Drums Along the Mohawk (B or 3/4 stars)
Based on a best-seller, colonial epic 'Drums Along the Mohawk' (directed by John Ford) unfolds on the eve of the Revolutionary War in upstate NY's Mohawk Valley. Director Ford captures the rugged nature of the settler farmer (people who were faced with hardship after hardship, constant Indian raids & political intrigue from the Tories). Set in 1776, the film opens with wilderness farmer Gilbert Martin (Henry Fonda) & his bride, upper-class city girl Lana Borst (Claudette Colbert), trekking from Albany to the aforementioned Mohawk Valley, where he has built a small log cabin. Lana must quickly adjust to the harsh frontier conditions and, after a fierce-looking Indian gives her a major scare {cue Colbert shriek-screaming at full volume}, she learns that he's actually a Christian convert/new friend of Gilbert's.
After all their hard work on their land, they are suddenly (& completely) burned out by rogue Indians who were spurred on by a duplicitous Tory named Caldwell (John Carradine) -- and while escaping in haste to the German Flats ... Lana sadly loses their 1st child. Left without a home, the spunky, fast-talking widow McKlennar (wonderful Edna May Oliver) generously offers the couple a home & wages to work on her vast land. So life is good. There is peace. And our main couple finally succeeds in having a baby. But another vicious Indian attack takes place in the backwoods and, Gen. Herkimer loses roughly 400 of his 600 men. When the settler's ammunition runs scarily low, Gilbert takes action and, in doing so, has to outrun 3 Mohawks through the dense woods. Will he save the day or will catastrophe ensue? Tragedy occurs, as well as the hope for peace in a newly emerging nation.
Cinematographers Bert Glennon & Ray Rennahan received Academy Award nominations in 1939 for their brilliant color photography (capturing the lush forests & valleys of Utah), as did Edna May Oliver for Best Supporting Actress. Though I preferred her in other films (namely 1940's Pride & Prejudice), Oliver was the perfect character actor here; playing a rough, tough, ornery, defiant, yet utterly likeable wilderness matriarch. Henry Fonda is solid as Gilbert, a smart, good-natured man we can empathize with; one of the film's defining scenes occurs when he delivers an eerie, shell-shocked account of the battle. Claudette Colbert is fine, though, I've seen her better. She's lovely, sweet, yet also veers into loud histrionics that were not welcome to my fragile ears {haha}. Other backwoods characters are ably portrayed by Arthur Shields, Russell Simpson, & Ward Bond (as a fun-loving fighter).
Aiding the rich direction, vibrant color photography, & the performances is some stellar production design (18th c. muskets, buildings), sound work, & Alfred Newman's music. From top-to-bottom, 'Drums Along the Mohawk' is an "impressive" film to watch. I also appreciate the point that John Ford was trying to make: in order to start a new country (USA), ill-equipped wilderness soldiers/farmers were the ones who stepped-up to fight, protect their farms from encroaching Indians, & maintain civil order. We owe a lot to these individuals, not necessarily the generals & politicians of the time. You know, John Ford was one busy man in 1939, also giving us the iconic Stagecoach & the superb Young Mr. Lincoln (also with Fonda). 'Drums Along the Mohawk' isn't on the level of those 2, but it was very successful at the box office and, with a better script (with more gut-wrenching emotional drama to aid the rest of it), it could have been great instead of merely good.
After all their hard work on their land, they are suddenly (& completely) burned out by rogue Indians who were spurred on by a duplicitous Tory named Caldwell (John Carradine) -- and while escaping in haste to the German Flats ... Lana sadly loses their 1st child. Left without a home, the spunky, fast-talking widow McKlennar (wonderful Edna May Oliver) generously offers the couple a home & wages to work on her vast land. So life is good. There is peace. And our main couple finally succeeds in having a baby. But another vicious Indian attack takes place in the backwoods and, Gen. Herkimer loses roughly 400 of his 600 men. When the settler's ammunition runs scarily low, Gilbert takes action and, in doing so, has to outrun 3 Mohawks through the dense woods. Will he save the day or will catastrophe ensue? Tragedy occurs, as well as the hope for peace in a newly emerging nation.
Cinematographers Bert Glennon & Ray Rennahan received Academy Award nominations in 1939 for their brilliant color photography (capturing the lush forests & valleys of Utah), as did Edna May Oliver for Best Supporting Actress. Though I preferred her in other films (namely 1940's Pride & Prejudice), Oliver was the perfect character actor here; playing a rough, tough, ornery, defiant, yet utterly likeable wilderness matriarch. Henry Fonda is solid as Gilbert, a smart, good-natured man we can empathize with; one of the film's defining scenes occurs when he delivers an eerie, shell-shocked account of the battle. Claudette Colbert is fine, though, I've seen her better. She's lovely, sweet, yet also veers into loud histrionics that were not welcome to my fragile ears {haha}. Other backwoods characters are ably portrayed by Arthur Shields, Russell Simpson, & Ward Bond (as a fun-loving fighter).
Aiding the rich direction, vibrant color photography, & the performances is some stellar production design (18th c. muskets, buildings), sound work, & Alfred Newman's music. From top-to-bottom, 'Drums Along the Mohawk' is an "impressive" film to watch. I also appreciate the point that John Ford was trying to make: in order to start a new country (USA), ill-equipped wilderness soldiers/farmers were the ones who stepped-up to fight, protect their farms from encroaching Indians, & maintain civil order. We owe a lot to these individuals, not necessarily the generals & politicians of the time. You know, John Ford was one busy man in 1939, also giving us the iconic Stagecoach & the superb Young Mr. Lincoln (also with Fonda). 'Drums Along the Mohawk' isn't on the level of those 2, but it was very successful at the box office and, with a better script (with more gut-wrenching emotional drama to aid the rest of it), it could have been great instead of merely good.