Triple Play in the Triple Campaign Plot: In a unique western, settlers face hardships of Indian attacks during the Revolution.
The British Invade In 1777 the British began a three pronged invasion of New York State designed to subdivide the Revolution. Drums Along the Mohawk is the story of the people who repulsed the British attack along the western flank.
John Ford, the acclaimed director, escaped the curse against American Revolution films by underplaying British involvement and winning the classification 'Western.' Yet this classic American frontier-western is not set against sage brush and cactus of Monument Valley where most John Ford films were shot. This story began in the rich forests of New York and Pennsylvania where British forces struggled throughout 1777-1778 to split the revolutionaries in two. Along a bloodied frontier the American Revolution was won by a touch of the feather.
In Drums Along the Mohawk, Newlyweds Gil and Lana Martin (Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert) set out to farm in the lush Mohawk Valley. Gil is a patriot and the country is in the throes and turmoil of birth in war. Tories and their Indian allies, led by the insidious Caldwell (John Carridine) are afoot to burn every rebel farm they can find.
Although the Tories are led by the stereotypical bad guy John Carradine, there are nice loyalists as well: Mrs McKlennar (Edna May Oliver), the feisty widow who proclaims her loyalty to George III and forces invading Indians to carry her in her bed outside as they pillage her farmstead.
What a gal? No she was simply British by choice! This is a John Ford film. Ford unlike many other filmmakers of his time was sympathetic to the tenacity, nobility and bravery of the American Indian. The Indian at war is a fierce combatant but is equally capable of being a pious Christian.
However ahead of his times in portraying the Indians, Ford did play with history just abit claiming an American victory at Oriskany and a repulse by force of arms at Fort Schuyler; indeed movie's claim that the opposing British commander was killed in the final assault at Fort Schuyler is pure crowd appeal. Stunning footage of battle scenes are good, but purely fictional.
The film, as well as the book upon which the movie is based, accurately portray the active role taken by Colonial women in defense of Fort Schuyler. Cutting their hair with crude razor blades, women "manned" the ramparts. Too many of the men had been killed at Oriskany.
Ultimately the Army led by Benedict Arnold did relieve the post; but the day was won by deception rather than force of arms. The British led Indian force besieging Fort Schuyler faded away.
We can perhaps forgive John Ford for his historical lapses. Ford's primary purpose was patriotic to show the America which is a community of the whole enduring hardship in loyal to each other rather than the usual concept of the Revolution as parades vacuous speeches and senseless abstractions.
John Ford's greatest historical lapse however would invite a chuckle from the most ardent patriot: the flag. According to the movie the settlers first see the flag in the final scene years later after the battle and only after war is won and independence is secured. However in the historical battle for Fort Schuyler the new flag was unfurled in combat for the first time: fashioned out of a soldier's blouse, a woman's petty coat, and an old red shirt.
Sentimental at times--but also harsh and realistic, the film depicts the hardships of pioneer life, the ever-present danger as war intrudes upon the lush valley.
John Ford: America On Film John Ford: American John Ford (Sean Aloysius O'Fearna) followed his brother Francis to Hollywood. When Francis O'Fearna, an actor, writer and director changed his name to Ford, Sean O'Fearna followed his brother's lead and took the more American sounding name John Ford. Working his way up from stunt work, camera work and film editing, John Ford directed his first picture in 1917, The Soul Herder (Universal).
Ford developed a reputation for Westerns, then not taken serious by Hollywood and defined the genre with a group of actors he nurtured, John Wayne, Harry Carey, John Carradine, Henry Fonda, Ward Bond, Francis Ford, Victor McLaglen, Mae Marsh, Mildred Natwick, and others. Their principal virtue said Ford: they take orders.
Ford is best known for his great Western/Cavalry trilogy: Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and Rio Grande (1950) all starring John Wayne together with stock Western characters the big tick mick sergeants Victor McLaglen and Ward Bond. The product of a tough director with a poetic vision, Ford's movies are not simply Westerns, they are a overtures to American culture preserved. Overriding the many historical lapses was Ford's fine attention to the dress, manners and music of America in the 19th Century.
In a John Ford Western if you hear the hymn "Shall We Gather at the River" or see the character holding aces and eights (the dead man's hand) at poker, you know a funeral will follow.
In assuming an American persona Ford did not forget his Irish roots. Ford beat the other motion picture curse against Irish war films in the much acclaimed The Informer (1935), a complex drama of betrayal during the Irish troubles and The Quiet Man (1952), about an American of Irish ancestry who returns to the Eire to reclaim an Irish inheritance.
