Drums Along the Mohawk

I purchased this edition of the movie specifically because it included an audio commentary about the movie. This movie is one of John Ford's and Henry Fonda's best. Unfortunately I found the audio commentary to be inconsistent. It was at its' best when addressing movie history but lacking when both addressing the history of the times and when exploring the commentators' own views of history.

I will not address the movie itself because many of the commentators have already done so. I agree with those who think this is an amazing picture with John Ford, Henry Fonda, Claudette Colbert as well as the supporting cast at their best. I have seen this movie five times and will be watching it again.

This movie is based on a historical novel and takes place in the Mohawk Valley during the Revolutionary war. It is about Fonda and Colbert attempting to start a life for themselves while fighting with other patriots against Torys (loyalists) and Indians supporting the British.

When the commentary begins two commentators introduce themselves. Nick Redman announces he does not know much about this period of American History and asks Julie Kirgo to fill him in about America at the time. She does this throughout the movie.

One of the first things he asks is how far the characters would have traveled when they went from Albany to the Mohawk Valley. Ms. Kirgo states she is not sure and then guesses between 100 and 200 miles. Actually it is between 80 and 86 miles. Fonda and Colbert settle in Deerfield New York near the settlement of German Flatts in the Mohawk Valley.

Finding the distance from Albany, N.Y. to Deerfield or German Flatts in the Mohawk Valley is not hard. It took me 2 minutes to do a search on the internet and find it is approximately 86 miles to Deerfield and 80 miles to German Flatts. I don't know why this question was not discussed before hand or why taping could not be stopped for a couple of minutes to look up the information. If the two people discussing the movie don't have all the information about what they are talking about it makes wonder why I should keep listening

At times during the movie the commentators give their personal views of history and become political. At approximately one hour and 20 minutes into the movie one commentator explains that if you look at this movie you understand where the right to bear arms comes from. It seems that during the period of the movie people needed guns to defend themselves against all kinds of enemies and kill food but now people who talk about the right to bear arms today are forgetting you don't have to defend your homes like you did hundreds of years ago and use guns to kill food.

This comment has nothing to do with the movie. While is important for people to decide where they stand on the issue of gun control, their views do not belong in a commentary on this movie.

Similarly a comment is made about how the settlers unfairly encroached on Indian lands. While a strong case can and has been made about the treatment of American Indians by settlers it is not addressed in this movie and I believe does not belong in the commentary. You can't even argue that the Indians fighting for the British did so solely because their lands had been taken by the colonists because Indians fought for the colonists as well.

We are also told in the commentary that history is everyone reneging on their promises. Once again this issue is not addressed in this movie so I don't know why the commentators need to discuss it here.

My favorite discussion dealt with the Homestead Act which was signed into law in 1862, approximately 90 years after the time this movie took place. The commentators explained that settlers in this movie settled forested land and made it their own and then started talking about the Homestead Act. Once again they discuss an important part of history that was not a part of this movie.

In another case one of the commentators notes that the Torys' interests in fighting were mostly commercial. There is no discussion of the politics of the Revolutionary War in this movie and why Torys' remained loyal to England. Further I am not a historian but have read that some Torys' fought because of a loyalty to England which was viewed as their country. The movie 1776 makes some moving arguments as to why this nation should have remained a part of the British Empire.

The commentators even discuss their view of what it means to be patriotic. I am interested in what John Ford thought about patriotism not what the commentators think about patriotism.

I did learn some important things when the commentators stuck to the movie. I learned that about John Ford and his relationship with his brother who was in this movie. I learned the part Darryl Zanuck played in the making of the movie. I learned about the relationship between Claudettee Colbert and John Ford and Henry Fonda and John Ford.

I also learned about a battle scene Ford did not shoot and how the scene with Henry Fonda running to get help was changed from the original screenplay. I learned about the book that this movie was based on and I did some research about the historical areas in the Mohawk Valley which exist today.

This made me more frustrated. The commentators said some fascinating things about the movie. I learned some interesting stuff. If they had stuck to the movie and been prepared to discuss that alone this would have been a great commentary rather than having to listen to information that I do not think is relevant to this movie at all.

Not much of a fan of John Ford. After viewing Drums Along the Mohawk it didn't change my opinion. Still don't know why some film buffs hail Ford as the demigod of the western genre. Drums Along the Mohawk is filled with melodramatic dialog, sub par acting by Henry Fonda and Colbert, and poor camera work that didn't utilize the sprawling greenery and hilltops that beautify upstate New York. Colbert wears way too much eye makeup and doesn't look like a frontier woman living in the 1700's. Ford gratuitously places his friend Ward Bond in a supporting role, but it is Edna May Oliver who steals every frame that Ford allows her to be in. The sappy soundtrack is misplaced, more suited to the silent film era and not much historical realism is used to legitimize the struggle among settlers, British loyalists, and Native Indians during the 1700's.

Based on Walter D. Edmonds' historical novel, "Drums Along the Mohawk" (1939) remains among the few memorable films about the American Revolution. Director John Ford's first Technicolor production benefits immeasurably from the Oscar-nominated cinematography of Bert Glennon and Ray Rennahan. Though episodic and slow moving in its narrative structure, Ford doesn't shy away from the brutal savagery of frontier life. Henry Fonda and Edna May Oliver deliver standout portrayals, thus compensating for a miscast Claudette Colbert - the weak link in an otherwise excellent ensemble. Not top-drawer Ford, but entertaining nonetheless.

The movie was entertaining but there are better movies of the era (Northwest Passage) or new films (Last of the Mohicans and Patriot). The film and plot is fair but not one of my favorites.

This is the original version, strongly remembered from my childhood. I had watched a remake some time ago, disappointed in it. Now, I have the one I recall.