. . . Gilbert "Gil" Martin (Henry Fonda) tells his bride Lana (Claudette Colbert) on the second night of their honeymoon, after smacking her across the face. This is a marriage screaming out loud for more "back story;" namely, exactly HOW did log cabin bumpkin Gil even meet city mansion dweller Lana? It's as if THE GREAT GATSY did not show us how Jay Gatz met Daisy Buchanan when he was poor at a military USO-style dance, or like ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS failing to show that he did NOT go directly from a log cabin to wedded "bliss" with Mary Todd, but had become a prominent lawyer during the interim period. Furthermore, I've always wondered why some of the teachers at my school seem to pick on the kids who have "Mohawk" haircuts. Turns out most of the faculty seem old enough to have watched DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK in actual movie theaters when it first came out, during their younger, more impressionable years. In a somewhat racist depiction, all the Native Americans here (except one) are wearing the ORIGINAL Mohawk hair style, and all they seem to do is whoop in high pitched giggles while burning down crops and houses in the New York river valley named after them. While the settler homes may not have had electricity and TV's, no Mohawk homes are shown at all--implying that this tribe was homeless, like today's war veterans suffering from PTSD. My question is, Who would have been dumb enough to burn these crops, cabins, and lodges?! They could have just gathered the crops and moved into the habitations, or used them as second homes, at least. Since the river and valley already were in the Mohawk's name, who could have objected? The U.S. Constitution, which says "possession is nine-tenths of the law," was fresher in peoples' minds then than now. My late dog was named Herkimer, after a town that my family once visited in New York, which--it turns out--was named after a general who gets his leg cut off in DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK and dies. "Herky" ate too many bunnies in our yard, dying from that; before he expired, he'd do a superstitious multi-lap one-dog race around a tree near our driveway every time we backed out a car, to insure that someone would return home to continue feeding him. Eventually "Herky's Oval" was carved four inches into the ground. Henry Fonda is shown out-running a trio of Native Americans who are wearing attire more appropriate for Marathoning than Henry's cumbersome fringed leathers in DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK, which I find a trifle hard to credit. I just KNOW Herky would have run circles around Henry.

Ford left out an important topic about the American Revolution in the Mohawk Valley. The topic being that it was a theater of extreme neighbor on neighbor violence. Colonial Patriots, Loyalists and Iroquois all who once lived together in peace were split because of politics. The patriots were so harsh on the Loyalist about their beliefs to a point were many Loyalists left the valley for Canada or England. The Iroquois original wanted no part in the conflict. I do believe that the word vengeance for what the Patriots put the loyalists through can be valid. I think British officials and John Johnson wanted to assign those loyal to the crown who knew and lived in the area to attack the Patriots. Many of the New York Loyalist and Iroquois enlisted were part of the Kings Royal Regiment of New York, and Butlers Rangers. I mostly believe that it was the British objective to lay waste to the valley for two reasons. One, The Mohawk valley was a major food source for the Continental Army up until after the Sullivan Expedition of 1779. Two, St. Ledger wanted to provide a diversion to help Burgoyne at Saratoga. We do not see the worst of it because the film goes from 1777 to early 1779. From 1780 to the end of the war there were a lot more raids with smaller raiding parties containing mostly of Loyalists from the area. By the end of the war the valley was practically deserted with lots of destroyed homesteads and farms. Some settlements and small villages were wiped from the face of the earth like Andrustown. Only less than a 1000 out of about 7000 residents remained. Even though other frontier communities faced the same events like Cobleskill, and Cherry Valley, the devastation according to accounts was not as near as what it was in the Mohawk Valley. Repeated battles and raids made the Mohawk Valley the most bloodiest and dangerous place during the War for Independence. It took the lives of many innocent Patriots, Loyalist, and Iroquois. I do like the film and Ford did a good job showing frontier life and a good portrayal of the 1778 attack.

Drums Along the Mohawk is directed by John Ford and adapted to screenplay by Sonya Levien & Lamar Trotti from the novel written by Walter D. Edmonds. It stars Henry Fonda, Claudette Colbert, Edna May Oliver, John Carradine and Ward Bond. Music is by Alfred Newman and cinematography by Bert Glennon and Ray Rennahan. Settlers on the New York frontier face up to the challenges of the Revolution and hostile forces homing in on their settlements. In what was a stellar year for cinema, John Ford had three films released, Stagecoach, Young Mr. Lincoln and Drums Along the Mohawk, of the three it's not unfair to say that the latter is seen as the lesser light of his 1939 output. Yet this in no way means it's a weak film, it isn't, although it has some problems, it's just a measure of the director that he was able to churn out quality more often than not. Drums Along the Mohawk is very much a quintessential Ford movie, it's awash with sentiment, an awareness of the value of community and of course some muscular love of America. The attention to detail of frontier life - and the knowledge of the folk who fought in that first wave of the Revolution - is superb, boosted no end by the magnificent Technicolor (it was Ford's first film in colour) and the way Glennon and Rennahan (Oscar Nominated Best Color Cinematography) bring the Utah landscapes vividly to life. The story allows Ford to produce some great moments. A battle scarred Gilbert Martin (Fonda) musing on the horrors of war holds the viewer spellbound, the edge of seat attack on Fort Herkimer that closes the picture excites and frightens in equal measure, and a chase sequence that sees Gil pursued by three Mohawks is a thing of beauty as it begins under a blood red sky and continues through the changing landscape. It's a film showcasing the strengths of the director for sure. On the acting front the ever watchable Fonda and the Ford stock company are let down a touch by the odd casting of Colbert. Bright and cute in that Bonnet wearing kind of way, Colbert is miscast and never fully convinces as a frontier wife, though she is not helped by scripted dialogue that often borders on being twee. No such problem with Oliver, though, who is delightful as the crotchety and stoic old gal, her Oscar Nomination for Best Supporting Actress was well warranted. Some misplaced humour, Colbert and twee dialogue stop it from being ultimate Ford, but it's often a thing of beauty and it has knowledge and warmth driving the narrative forward. 7/10

The biggest star here is the cinematography. The daylight exteriors are as luscious as it gets. Someone really had a feel for time and place in this one. Sets and set dressing are exquisite as well, with a real colonial feel, gritty and rough-hewn. Superb Technicolor. Of the stars, a youthful, gangly Henry Fonda is exuberant and innocent. Claudette Colbert is a little old for this role, but she pulls it off magnificently, giving a little touch of "robbing the cradle". A troupe of great character actors, including Ward Bond and Edna Oliver, round out the subtext. The result is an engaging, rollicking Technicolor romp that delivers the entertainment goods.