television during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Life and career She was born Edith Carlson in Tacoma, Washington."Coincidence." ''Pit ...

as Mrs. Blackford *Anthony Jochim as Stryker the School Teacher * Amzie Strickland as Mrs. George Randolph *

Mimi Gibson Mimi Gibson is an American real estate agent and a former child actress, from 1951 to 1968. Early life After the early death of her father, her mother, Agnes Gibson, took Mimi and her sister to Los Angeles. At only 18 months, she was a popular c ...

as Ellen Bryant *Helen Wallace as Mrs. Allen * Paul Lukather as Burke *

Bing Russell Neil Oliver "Bing" Russell (May 5, 1926 – April 8, 2003) was an American actor and Class A minor-league baseball club owner. He was the father of Hollywood actor Kurt Russell and grandfather of ex–major league baseball player Matt Franco ...

as Lieutenant with Supply Wagon *Chuck Webster as Boy with Chicken *David Saber as Tommy Randolph * Phil Chambers as Luke *James Murphy as Bartender *

Rex Allen Rex Elvie Allen (December 31, 1920 – December 17, 1999), known as "the Arizona Cowboy", was an American film and television actor, singer and songwriter; he was also the narrator of many Disney nature and Western productions. For his contribu ...

as Himself – Singer of Title Song (voice)

Production

The film was made by Jeff Chandler's own production company, Earlmar, for United Artists. It was meant to be the first of a six-picture deal Earlmar had with United, with Chandler to star in three of them. The film was a co-production with the production company of Hal Bartlett, who wrote the script. Chandler had risen to fame playing

Cochise Cochise (; Apache: ''Shi-ka-She'' or ''A-da-tli-chi'', lit.: ''having the quality or strength of an oak''; later ''K'uu-ch'ish'' or ''Cheis'', lit. ''oak''; June 8, 1874) was leader of the Chihuicahui local group of the Chokonen and princip ...

in '' Broken Arrow''. "It's no Indian story", said Chandler, "let Cochise rest in peace." Half the movie was shot on location in the south; filming started in St Francisville in June 1956. Ronald Howard made his American debut in the film. Linda Darnell signed to play the female lead, with Donald Crisp and Julie London in support. Darnell had to pull out because of a virus and she was replaced with Joanne Dru.

Follow Up

The second film Chandler was meant to make for United Artists was ''Lincoln McKeever'', based on a novel by Eliezar Lipsky about a frontiersman appointed to the Supreme Court.

References

External links