Drums Along the Mohawk

It's the American revolutionary war. Gilbert Martin (Henry Fonda) takes his newly married wife Lana Borst (Claudette Colbert) from a wealthy Albany family to a small farm in remote upstate New York. They face political intrigue. Lana gets hysterical upon meeting friendly Oneida convert Blue Back (Chief John Big Tree). Gilbert joins the local militia. The British has recruited Mohawk warriors to go to war.

I can abide by the drunken, stupid savage Indian stereotype. I can abide by the We treat them well comment. I can abide by Colbert's silly hysteria and her melodramatic acting. I can abide by a lot. I will not abide by the well-built frontier homes. They have second floors. They have porches and giant windows. Worst of all, they're made of stone. None of that is realistic. The final battle at the fort is mostly killing cannon fodder Indians. When they are able to kill an old woman, it is the most melodramatic death in cinema history. Nevertheless, it is good for its time. The color cinematography is amazing. John Ford's directing is great. The combination of Fonda and Colbert is good. It is old fashion but it couldn't be anything else.

It is a strange truism about films concerning American History. While some of those films dealing with the Civil War are great ("The General", "Gone With The Wind") or highly respectable ("The Raid", "Gettysburg", "Glory"), this is less true about films about the American Revolution. It's a sad or mediocre commentary. D.W.Griffith's first great feature length film was the controversial - pro K.K.K film: "The Birth OF A Nation". No matter how you hate the film's racism, it's innovation make it a film landmark. But his attempt at a Revolution film, America, was a flop. Just see the titles: "America", "The Howards Of Virginia", "The Devil's Desciple" (slightly better due to its star cast, especially Olivier as "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne), "John Paul Jones", "Lafayette", "Revolution". There are two exceptions. The musical "1776" was a good film, and (despite some historical errors) told the story of the creation of the Declaration of Independence pretty well. This film is the other. It is the only film by John Ford set in the American Revolution (he was more at home in the Indian Wars of the 1870s). It is in glorious color for a 1939 film. It has a dandy cast from Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert as the young married couple, to Edna Mae Oliver, Ward Bond, Arthur Shields, and John Carridine (except that his motivation as a Tory is never developed - possibly his scenes were cut in the editing).

Perhaps it was the source. Walter D. Edmonds is a forgotten writer today, but when I was growing up in the 1960s his novels, "Drums Along The Mohawk" and "Chad Hanna", were still published and read. Interestingly Henry Fonda was also in the film version of that latter novel. Edwards was a regional historical writer (which may explain his contemporary oblivion). All his novels are set in upstate New York, "Chad Hanna" being set in the 1830s. "Drums Along The Mohawk deals with the warfare between settlers in Western New York and the Six Nations of the Iroquois Indians, the latter allied with Tories. It is a grueling warfare - culminating in the battle of Oriskany, where American troops literally slugged it out in forest fighting with the Indians. Commanded by General Nicholas Herkimer (Ralph Imhof in the film)the Americans barely won the battle. Herkimer died of his wounds a few days later (movingly captured in the movie). He is honored today by a county upstate named for him. These events occurred in 1777, and the film seems to end in 1779. It ends with the settlers of the Mohawk River Valley triumphing over the Tories and Indians. What is not shown is what really crushed the Indians - Washington sent General John Sullivan into the area, and in a foreshadowing of the scorched earth policies of General William Tecumseh Sherman, Sullivan burned the Iroquois villages to the ground. It is not a pretty story now, but in that period Sullivan was considered a national hero. Ford does not even touch on that aspect. Probably just as well. But what he does show is first rate Ford, and we are all grateful for that.

In 1776, the apolitical farmer Gilbert 'Gil' Martin (Henry Fonda) gets married to Magdelana "Lana" Borst (Claudette Colbert) at the Borst Home in Albany, New York. They travel to his lands in the Mohawk Valley, Deerfield, where they work hard to improve their lives, but their house and crop are burned out by Indians fomented by the British. The couple loses everything including their baby and they have to restart their lives working for the widow Mrs. McKlennar (Edna May Oliver). But it is times of the American War of Independence, and the settlers have to fight against the Indians and the British soldiers to survive.

