{"id":7265,"date":"2013-11-16T11:43:41","date_gmt":"2013-11-16T16:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=7265"},"modified":"2013-11-16T11:43:41","modified_gmt":"2013-11-16T16:43:41","slug":"br-drums-along-the-mohawk-1939","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=7265","title":{"rendered":"BR: Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to: <\/strong>Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>D<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Film: Excellent\/ BR \u00a0Transfer: Excellent\/ BR Extras: Excellent<\/p>\n

Label: Twilight Time\/ Region: All \/\u00a0Released: 2013<\/p>\n

Genre: Western<\/p>\n

Synopsis: Pioneers struggle to rebuild their lives after a marauding force of Tory-led Mohawks devastate their homestead.<\/p>\n

Special Features: \u00a0Audio Commentary with film historians Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman \/ Original Theatrical Trailer \/ 2007 documentary “Becoming John Ford” (93 mins.) with English SDH subtitles \/ Limited to 3000 copies \/ Available exclusively from Screen Archives Entertainment<\/a><\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Oscar-Nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Edna May Oliver), and Best Color Cinematography (Ray Rennahan, Bert Glennon).<\/p>\n

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John Ford\u2019s first Technicolor film gets a massive overhaul in this beautiful HD transfer, released by Twilight Time and augmented with several of the unique extras originally produced for Fox\u2019 2007 mega-set, Ford at Fox.<\/p>\n

The prior 2005 DVD featured a much older transfer sourced from a late seventies internegative suffering from drifting colour registration. This often yielded a faint halo of red in wide shots and soft if not a little fuzzy details, but with this robust HD transfer, the fabrics in the costumes are so detailed one can feel the texture of the patterns. Well, not literally, but this is one of the studio\u2019s best restorations, featuring a more restrained use of DNR, and leaving just enough of the original film grain.<\/p>\n

Even though this was shot in Technicolor, Ford apparently avoided an explosively colourful look, as was the case for Warner Bros.\u2019 more appropriately fanciful The Adventures of Robin Hood<\/strong><\/a> (1938). Perhaps wanting to stick with the shadows and grey shades inherent to his B&W films, cinematographers Bert Glennon and Ray Rennahan went for a restrained palette, which gives Mohawk <\/strong>a look akin to a period oil painting (and from a contemporary stance, a look not unlike the wartime documents crafted by appointed wartime artists).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still a celebration of Americana \u2013 a farmer (Henry Fonda) marries the daughter (Claudette Colbert) of a wealthy family, and the two struggle to set roots in spite of marauding waves of Mohawks led by\u00a0 scheming Tories (namely slimy John Carradine) \u2013 with a modest epic scope conveyed in select shots that demonstrate both the beauty of the sloping landscape, and the diminutive stature of men and women in such sprawling verdant terrain.<\/p>\n

Great attention goes into the settlers\u2019 first physical struggles \u2013 working the land free from tree stumps, planting crops, and building a new home \u2013 and the after-effects of the Tories\u2019 slash-and-burn policies which incinerated homes and precious belongings carried over from the big city. The power of a dependent, tightly-knitted community is ultimately what saves the virgin settlement from total despair and destruction, as men and women defend themselves from a massive assault in the film\u2019s exciting finale.<\/p>\n

Faces and cultures from every environ band together, although some of the archetypical characters are a little rich for modern audiences: the token good Indian Blue Black is a little cartoonish, often functioning as comic relief alongside a short man with sloping lapses in memory, and a nattering old woman; and Colbert\u2019s version of Lana involves much crying, physical collapsing and wimpering in the first third before she becomes more assertive, growing stronger as she and husband Gilbert begin to respect and feed off the riches of the land.<\/p>\n

Cliches notwithstanding, it\u2019s still a vivid portrayal of the pioneer life, and there are some potent scenes, especially when the men return home from a war campaign. Focusing on the after-effects, Ford captures their physically maimed and emotionally traumatized states, culminating with Fonda\u2019s one-take speech of Gilbert\u2019s own trauma. Delivered in a dazed-like fashion with a soft, unsettling voice, it\u2019s a beautifully underplayed scene, and one of Fonda\u2019s finest moments on film.<\/p>\n

