Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Lamar Trotti (screenplay) and
Sonya Levien (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

10 November 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War | Western

Tagline:

Red-Blooded DRAMA !

Plot:

Before the Revolutionary War farmer Martin brings bride Magdelana the Mohawk Valley where they are burned out by Indians...

Plot Keywords:

New York | Farm | Fort | Farmer | Militia

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Claudette Colbert	...	Lana (Magdelana)
Henry Fonda	...	Gilbert Martin
Edna May Oliver	...	Mrs. McKlennar
Eddie Collins	...	Christian Reall
John Carradine	...	Caldwell
Dorris Bowdon	...	Mary Reall
Jessie Ralph	...	Mrs. Weaver
Arthur Shields	...	Reverend Rosenkrantz
Robert Lowery	...	John Weaver
Roger Imhof	...	Gen. Nicholas Herkimer
Francis Ford	...	Joe Boleo
Ward Bond	...	Adam Hartman
Kay Linaker	...	Mrs. Demooth
Russell Simpson	...	Dr. Petry
Spencer Charters	...	Innkeeper

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | USA:Approved (Certificate #5530) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Australia:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Duck Creek, Kanab, Utah, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Clarence Wilson in the role as "Paymaster" and Lionel Pape in the role of "General" are in studio records/casting call lists as cast members, but they did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Gil is running to the next fort for help he crosses a stream with the 3 Indians in hot pursuit. The next scene shows him running into the woods and his pant legs are completely dry.

Quotes:

Reverend Rosenkrantz: O Almighty God, hear us, we beseech Thee, and bring succor and guidance to those we are about to bring to Your divine notice. First we are thinking of Mary Walaber. She is only 16 years old, but she is keeping company with a soldier from Fort Dayton. He's a Massachusetts man, and Thou knowest no good can come of that.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Fonda on Fonda (1992) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Church Psalm

Three-strip Technicolor in all its glory!

Other comments on this film quite well echo my sentiments: John Ford once again exhibits his mastery of the medium, with a minimum of the sentimentality to which he sometimes succumbed; a very young and handsome Henry Fonda wonderfully embodies an ordinary man virtually forced to perform feats of extraordinary heroism; Claudette Colbert, although she seems out of her usually sophisticated element, really cannot be faulted, especially when one considers the Hollywoodized glamor of her makeup and costuming; and Edna May Oliver, heading Ford's customarily astutely chosen supporting cast, almost steals the picture.

But, to my eyes, it is the unusually beautiful Technicolor cinematography by Bert Glennon and Ray Rennahan (the latter being the credited cinematographer on the first feature-length film in three-strip Technicolor, 1935's "Becky Sharp") who deserve the most accolades. Their work simply glows and has that special crispness characteristic of certain early Technicolor films (many of which bore the Twentieth Century Fox label, as it happens.) No doubt, working on outdoor locations with the cumbersome equipment and lighting requirements involved in the use of the Technicolor process at that time, not to mention the lengendarily dictatorial control of the Technicolor Corporation's czarina, Madame (Natalie) Kalmus, and her frequent associate, Henri Jaffa, Messrs. Glennon and Rennahan managed to accomplish one of 1939's finest achievements in color cinematography. With Alfred Newman's fine musical score and all of the other first-class production values lavished on this stirring tale, "Drums Along the Mohawk" deserves a place among the best recreations of those remarkable personal stories that were part of this newly emerging nation.

I am not aware if the available VHS tape transfer does justice to the prints struck from the original negative, but American Movie Classics occasionally shows this title (mercilessly chopped up with endless commercials, etc., as is now their wont) in a version that makes one realize why the invention of color television broadcasting just had to happen!