After a vicious Indian attack on a ranch in which the women are raped and killed and a young girl is left in a state of shock, the scene shifts to Fort Canby, under the command of Richard Boone. Unfortunately, this is not one of Boone's better movies. A lot of the blame, almost all of it perhaps, goes to the lines the actors have to somehow make sound real. That task turns out to be virtually impossible. The best part is the debate over which Indians, the Apaches or the Comanches, actually carried out the raid. Luana Patton takes top honors as the center of George Hamilton's and James Douglas's attention. Douglas, the ranking junior officer leads a small squad of soldiers out to track the Indians, setting in motion the central action sequences which culminates in a borderline ridiculous cavalry-Indian fight, somewhat saved by the arrows falling on some of the soldiers. However, life in the fort turns out to be a bit more interesting than the action outside of the walls.
Review of A Thunder of Drums
