Drums Along the Mohawk

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Nineteen thirty-nine is often proposed as the movies' halcyon year, and three reasons why were directed by John Ford: Stagecoach, Young Mr. Lincoln, and Drums Along the Mohawk. In that exalted company Drums... would have to be accounted "merely superb"--even if it's the best film ever made about the American Revolution and, oh, only about eighth-best picture of its year.

Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert play newlyweds in New York's Mohawk Valley at the time of the Revolutionary War. That war is more a distant rumor than a direct concern of people with cabins to raise, crops to harvest, and firstborn on the way. When it comes to their valley, in the form of hitherto-peaceable Indians whipped up by a gaunt Tory with an eyepatch (John Carradine), life changes as though with the passing of a cloud shadow.

In this, his first color film, Ford created indelible images of the dawning of America: a lone wagon making its way through acres of long grass rippling in the wind; the Indians, at the onset of their first raid, seeming to materialize out of the mist, out of the very trunks of trees; a ragged line of farmers with flintlocks passing along a split-rail fence, then resolving into a column, an army, marching toward a distant horizon. (Utah's Wasatch mountain country stands in persuasively for upstate New York in pioneer days.) Edna May Oliver scored a best-supporting-actress Oscar nomination as a memorably crusty frontier widow, while Ward Bond--oddly omitted from the opening credits--claimed a place of honor in the John Ford Stock Company playing Fonda's best friend. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

Lawless frontier. Indian attacks. Settlers protecting themselves the only way they know how-with guns and courage. In the years before the Revolutionary War, the East was as wild as the West would be one hundred years later. Henry Fonda delivers one of his most memorable performances ever as a young frontier leader protecting his family in the backwoods of New York state. Claudette Colbert so-stars as his spirited wife. With a fine supporting cast that also includes Edna May Oliver and John Carradine, this is one of John Ford's most exciting historical dramas.

Customer Reviews:

Pioneering Eastern USA.......2007-09-11

This movie endures well, partly because it is historical, and therefore not subject to obsolescence, other than technical obsolescence - due to changes in filming techniques. These are not significant.

In its day, "Drums Along the Mohawk" was Academy Award material. Perhaps it would still be so.

I get caught in the drama, the danger, the excitement and the unbelievable hardships of the pioneers, especially the women. This movie tends to bring out all of those aspects of pioneer life, and because I am drawn in, I get a strong feeling of participation, even though I am sure I don't have the heart to be a true pioneer.

Good Movie This!!!.......2007-09-07

Educational, exciting, this one has it all!! Classic Henry Fonda, good supporting actors, lots of action...there was no FEMA to pull your fat out of the fire, this is a movie about self-reliance, hard work, and the will to live in the New World. Well done!

Lovin Henry Fonda.......2007-08-23

Well, being a great fan of Mr.Fonda since I was very young, it was great to get one of his older movies to watch on DVD.
Drums is a typically well done John Ford story with all the story sidebars and characters you can later regognize as the Ford "people", even a rather young Ward Bond.
This movie was based on a book of the same title, and is good enough to make you want to read the book, just like the movie versoin of "The Grapes of Wrath" does.

Neglected gem!...one of John Ford's finest films..........2007-08-05

1939 was a banner year for great films--and certainly one of them was "Drums Along the Mohawk" in gorgeous early technicolor about a period in history not often used as the subject of a major film. Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert are fine as a young couple in the years before the Revolutionary War settling in the backwoods of New York state. The hardships of pioneer life are made even tougher by the presence of Indians on the warpath, the only refuge being a nearby fort where men, women and children find some protection.

Brilliantly photographed with lots of action scenes that bring the film vividly to life under John Ford's direction. John Carradine makes an excellent villain and Edna May Oliver gives another one of her priceless performances as an elderly widow who forms a strong attachment to the young couple. An unforgettable scene has Indians raiding her home while she refuses to budge from her bed even though they set fire to it. Scenes of Indian cruelty and torture are also present--but altogether a moving film well worth viewing to see what frontier life must have been like way back then.

Sentimental at times--but also harsh and realistic. Most memorable scene: Fonda pursued by Indians for a long chase over woodlands, finally wearing out his pursuers who collapse from sheer exhaustion. Thrilling chase!

A Rare Revolutionary War Classic.......2007-06-09

There are relatively few really good films pertaining to the Revolutionary War era, and this is one of the very best. It is a very fast-moving story of a young newlywed couple (Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert) who move from the comfort of the city to the rustic and eminently dangerous 1770s upstate New York, in the Mohawk Valley, where the settlers continually battle the elements and the Indians, who fight the colonists as the proxies of the British. The film will definitely hold the viewer's interest as the couple, their community, and the young nation battle to survive. An outstanding film, on the same level as "Sergeant York!"

Western Four-Pack (The Bravados / Buffalo Bill / Drums Along the Mohawk / In Old Arizona)

Average customer rating:

Great purchase

Western Four-Pack (The Bravados / Buffalo Bill / Drums Along the Mohawk / In Old Arizona)
Starring: Gregory Peck , Joan Collins , Stephen Boyd , Albert Salmi , and Henry Silva
Director: Henry King , William A. Wellman , and John Ford
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000AQ69G8
Release Date: 2005-11-01

Description

Disc 1: "Bravados" Disc 2: "Buffalo Bill" Disc 3: "Drums Along the Mohawk" Disc 4: "In Old Arizona"

Customer Reviews:

Great purchase.......2007-08-23

I purchased this item as a birthday gift. It was a hit. The birthday boy (man) loved it.

Average customer rating:

Pioneering Eastern USA
Good Movie This!!!
Lovin Henry Fonda
Neglected gem!...one of John Ford's finest films...
A Rare Revolutionary War Classic

Drums Along the Mohawk
Starring: Claudette Colbert , Henry Fonda , Edna May Oliver , Eddie Collins , and John Carradine
Director: John Ford
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B0007QS25C

Amazon.com

Description

Customer Reviews:

Pioneering Eastern USA.......2007-09-11

Good Movie This!!!.......2007-09-07

Lovin Henry Fonda.......2007-08-23

Neglected gem!...one of John Ford's finest films..........2007-08-05

A Rare Revolutionary War Classic.......2007-06-09

{3 DVD Pack} Algiers (1938) / Angel on My Shoulder (1946) / Bluebeard (1944)

Average customer rating:

{3 DVD Pack} Algiers (1938) / Angel on My Shoulder (1946) / Bluebeard (1944)

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000BX12Z8

Product Description

{3 DVD Pack} Algiers (1938) / Angel on My Shoulder (1946) / Bluebeard (1944)

Port of New York "Yul Brynner" / Gangs Inc. "Alan Ladd" / I Cover the Waterfront "Claudette Colbert" / Algiers "Charles Boyer" [4 DVDs]

Average customer rating:

Port of New York "Yul Brynner" / Gangs Inc. "Alan Ladd" / I Cover the Waterfront "Claudette Colbert" / Algiers "Charles Boyer" [4 DVDs]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

INTERACTIVE MENUS with SCENE SELECTION

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