Alfred Newman\u2019s score (which isn\u2019t available as an isolated track, as credited in the Blu-ray\u2019s booklet) includes traditional folk themes \u2013 the soundtracks for Ford\u2019s later Republic films are similarly-structured \u2013 and the production details are first-rate, from the wooden fort with its centre church to the costumes and rustic furniture which populates most homes.<\/p>\n

When originally released as part of the 21-disc Ford at Fox box (and later reissued in a pruned 6-disc Ford at Fox: The Essentials Collection), the DVD came with an excellent commentary track with producer \/ director Nick Redman and film historian Julie Kirgo, plus some vintage promotional materials which remain unique to the 2007 release.<\/p>\n

TT\u2019s BR includes the pair\u2019s commentary, which provides a rich historical overview of the film\u2019s making, Ford\u2019s quirks, and the superb cast of stars and members of the director\u2019s little stock company.<\/p>\n

Also included is the Redman-directed documentary Becoming John Ford<\/strong> (2007) which was a bonus in the boxed and slim sets, and was released as a standalone DVD. Redman, who also directed a series of Sam Peckinpah docs, largely sticks to a talking head \/ film clip approach, but with some notable stylistic upgrades.<\/p>\n

Filmed in B&W, the camera often tracks to and from his interview subjects \u2013 film historians Rudy Behlmer. Janet Bergstrom, James D\u2019Arc, and Jean-Christophe Jauffre; screenwriter Lem Dobbs; actor Peter Fonda; writer Tom Mankiewics; and Ford biographer Joseph McBride \u2013 and integrates brief jump cuts where they ponder or gather thoughts in silence.<\/p>\n

A wealth of clips and stills provide a rich portrait of a remarkable filmmaker and a complex man whose portraits of strong, supportive family units differed from his own. A heavy drinker and a man not always on the best of terms with his kids \u2013 he even smacked Fonda during the making of Mister Roberts<\/strong> (1955), severing their once-solid association \u2013 Ford\u2019s life is examined from his entry into movies as an actor to his mid-fifties period, and jumping ahead to his final years when he remained at home (and in bed) during the seventies.<\/p>\n

Redman\u2019s doc, with writing from Kirgo and a score from Christopher Caliendo (who rescored Peckinpah\u2019s Major Dundee<\/strong>) is a marked difference from the laid-back, fawning, fluffy and ultimately banal tribute docs produced & directed by Richard Schickel, a former critic and film historian whose early seventies docs consisted of face-to-face interviews with marginalized directors from Hollywood\u2019s early years \u2013 Frank Capra, Howard Hawks, William Wellman, to name a few \u2013 but when courted by the major labels, delivers uncritical, extended featurettes masquerading as legit documentaries.<\/p>\n

Becoming John Ford<\/strong> is exceptionally refreshing, and should remind viewers and film fans how much of a knowledge base has been continually marginalized whenever a major studio chooses a safe, neutral, and arguably lazy historian whose generic productions\u00a0 – most recently, The Eastwood Factor<\/strong><\/a> [M<\/a>] (2010) – are more home video filler than genuine documentations of film history.<\/p>\n

Prior to his WWII documentaries, John Ford\u2019s next set of films include The Grapes of Wrath<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>(1940), The Long Voyage Home<\/strong> (1940), Tobacco Road <\/strong>(1941), and How Green Was My Valley<\/strong><\/a> (1941).<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2013 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References<\/em>:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Vendor Search Links:<\/em><\/p>\n

Amazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a>\"\" \"\"—New movie releases on iTunes<\/a>\"\"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0D<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to: Home \/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews \/ D . Film: Excellent\/ BR \u00a0Transfer: Excellent\/ BR Extras: Excellent Label: Twilight Time\/ Region: All \/\u00a0Released: 2013 Genre: Western Synopsis: Pioneers struggle to rebuild their lives after a marauding force of Tory-led Mohawks devastate their homestead. Special Features: \u00a0Audio Commentary with film historians Julie Kirgo and Nick […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[355,2347,2345,2348,2346,836,1124,1076],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-1Tb","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7265"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7265"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7268,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7265\/revisions\/7268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}