Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)

For me the most disappointing John Ford movie since Wagon Master. Normally Ford is great, and he does get a couple of his trademark landscape shots in this picture, but the film is felled by the usually strong Henry Fonda. He is just miscast in this movie, playing a newly wed frontiersman as a shy, uninteresting, even terminally boring figure. There was just no energy, and his character was impossible for me to connect with on any serious level. Claudette Colbert, also typically a delight to behold is only okay as the wife who at first screams her head off at the sight of a friendly Indian, and towards the end of the picture gets to shoot attacking ones. The only one who doesn’t disappoint, and who brings the film its only really energy is Edna May Oliver giving us a fun performance as a head strong frontier widow. 2 out of 5. Drudgery