The British Invade In 1777 the British began a three pronged invasion of New York State designed to subdivide the Revolution. Drums Along the Mohawk is the story of the people who repulsed the British attack along the western flank.
John Ford, the acclaimed director, escaped the curse against American Revolution films by underplaying British involvement and winning the classification 'Western.' Yet this classic American frontier-western is not set against sage brush and cactus of Monument Valley where most John Ford films were shot. This story began in the rich forests of New York and Pennsylvania where British forces struggled throughout 1777-1778 to split the revolutionaries in two. Along a bloodied frontier the American Revolution was won by a touch of the feather.
In Drums Along the Mohawk, Newlyweds Gil and Lana Martin (Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert) set out to farm in the lush Mohawk Valley. Gil is a patriot and the country is in the throes and turmoil of birth in war. Tories and their Indian allies, led by the insidious Caldwell (John Carridine) are afoot to burn every rebel farm they can find.
Although the Tories are led by the stereotypical bad guy John Carradine, there are nice loyalists as well: Mrs McKlennar (Edna May Oliver), the feisty widow who proclaims her loyalty to George III and forces invading Indians to carry her in her bed outside as they pillage her farmstead.
What a gal? No she was simply British by choice! This is a John Ford film. Ford unlike many other filmmakers of his time was sympathetic to the tenacity, nobility and bravery of the American Indian. The Indian at war is a fierce combatant but is equally capable of being a pious Christian.
However ahead of his times in portraying the Indians, Ford did play with history just abit claiming an American victory at Oriskany and a repulse by force of arms at Fort Schuyler; indeed movie's claim that the opposing British commander was killed in the final assault at Fort Schuyler is pure crowd appeal. Stunning footage of battle scenes are good, but purely fictional.
The film, as well as the book upon which the movie is based, accurately portray the active role taken by Colonial women in defense of Fort Schuyler. Cutting their hair with crude razor blades, women "manned" the ramparts. Too many of the men had been killed at Oriskany.
Ultimately the Army led by Benedict Arnold did relieve the post; but the day was won by deception rather than force of arms. The British led Indian force besieging Fort Schuyler faded away.
We can perhaps forgive John Ford for his historical lapses. Ford's primary purpose was patriotic to show the America which is a community of the whole enduring hardship in loyal to each other rather than the usual concept of the Revolution as parades vacuous speeches and senseless abstractions.
John Ford's greatest historical lapse however would invite a chuckle from the most ardent patriot: the flag. According to the movie the settlers first see the flag in the final scene years later after the battle and only after war is won and independence is secured. However in the historical battle for Fort Schuyler the new flag was unfurled in combat for the first time: fashioned out of a soldier's blouse, a woman's petty coat, and an old red shirt.
Sentimental at times--but also harsh and realistic, the film depicts the hardships of pioneer life, the ever-present danger as war intrudes upon the lush valley.
John Ford: America On Film John Ford: American John Ford (Sean Aloysius O'Fearna) followed his brother Francis to Hollywood. When Francis O'Fearna, an actor, writer and director changed his name to Ford, Sean O'Fearna followed his brother's lead and took the more American sounding name John Ford. Working his way up from stunt work, camera work and film editing, John Ford directed his first picture in 1917, The Soul Herder (Universal).
Ford developed a reputation for Westerns, then not taken serious by Hollywood and defined the genre with a group of actors he nurtured, John Wayne, Harry Carey, John Carradine, Henry Fonda, Ward Bond, Francis Ford, Victor McLaglen, Mae Marsh, Mildred Natwick, and others. Their principal virtue said Ford: they take orders.
Ford is best known for his great Western/Cavalry trilogy: Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and Rio Grande (1950) all starring John Wayne together with stock Western characters the big tick mick sergeants Victor McLaglen and Ward Bond. The product of a tough director with a poetic vision, Ford's movies are not simply Westerns, they are a overtures to American culture preserved. Overriding the many historical lapses was Ford's fine attention to the dress, manners and music of America in the 19th Century.
In a John Ford Western if you hear the hymn "Shall We Gather at the River" or see the character holding aces and eights (the dead man's hand) at poker, you know a funeral will follow.
In assuming an American persona Ford did not forget his Irish roots. Ford beat the other motion picture curse against Irish war films in the much acclaimed The Informer (1935), a complex drama of betrayal during the Irish troubles and The Quiet Man (1952), about an American of Irish ancestry who returns to the Eire to reclaim an Irish inheritance.