John Ford is an enigma. He has great virtues and vices as a director. Unfortunately, in this film (as in the Searchers) all his worst qualities are on display. Instead of the inherently dramatic events from Walter Edmonds' novel about Revolutionary War farmers in upstate New York, troubled by divisions within the community between Tories and Patriots, we get Ford's unmistakable brand of maudlin sentiment, and the hysterics of characters who are so simplistically rendered they'll remind you of children pretending.
Ford also violates a cardinal rule of good film making by having Henry Fonda's character, Gil Martin, deliriously narrate to his wife the details of his experience in the battle of Oriskany. The scene is static, and Martin's story would have been better shown, not told. But Ford's movies are never entirely without interest. The best part of this movie (an action sequence where Henry Fonda has to outrun some Native American warriors) is a fine set-piece, but the characters have absolutely no dimension. I think Ford worked best when his producers reined him in. We can see this in STAGECOACH, in MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, and in FORT APACHE. But when they gave him his head he could turn out cloying material like DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK, THE SEARCHERS, and RIO GRANDE.
In 1939 the three strip Technicolor process was Hollywood's new toy. In most early color features the new medium was the message; story and character development took a back seat as they do here. If you love melodrama and films with lots of action but not much depth, this one might appeal to you.
Ford also violates a cardinal rule of good film making by having Henry Fonda's character, Gil Martin, deliriously narrate to his wife the details of his experience in the battle of Oriskany. The scene is static, and Martin's story would have been better shown, not told. But Ford's movies are never entirely without interest. The best part of this movie (an action sequence where Henry Fonda has to outrun some Native American warriors) is a fine set-piece, but the characters have absolutely no dimension. I think Ford worked best when his producers reined him in. We can see this in STAGECOACH, in MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, and in FORT APACHE. But when they gave him his head he could turn out cloying material like DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK, THE SEARCHERS, and RIO GRANDE.
In 1939 the three strip Technicolor process was Hollywood's new toy. In most early color features the new medium was the message; story and character development took a back seat as they do here. If you love melodrama and films with lots of action but not much depth, this one might appeal to you.