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Rating:  - Drums Along the Mohawk
ESSENTIAL MOVIE!!! The movie stars Claudette Colbert & Henry Fonda. It's based on a novel by Walter Edmonds of the same name. The period takes place at the outbreak of the American Revolution, one of the most poorly covered period of American history by Hollywood. Fonda & Colbert are husband & wife, Colbert coming from a well-to-do family. They moved to the Mohawk Valley in western New York to do farming. Of course, they are unprepared for the hostilities that break out with the Indians. The cinematography (nominated for an Academy Award) is beautiful & so is the color (nominated for an Academy Award). The film is directed by the great John Ford, one of America's best directors.
There aren't any bonus features in this version but it's a high quality product. Enjoy one of the few good movies ever made by Hollywood that involve this period of American history.
Rating:  - Lavishly produced but not particularly engaging
At a risk of a beating, Drums Along the Mohawk is one of those occasional much-beloved John Ford films that didn't really work for me. As with My Darling Clementine, Ford is much more interested in the ephemera - rituals, gatherings, minor supporting characters - than he is in story or his rather bland leads (Claudette Colbert and a dull Henry Fonda on autopilot, as he is in many of his films for Ford), and much of the humor seems particularly misplaced here, turning the burning of the widow's farm or even the burning alive of one settler into semi-comic moments. The final chase is beautifully shot, but for all Ford's efforts to establish a sense of community worth fighting for, it's hard to care.
The original trailer is included.
Rating: - Really Expected More
With the likes of Henry Fonda and the always-funny Edna May Oliver, I rented this one for my wife & me to watch with hopes of great enjoyment (we both like American history). From all the 5-star reviews, I thought our chances were good. It wasn't terrible by any means, but overall I was disappointed.
Edna May was great fun, but I felt Fonda never really meshed w/the part (as he did so well in The Grapes of Wrath). Claudette Colbert just didn't do much for me either. As for the movie itself, I kept waiting for it to really hit its stride, but it never quite did. Interesting that many folks feel otherwise.
Rating:  - An older, but still serviceable, movie about the Revolutionary War
This is a romanticized view of the frontier during the American Revolution, typical of its time. The movie is, to some extent dated, but very good for its day. The cinematography is very nice and John Ford's direction begins to show his auteur skills.
This is, at one level, the story of a couple from marriage to their life on the frontier. Gil (Henry Fonda) and Lana (Claudette Colbert) Martin get married and move to the frontier (the Mohawk Valley in New York). Lana comes from a well-to-do family, but is game to struggle on the frontier. This is as much a movie about characters as about action. General Herkimer's stand at the battle of Oriskany is only hinted at. A later battle is more explicitly depicted.
The young couple, before the outbreak of war, creates a new life, showing a lot of pluck. After Oriskany, the British and Native Americans destroy their home; they must come to work for another person (an outstandingly quirky widow, played by Edna May Oliver, who received an Oscar nomination for her role), as they strive to get back on their feet.
There is considerable derring-do during the siege of the fort, with a satisfying ending. There is a somewhat stereotyped view of Native Americans, as one might expect.
However, this is a satisfying movie from its time. Worth viewing, too, for the start of John Ford's major league career (he also directed "Stagecoach" and "Young Mr. Lincoln" that year).
Rating: - Pioneering Eastern USA
This movie endures well, partly because it is historical, and therefore not subject to obsolescence, other than technical obsolescence - due to changes in filming techniques. These are not significant.
In its day, "Drums Along the Mohawk" was Academy Award material. Perhaps it would still be so.
I get caught in the drama, the danger, the excitement and the unbelievable hardships of the pioneers, especially the women. This movie tends to bring out all of those aspects of pioneer life, and because I am drawn in, I get a strong feeling of participation, even though I am sure I don't have the heart to be a true pioneer.
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