•Year: 1939
•Genre: War, Western, Adventure
•Director: John Ford
•Screenwriter: Walter D. Edmonds
•Music: Alfred Newman
•Main Actors: Claudette Colbert (Lana), Henry Fonda (Gil), Edna May Oliver (Mrs. McKlennar)
•Nominations of Academic rewards: best supporting actress (Edna May Oliver), Best Cinematography (Ray Rennahan and Bert Glennon).

This historical film basically is depicting revolutionary era of American History in 1776 and the problems of Americans with Tories, the Indian Allies of British Army in the territory of Mohawk River. With this basic theme, the story is started with the marriage of Gil Martin (Henry Fonda), a war-era farmer with a well born women Lana (Claudette Colbert). The film from the beginning showed the process of their shared life which is simultaneous with Indians invasions to Mohawk. To start their life, they moved to Dorr field, Close to Mohawk in a cabin built by Gil. During the story we see how these two and other neighbors are engaging to defend their land from Indians invasion and the changes that happened to their family role during the wars. Men joined the army and moved to frontier for defending the lands and women stayed at home to take care of children and nursing the war injured. Indians invasions were showed too much cruel and savagery and Americans lost their home, farming lands and properties. Blue Back was the only Indian in this film who was with Americans and was spying for them about Indians attacks. Lana and Gil found a job in Mrs. McKlennars house and she gave them salary, room and food. She was very serious but very kind and caring widow who supported them so much during the war crisis for their cabin was burned by Indians invasion.

Lana during the war gave birth to a son and a Mother Role added to her responsibilities and also Gil was supposed to handle a Father Role but he was busy with war so Lana had to play instead of him as well. Their family formation became more completed as we move on threw the end of the film and we can see how much Lana had changed from the beginning of the story. Now she know how to live like a frontier women .At last they move backed to their territory to build up their Cabin again and the Americans could defeated Indians and made a unity of 13 sates of America. The film ended with showing American Flag which impressed the belonging sense of Americans to a united nation.

In this film you can find out how American society was at that time. Economy was based on agriculture, men and women both worked on the farms, rich families had black slaves. Politics was very important to people. And the soon they got to know each other they asked about their affiliation to political parties. Everything was collective and individualism was not meaningful at that time. Because it was a crisis era and Americans needed to be united for defeating their subjugation under British colonization. They helped each other at the time of Indian's invasion. They all support one another even. While running away they helped each other to be safe. This film is produced in 1939. This is by the way that in 1930s the Production Code wrote by Jesuit Priest and a catholic Layman as a list of could and could not depict in Hollywood movies. Not only political themes and acts of graphic violence to be censored but issues of sex and sexuality in the movies were strictly monitored. Even the couples sexual relationship was prohibited to be depicted. That is why in this film you could easily feel the traces of production code. Gil and Lana's relation is limited in front of the camera and in it instance this film is not like today's American films which sexual relationship is very common in it.

Christianity in this film is very salient. For church was one of those important and central institutions in the Mohawk's people's life. Church was shown as a safe place that women and children could refuge to it while Indians invaded. Marriage took place there and even important news and declaration of unity for fighting against Indians was announced there. A drum along the Mohawk has a war, Adventure and western Genre. Western because Americans were fighting against Indians and tried to remove the wilderness.

Characters
Henry Fonda is the actor of Gil Marti role. He was born in Nebraska in 1905 and died in 1982. He started working with Hollywood in 1935 Fonda's career gained momentum after his Academy Award-nominated performance in 1940's The Grapes of Wrath. He also played Abraham Lincolns role Young Mr. Lincoln. He was patriarch of famous family actors his daughter Jane Fonda, son Peter Fonda, granddaughter Bridget Fonda, and grandson Troy Garity.In 1999, he was named the sixth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute.

Fonda as Gil Martin in this film is around 30-35, tall and thin man with blue eyes. He is very brave who cared about his country and family very much. He was serious, logical and hardly smiled during the film. Although he was a typical masculine character (patriarchal) but emotionally he was very depended to Lana (his wife) and needed her supports a lot.

Claudette Colbert played Lana's role. She was born in 1903 in Paris and died in 1996. This French American actress in 1939 was nominated the best actress of Academy Award in it happened one night. Colbert was known for a versatility that led to her becoming one of the biggest box-office stars of her time. In 1999, she was ranked as the 12th greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute. Colbert as Lana in Drums along the Mohawk was elegant, sensitive and well born who left her father's big house in Albany and married to Gil and moved to a cabin in door field. In he beginning of the film she didn't know how to live like a frontier women and was not used to hard life. But as the story moved on and she could experience different situation and learned how be behave and how to support her husband by being strong. She worked beside her husband on the farm and while Indians invaded and they lost their properties she tried to cooperate with her husband to tolerate the hardships better.

Edna may Oliver as Mrs. McKlennar was born in 1883 in Massachusetts and died in 1942 in California. She was nominated Award Academy for her appearance in Drums along the Mohawk. During the 1930's, she was one of the American screen's best-known character actresses often playing tart-tongued spinsters. Edna was a descendant of the 6th American president John Quincy Adams. She as Mrs. McKlennar was thin, tall, very serious, tart_toungued widow who had very masculine voice. She behaved tough with men and never let them take advantage of her. But the interior part of her characteristic was very supportive not just to Gil and Martin but to all her neighbors who were suffering of Indians invasion. She didn't scare of Indians as well. While tow Indian invade her room and burned all her stuffs she was shouting at them and sitting on her bed that was her husbands memorial and didn't let them to burned it. This part of the film was very expressive. The bed was a symbol of the Americans sense of belonging to their land that Indians invaded it and wanted to remove them all. She gave Gil and Lana a chance to work for her and have room, food and money for survival. She was very generous as well. At the time of her death she granted all her properties to Gil and Lana.

Vocabulary
This film was in English language. The literature was not hard to me and even the accent and pronunciation of the word was clear to me. I think they didn't have local accent that I could understand except Lana's accent seemed to me a bit close to British.

Conclusion
American exceptionalism was conceptualized in this film because Indians were depicted savage, cruel and violent people and Americans were shown as tractable. Americans didn't invade Indians unless Indians did it first. All Americans did was a reaction to Indians savagery. Drums along the Mohawk was very unilateral film that tried to depict Indians as savage and noncivilized. This is by the way that Americans very cruel to them as well during the history. History is a fair document to judge about Americans and Indians. Americans had also made many troubles for Indians such as cultural, economical and political problems. Many of them were killed by Americans, their culture was manipulated by them, they were removed form their original lands. Trial of tears in 1833 showed the Americans cruel policies against Indians.