STATE THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 July 1940, Page 2

STATE THEATRE

“DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK.” Darryl F. Zanuck’s production of “Drums Along the Mohawk” depicts in technicolour the days when torch and tomahawk spread their terror in New York’s beautiful Mohawk Valley, and is based on Walter D. Edmonds’ best-sell-ing novel. The screen play by Lamar Trotti and Conya Levien, which will be presented tonight at the State Theatre, gives Claudette Colbert and Henry Fonda the roles of pioneer lovers who with the other colonists in the valley have to face the fierce onslaught of the savage Iroquois. While a heartwarming romance is thus assured, the most outstanding feature of “Drums Along the Mohawk” is its action. The screen has proved itself time and again as the best medium for portraying scenes like these, but. never has it shown them more powerfully. The cast is all uniformly excellent. Featured in it are Edna May Oliver, Errie Collins, John Caradine, Dorris Bowdon, Jessie Ralph, Arthur Shields, Robert Lowery and Roger Imhof. The story takes place in those days of romance and adventure when America was young. Claudette Colbert, an aristocratic, citybred girl, marries Henry Fonda, a far-mer-colonist of the Mohawk Valley, as the film opens. Fonda takes his bride to the rough frontier where her spirit is almost broken by the crude life and surroundings. But, a brave girl, she perseveres and their love is strengthened by the hardships and perils they share. Then the Indians, under the drive of the British (for this is during the Revolution) attack the peaceful valley. This is the signal that unleashes such thrills upon the screen as it has seldom shown. Heading the supporting programme is a March of Time as topical as the hour. It is entitled “Crisis in the Pacific,” and deals in a graphic fashion with Japan’s policy of expansion and with the causes and development of the present strained situation. This feature is of vital interest to every New Zealander.

There will also be shown further thrilling authentic scenes in connection with the evacuation of Dunkirk.