MANDINGO, a 1975 movie based on the best-selling period potboiler by Kyle Onstott about sexual shenanigans between masters and slaves on the Falconhurst slave-breeding plantation, was savaged by critics who saw it as nothing but degrading, big-budget exploitation. Roger Ebert called it “racist trash”, a “piece of manure”, and “excruciating to sit through”. MANDINGO certainly had it all; brutal violence, interracial sex, rape, infanticide, lynchings, and abundant nudity including full-frontal shots of it’s male star, boxer Ken Norton. But of course it was a huge hit and inspired a brief run of “slaverysploitation” films such as PASSION PLANTATION (1975 aka BLACK EMMANUELLE, WHITE EMMANUELLE ) and the cleverly titled MANDIGA (1976). MANDINGO was overwrought melodrama to be sure, but it’s a model of subtlety compared to its official sequel, the more lascivious DRUM, a mean-spirited trash epic from 1976 that would never fly in today’s politically correct climate. Despite its spaghetti western trappings, the film Tarantino’s DJANGO UNCHAINED most resembles is DRUM.
DRUM’s tawdry story picks up about 20 years after MANDINGO. Hammond Maxwell (Warren Oates), the son of the late Falconhurst patriarch Warren Maxwell purchases a slave named Drum from bordello hostess Marianna (Isela Vega). Drum turns out to be the son of Mede (killed at the end of MANDIGO), the slave who had murdered Hammond’s father. Hammond uses Mede and his friend Blaise (Yaphet Kotto) to fight in ridiculous gladiator battles as entertainment for the ‘white folk’. Slave Regine (Pam Grier) is Hammond’s favorite ‘bed wench’ but develops a romance with Drum. Hammond’s bratty slut daughter Sophie (Rainbeaux Smith) stirs up trouble between Drum and Blaise by trying to have sex with both of them and then lying to her father that Blaise tried to rape her and a campy gay French slave trader (John Colicos) wants to bed black stud Drum as well. Tensions build, emotions erupt and by the end of the movie, a mansion is on fire, the black slaves have revolted against the ‘mastas’ wielding scythes and knives, while the white men battle it out with their muskets and rifles.
I can only imagine the howling responses to DRUM by those same critics who thought MANDINGO was in poor taste. Where MANDINGO was at least pretentious and literary (and had a dignified performance by James Mason as Warren Maxwell), DRUM makes no pretense at being anything except cheap thrills exploitation (despite an impressive budget) and ups the sleaze quotient by adding lesbianism, incest, castration, and a swishy gay villain to the mix. DRUM is more fast-paced and entertaining than its predecessor and any movie that includes Warren Oates and Pam Grier in its cast has to be considered a must-see 70’s classic.
Square-jawed actor Perry King played Hammond in the first film so the thought of him aging into the grizzled Warren Oates is rich and the always-grinning Oates has a great time in DRUM. Oates brings real demented joy to the part and is fantastic reciting such ripe, un-PC dialog as “Falconhurst is all about niggas fornicatin’. If’n my niggas stop fornicatin’, we stops eatin’”. Drum, that perfect specimen of slave that neither man nor women can keep their hands off, was played by Ken Norton, a former world champion heavyweight boxer who had also played Mede in MANDINGO. Norton had a brooding, massive presence and no doubt high hopes for a film career, but he was no actor and his awkward readings and blank stare stand in stark contrast to the scenery-chewing of his DRUM co-stars. Norton (who once broke Muhammad Ali’s jaw) was reportedly a contender for the role of Apollo Creed in ROCKY but MANDINGO and DRUM were his first and last shots at big-screen stardom. Norton died in September of last year, but not before I got him to sign my DRUM one-sheet poster. John Collicos delivers an eye-rolling, over-the-top performance as the devious gay slave trader Bernard DeMarigny. His evil character is so mincing and disgusting that I’m sure 1976 audiences cheered near the end when Drum reaches down DeMarigny’s pants and rips off his testicles! Yaphet Kotto as Drum’s best friend Blaise provides the film’s best acting but Kotto is so good and so serious that it often seems like he’s not in on the joke. Pam Grier (billed for the only time in her career as ‘Pamela’) was the reigning queen of black cinema, but her role as Regine is surprisingly underwritten and she does none of her trademark ass-kicking. Isela Vega was a sexy Mexican who’d been Warren Oates leading lady in Sam Peckinpah’s BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA (and posed in ‘Playboy’) in 1974 and Cheryl “Rainbeaux” Smith, who plays Oates daughter, is an actress very familiar to fans of 70’exploitation and has a considerable cult following. Smith had starred in LEMORA LADY DRACULA in 1972 at age 17 and adorned drive-in screens throughout the decade in films like CAGED HEAT (1974), SWINGING CHEERLEADERS (1974), and MASSACRE AT CENTRAL HIGH (1976) and essayed the title role in the adult version of CINDERELLA in 1977. Smith was a sexy and charismatic presence but had a weakness for heroin and died destitute at age 45. All four of the aforementioned actresses appeared topless in DRUM.
Image: DRUM was released on the MGM video label in the mid-80’s but has long been out-of-print. Now DRUM is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino-Lorber with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1 aspect. DRUM is easily one of the most scenic enterprises of ‘70s Blaxploitation. With surprisingly evocative production and costume design, DRUM is often visually sumptuous despite its gritty subject matter, and that helps this high definition presentation to pop rather splendidly. There’s the expected amount of color grading here, from the cool blue tones of the opening the probably ironic golden amber hues that infuse the plantation sequence, but fine detail is exceptional throughout this presentation, with virtually every whiskered face and badly scarred back vividly on display.
Audio: The 2.0 DTS-HD sound is solid and free of distortion. Dialogue is cleanly and clearly presented, and the mix is generally superb.
Extras: Beside a trailer, the lone extra is an outstanding audio commentary with director Steve Carver moderated by Bill Olson. Carver talks at length about the film’s generous budget, which explains some of the opening shots with hundreds of extras dressed as slaves, scenes that were filmed in Puerto Rico by the original director Burt Topper, who dropped out after differences with producer Dino DeLaurentis. Much of the cast had left along with Topper including John Vernon, who was replaced with Oates. Carver also talks about how he had to win over Ken Norton, who was locked into the production even though Jim Brown had originally been approached for the role. It’s a fascinating listen though I wish Olson had been better prepared for the times when Carver’s memory failed him.
DRUM is historically inaccurate and politically incorrect in a way found only in the mid-70’s. It’s not racist in its attitude toward its characters and it, as well as MANDIGO, found their biggest audiences at urban theatres specializing in ‘Blaxploitation’. It’s one of my favorite exploitation films from the ‘70s and I highly recommend Kino-Lorber’s Blu-ray disc.
My DRUM poster signed by Ken Norton:
