Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)

Drums Along the Mohawk is pretty dull fare. The scenery and historical period activities (clearing forests, barn dances, etc.) are all well done, but otherwise, this is a dull movie. There is no plot to speak of, just a string of raids and battles of American patriots against Tories and Indians. The villain (John Carradine) is undermotivated in the script, and is not given enough screen time to make him into a character worthy of either admiring or hating. Fonda and Colbert are miscast -- neither is suitable for the part, especially Colbert. This error was due to the "star system" which caused studios to "milk" their big names by putting them in every conceivable movie. (Warner Bros. similarly miscast Errol Flynn as a Western hero in Dodge City in the same 1939 year.)The dialogue and delivery is mostly wooden. Only Edna Mae Oliver comes across as a real human being. (I actually have relatives like that!)The message of the movie -- "Gee, wasn't life tough in those pioneer days, and how brave young brides had to be to cope with these hardships" -- is pretty trite. 1939 was a year of great films. Drums Along the Mohawk is not one of them. I know that will outrage those who think that anything directed by John Ford is automatically good, but the fact is that this is one of Ford's clunkers. Great camera work and accurate period flavor do not make a great film. The makers of "Barry Lyndon" in the 1970s should have learned that lesson from this 1939 dud.

John Ford's Drums Along the Mohawk is the absolute best colonial movie ever made that reminds of why we became a country in the first place. The movie stars Henry Fonda as Gil Martin a farmer who has just been married and then had to serve in the American revolution, (which the beginning is similar to High Noon for when it comes to the beginning of the film but has more of a similar story to Roland Emmerich's 2000 colonial epic The Patriot.). Not only does Henry Fonda give a great performance but so does Claudette Colbert as his newlywed wife. Not only do I think personally that it is the best movie made about the revolutionary war, but it is also a great period piece. Back then it really took a lot to make movies about how our country started. And i think that this goes as one of John Ford's best films.

There are a Couple Things that make this an Endurable John Ford Sermon. The Early Technicolor, and a Few Good Scenes of Tension and Battle. What is Hardly Endurable is the Preaching and Overacting that is Typical Ford. The Overt Sentimentality and Overplaying Certain Aspects that were so Near and Dear to the Director.The Birthing Baby Scene just goes on Forever and becomes Somewhat Intolerable, the Cartoonish Characters like the Happy Drunk (even while being tortured and burned to death), Patriotism as Religion, and just so much Heavy Handedness. Then there's Propaganda like Fonda's (read American) Proclaiming, "No Indian alive can outrun me!".But it is an Entertaining Film and the Final Siege at the Fort is Stunning in its Gripping Brutality. Fonda and Colbert are All Right and Edna May Oliver is again a Scene Stealer, but the Supporting Cast is nothing but a Silly Conglomerate of Overt Stereotypes and Overacting.Certainly Worth a Watch for the Aforementioned Good Parts, but Far from a Classic or Enticing Cinema. That is Typical of most John Ford Stuff. Some rather Great Scenes, but His Movies as a Complete Piece of Art, Generally with a Few Exceptions, cannot Withstand the Weight of Ford's Ego.

I could not believe this story is about war history because the movie began with the scene of the beautiful wedding. Besides, there were many soft musics that performed in the beginning. I thought this movie would have been the romantic movie. However, this movie attracted me because it introduced the life of people in rural. I watched many movies ,but they usually were about the life of people in urban, so it was like I learned another taste of movies. It was natural. Moreover, The scene that was about the war was exciting because there were a lot of shooting and using many kinds of weapon. A lot of people were used to perform the scene of the war that helps the audience get the feeling of war. In addition ,it was a good opportunity to learn the strategy of the war in that era. Another scene that I like when the three indians was chasing the main actor, and they were running on the mountain on the background of the sunrise. It helps me imagine this is very long running. Nevertheless, I think there is the problem of the color of the movie because I could not see the detail in far vision.