The finished film was highly successful, earning a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination for Edna May Oliver. Ford’s first Technicolor production, this film optimized the colorful palette’s visual impact by filming on location in Utah. The script, written by Sonya Levien and Lamar Trotti, was adapted from the 1936 novel of the same name by Walter D. Like most Ford films, it was loosely based on historical events. Claudette Colbert in a moment from the trailer for “Drums Along the Mohawk.” (Public Domain) All the inhabitants of the Mohawk Valley must sacrifice, fight, and band together to win the new land’s liberty. The Martins’ crops and cabin are burnt to the ground, so they go to live and work at the large farm of a gruff yet caring widow, Sarah McKlennar (Edna May Oliver). When the Martins are clearing more of their land, Indians attack, and all the locals must seek shelter at the nearby fort.

However, the locals anticipate trouble from hostile Seneca Indians, who are allied with their political enemies, the British-sympathizing Tories. It’s just a small claim in central New York’s Mohawk Valley, but Gil and Lana are determined to make it a success. Lana leaves the comfort of her wealthy family’s home for her new husband’s rustic farm in Deerfield. The story begins with the marriage of Gil Martin (Fonda) and Lana Borst (Colbert). On such selfless sacrifice our nation was founded. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)įollowing the lives of one young couple in colonial America, this story shows how the struggle for independence required great sacrifice from every citizen in the colonies. A Studio portrait of Henry Fonda, circa 1935. However, by the decade’s end, the highly profitable Shirley Temple films had helped the studio’s bottom line, so it could afford to “rent” big name stars like Claudette Colbert and Henry Fonda. In the 1930s, 20th Century Fox was one of the smaller Hollywood studios and it didn’t have the budgets of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. One of the few Golden Age movies about the American War for Independence is “Drums along the Mohawk,” a 20th Century Fox production from 1939.

However, filmmakers often opted for 19th-century stories and settings because the costumes were not only flattering and, in many ways, simpler than earlier modes, but in addition, there were simply more costumes the studios could reuse-making dressing extras and supporting characters inexpensive. After all, it’s an anniversary of one of the most important events in American history, the Declaration of Independence, which was the beginning of the freedom the United States has enjoyed for almost two and a half centuries.ĭuring the Golden Era of Hollywood (1934–1954), costume films, especially historical dramas, were popular. Although we sometimes slip into calling this holiday the Fourth of July instead of Independence Day, that name diminishes its meaning.

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