"Drums along the Mohawk" is a romance in times of the American War of Independence. John Ford uses the historic moment as background of the tough life of the American colonists in the Mohawk Valley, through the dramatic lives of Gil and Lana. This is not my favorite film of John Ford, but the story is engaging and it is a good movie. The thirty-six year old Claudette Colbert is miscast and too old for the role of Lana. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Ao Rufar dos Tambores" ("At the Drum Roll")

This is one great film to look at on a lazy afternoon. It is definitely the finest film John Ford ever directed without the use of John Wayne. The timing of the release of it was interesting due to the fact that the world was edging ever closer to the brink of war and the country needed something to help boost morale. Also, the performances in this film were great as well. Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert were wonderful, but the character that really stood out for me was the old spinster, Mrs. McKlennar portrayed by Edna May Oliver. Too bad it had to be released in 1939. Due to all the great releases that year, this film definitely got lost in the shuffle.

Drums Along the Mohawk is the story of newlyweds Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert and the trials they faced trying to make a life in the Mohawk River Valley during the Revolutionary War.

The Upstate New York theater save for the key battle of Saratoga was one of the backwater areas of the American Revolution. Still it has a colorful history and it's the one area of the Revolution where the British made use of their allies among the Indians.

Specifically the Iroquois who had supported the British against the French in the Seven Years War 20 year earlier. As a consequence of that support, the Indians were guaranteed no white settlement west of the Appalachian mountains. Saying that and enforcing that were two different propositions. Farmer pioneers as depicted by Fonda and Colbert were not about to be turned back by words in the Treaty of Paris. Of course the Indian side to it was never told on screen at that time in Hollywood.

Still those were brave people who pioneered and the film is a tribute to them. The real person of Nicholas Herkimer and his brave death in the Battle of Oriskany is woven into this story. Herkimer is played by Roger Imhoff and he was the son of German settlers from Hanover. Remember George III was Duke of Hanover and lots of German settlers came to the colonies. Imhoff plays Herkimer with correct German accent and as the gallant hero he was.

John Carradine plays Caldwell the one eyed Tory who leads the Iroquois, Why John Ford just didn't use the real name of Walter Butler for Carradine's character I couldn't say. Yet Caldwell is based on Butler who was right up there with Benedict Arnold as one of the Revolution's deepest, darkest villains. Carradine does well with the part, no shades of gray in his portrayal. You might recall that Butler was one of the 'jury' at the trial in The Devil and Daniel Webster and Lionel Barrymore played him in D.W. Griffith's silent classic, America.

Edna May Oliver is the pioneer widow woman who takes in Fonda and Colbert after their own place is burned to the ground during a raid and won an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She was a hardy soul and she steals the film.

This is John Ford's first Technicolor feature and he really did well in the cinematography department. The forest greens of upstate New York really are depicted well, especially in the part where Henry Fonda is being chased by the Indians as he goes for help in the climax.

Upstate New York was a key area of the American Revolution. With the British occupying New York City for most of the war, upstate was the bridge in which those rabble rousers in New England kept connected with the south. It's why the Battle of Saratoga was so important, why Benedict Arnold's aborted treachery in turning West Point over to them was so important. If it wasn't for those yeoman farmers in the Mohawk Valley there might not be an America today.

And the Mohawk Valley was more important afterwards because another man with vision who was New York's governor named DeWitt Clinton had an idea to extend the headwaters of the Mohawk River straight to Lake Erie with a canal. That act opened up the northwest to trade and made New York the largest city in the USA. No doubt the descendants of Colbert and Fonda worked on the Erie Canal as well.

Drums Along the Mohawk is a nice tribute film to some brave people whose battles on that sideshow theater of the war made possible the very existence of America.