Drango (1957)

Set in a small town in Georgia immediately following the Civil War. A Union Army officer (Jeff Chandler) is the new military governor with orders to help rehabilitate the town and get it back on its feet. But the townspeople are bitter and resentful toward the Yankee officer and refuse to cooperate. When a Union sympathizer (Morris Ankrum) is lynched by some of the townsmen, the town refuses to help identify the men responsible . Directed by Hall Bartlett (THE CARETAKERS) and Jules Bricken. A compelling western for the most part, it can't sustain itself and settles for a pat ending that that rings false. But its premise of a Union officer attempting to redeem himself after participating in war atrocities versus a hate filled town that participates in a conspiracy of silence and hate rather than moving on after the war is engrossing enough to hold the movie together. Chandler brings sincerity to his role although he can't display the conflict and guilt within his character particularly well. As the embittered daughter of the lynched man, Joanne Dru is very good. With Julie London, Donald Crisp, Ronald Howard, John Lupton and Milburn Stone.