Well this is a new one on me, I didn't think John Wayne fought any battles prior to the Civil War. Played almost along the lines of a typical B Western, the film's story line and production values are a slight notch above, with Claire Trevor joining Wayne in another film released the same year as "Stagecoach" in which they both appeared. Trevor's character here is not much more than a caricature, as she's constantly grumbling over her status as a woman who's not allowed to take part in the rough and tumble world the men around her find themselves in. Thinking about it now, she was the only woman in the entire picture; how realistic was that?
It struck me while watching that this was one film that probably would have benefited from the color treatment, what with all those Redcoats around causing dismay for the Allegheny settlers. Wayne's character Jim Smith and company rebel against the British for allowing trade to continue with marauding Indians, but except for one brief skirmish, the Indians aren't much of a factor in the story. It's those thieving, conniving traders in league with the Brits.
If nothing else, the film forced me to search my brain to recall bits and pieces I learned in parochial school about the French and Indian War and the new 'American' spirit of freedom and independence. With the story taking place a decade and a half prior to the Revolutionary War, it's a somewhat different kind of Western taking place East of the Mississippi with the good guys trading their white hats for coonskin caps.
It struck me while watching that this was one film that probably would have benefited from the color treatment, what with all those Redcoats around causing dismay for the Allegheny settlers. Wayne's character Jim Smith and company rebel against the British for allowing trade to continue with marauding Indians, but except for one brief skirmish, the Indians aren't much of a factor in the story. It's those thieving, conniving traders in league with the Brits.
If nothing else, the film forced me to search my brain to recall bits and pieces I learned in parochial school about the French and Indian War and the new 'American' spirit of freedom and independence. With the story taking place a decade and a half prior to the Revolutionary War, it's a somewhat different kind of Western taking place East of the Mississippi with the good guys trading their white hats for coonskin caps.