A typically enjoyable John Ford frontier romp, set around the time of the American War of Independence and filmed in glowing colour. It contains the usual mix and at times unusual juxtaposition of broad humour with great pathos, although the accent is more on the latter, particularly the lengthy scene of the returning first-time soldier frontiersmen, battered, bruised and weather-beaten but not bested In battle.
In the end they're required to put up an Alamo-type defence of their homestead, until the cavalry comes, summoned by Henry Fonda's Gil character after an extended marathon race against three pursuing Native Americans which must have broken the Olympic record. As stated, Ford's sometimes abrupt changes of mood and scene jar somewhat, for example, in an early scene Claudette Colbert's prim city girl Lana goes native at the sight of a Native American, requiring a sock on the jaw from Fonda to calm her down, from which point she becomes the perfect supportive wife, helping on the farm, delivering a son and even fighting back marauding Native Americans herself by the end.
For me though, the Fonda / Colbert relationship didn't quite convince, however. She seems too old to be the sweet, virginal wife and is rather matronly throughout. Fonda, on the other hand, seems too young for his part, a fresh-faced youth which no amount of trying experiences seem to age or weather. John Carradine is the big baddie, perhaps too obviously marked out as such by his eye patch and pantomime villain demeanour but Edna May Oliver is a hoot as the feisty old widow who takes pity on the young couple but who later has to take one for the team.
All this apart, it's impossible not to like other aspects of the movie, including Ford's direction of crowd scenes and some wonderful cinematography, none more so than when Fonda outruns his pursuers under the golden hue of a setting sun. We also get a forerunner of the famous door-framing shot he later used to such telling effect at the close of "The Searchers".
Ford made better movies than this in this year never mind the rest of his long career, even if it is one of those "Indian-bashing" films he would later live to regret. However it's made so well that it's probably best to let the story simply unfold of itself, without looking for logic.
In the end they're required to put up an Alamo-type defence of their homestead, until the cavalry comes, summoned by Henry Fonda's Gil character after an extended marathon race against three pursuing Native Americans which must have broken the Olympic record. As stated, Ford's sometimes abrupt changes of mood and scene jar somewhat, for example, in an early scene Claudette Colbert's prim city girl Lana goes native at the sight of a Native American, requiring a sock on the jaw from Fonda to calm her down, from which point she becomes the perfect supportive wife, helping on the farm, delivering a son and even fighting back marauding Native Americans herself by the end.
For me though, the Fonda / Colbert relationship didn't quite convince, however. She seems too old to be the sweet, virginal wife and is rather matronly throughout. Fonda, on the other hand, seems too young for his part, a fresh-faced youth which no amount of trying experiences seem to age or weather. John Carradine is the big baddie, perhaps too obviously marked out as such by his eye patch and pantomime villain demeanour but Edna May Oliver is a hoot as the feisty old widow who takes pity on the young couple but who later has to take one for the team.
All this apart, it's impossible not to like other aspects of the movie, including Ford's direction of crowd scenes and some wonderful cinematography, none more so than when Fonda outruns his pursuers under the golden hue of a setting sun. We also get a forerunner of the famous door-framing shot he later used to such telling effect at the close of "The Searchers".
Ford made better movies than this in this year never mind the rest of his long career, even if it is one of those "Indian-bashing" films he would later live to regret. However it's made so well that it's probably best to let the story simply unfold of itself, without looking for logic.