Drums Along the Mohawk (film)

• Release Date: 1939
• Director(s): John Ford
• Writer(s): Sonya Levien ; Lamar Trotti
• Principal Actors and Roles: Claudette Colbert (Magdelana "Lana" Martin); Henry Fonda (Gilbert Martin); Edna May Oliver (Mrs. McKlennar); Spencer Charters (Innkeeper)
• Book / Story Film Based On: Drums Along the Mohawk by Walter D. Edmonds

Drums Along the Mohawk is an American historical adventure set during the Revolutionary War. It was a hit with audiences and praised by the critics. Although it received two Academy Award nominations, it was overshadowed by the other blockbusters released that year. 1939 is often considered to be the finest year in movie history: Drums Along the Mohawk was competing with films like Stagecoach, Young Mr. Lincoln, Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Ninotchka, and many others went on to become classics.

This was director John Ford’s first film using the new technique of Technicolor and Drums Along the Mohawk is frequently admired for the beauty of the production, especially the landscapes. The setting of the film is western New York but it was actually shot in remote locations in Utah.

Other actors were considered for the part of Gilbert Martin, including Don Ameche and Warner Baxter, but Henry Fonda was chosen. Fonda went on to make a total of eight movies with Ford and to ultimately become ranked sixth on the American Film Institute’s list of the 50 Greatest American Screen Legends.

The climax of the film, in which Gil runs for help, took twenty-seven days to complete. Whenever Ford found another good location for Gil’s twenty mile run, he would pull Fonda from whatever scene he was working on, have him change costume, and run through the woods.

Critics include Drums Along the Mohawk in Ford’s repertoire of Western movies even though it is set in New York. The themes of settling a frontier, fighting Indians, and building a home and family are consistent with other Westerns.

Historically, the British incited the American Indians to violence against the settlers. However in the film, the British Tory, Caldwell, only appears occasionally and does not fight. Ford did not want to turn his American audiences against the British at a time when the British were fighting the Nazis and there was the possibility that America would become their ally in the war against Germany.

Plot

In 1776, Gilbert Martin and Lana Borst are wed in Lana’s family’s elegant home in Albany, New York. They immediately set out in a covered wagon for the cabin Gil has built in Deerfield, a remote area of the Mohawk Valley. Lana is afraid of the storms along the way, disappointed in the primitive cabin, and terrified when Gil’s American Indian friend, Blue Back, drops by. She eventually joins Gil in farming and accompanies him to the nearby fort when he drills with the local militia. There, the General announces that war has been declared after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Neighbors rally to help the Martins clear their land but Blue Back warns them that an American Indian raiding party is coming their way. They have been incited into action by a Tory soldier named Caldwell. As the Indians attack and set fire to the farm, everyone flees to the fort. They arrive safely but pregnant Lana miscarries and loses the baby. With their home destroyed, Lana and Gil are forced to take jobs working for the widow McKlennar. The feisty woman treats them like family and gives them their own house.

News comes that a large force of Indians and Tories are heading into the valley and Gil leaves with the militia to fight them. More than half are killed and many return wounded, including Gil. Gil recovers and Lana gives birth to a baby boy, but soon Deerfield is under attack again. As the men and women fight together at the fort, Mrs. McKlennar is shot with an arrow and dies, leaving her farm to the Martins. The fort is surrounded and when one of the men tries to go for help, he is killed. Gil then sneaks out and, pursued by three Indians, runs twenty miles to another fort, bringing reinforcements just in time. They learn that the war is over and everyone admires the new flag of the United States of America.

Significance

Drums Along the Mohawk was nominated for two Academy Awards. Edna May Oliver was nominated as best supporting actress for her role as the spirited Mrs. McKlennar. The film was also nominated for best color cinematography.

Few other films were made about the Revolutionary War, so Drums Along the Mohawk stood out, and still stands out, for the time period that it depicts. It was also one of the first to show Americans as ordinary people, who were not necessarily full of patriotic fervor, but were instead trying to make a life for themselves.

In contrast to other films of the time, director John Ford frequently depicted strong women in his films. Drums Along the Mohawk is no exception. Lana leaves her elegant ways behind to become a strong frontier woman who can shoot an invading enemy at point-blank range. Mrs. McKlennar lives independently and is afraid of no one, including Indians trying to burn down her home.

It is notable that when the men head off to fight, the story stays with the women left behind, showing the pain and helplessness of waiting for news. The script actually called for a battle scene and a three week shooting scheduled was planned. Instead, Ford set up a compelling scene of Lana tending a wounded Gil, whose mind wanders through the fighting and death he has seen. Fonda improvised his lines as Ford asked his character questions about the battle. Ford’s questions were later edited out so that Fonda’s ravings appear to come spontaneously.

Producer Darryl F. Zanuck had a great deal of influence on the film. He criticized early versions of the script, emphasizing that he wanted the focus to be on the relationship between Gil and Lana, not on making an historical epic. He insisted that Claudette Colbert be given the role of Lana. He changed the climactic scene so that only Gil runs for help, not two people as originally written. He also badgered Ford with daily telegrams asking about the battle scene, which prompted Ford to find a new way of handling the battle.

Awards and nominations

Nominated

• Academy Award (1939) Best Supporting Actress: Edna May Oliver
• Academy Award (1939) Best Cinematography (Color)

Bibliography

Bandy, Mary Lea., and Kevin L. Stoehr. Ride, Boldly Ride: The Evolution of the American Western. Berkeley: U of California, 2012. Print.

Eyman, Scott. Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford. New York: Simon, 2015. Print.

Maltin, Leonard. Leonard Maltin’s Classic Movie Guide: From the Silent Era through 1965. 2nd ed. London: Penguin, 2011. Print.

McKinney, Devin. The Man Who Saw a Ghost: The Life and Work of Henry Fonda. New York: St. Martin’s, 2012. Print.

Rollins, Peter C., and John E. O’Connor. Why We Fought: America’s Wars in Film and History. Lexington: U of Kentucky, 2008. Print.

Studlar, Gaylyn, and Matthew Bernstein. John Ford Made Westerns: Filming the Legend in the Sound Era. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2001. Print.

Vieira, Mark A. Majestic Hollywood: The Greatest Films of 1939. Philadelphia: Running, 2013. Print.