FILM REVIEWS

RKO Radio Pictures

This is one of the tree pictures John Wayne made with Claire Trevor; the others being “Stagecoach,” released in the same year, and “Dark Command,” in 1940.

In this saga, set in 1759, when America was a British colony, Wayne plays Jim Smith, a frontiersman who finds out that Trader Callendar (Brian Donlevy) is supplying Pennsylvania's Indians with liquor and forearms. Claire Trevor is cast as Janie McDougle, a woman in love with Jim, though knowing he's not the romantic or marrying kind.

Indeed, Jim leaves Janie to chase a band of marauding Indians, and then travels to Philadelphia to report the illegal traffic of the traders. A force of British soldiers, under the command of Captain Swanson (George Sanders), garrisons Fort Loudon to protect the innocent settlers.

In a confrontation with Swanson, Jim says, “You'll never learn, you'll never learn to know us,” thus expressing the contempt for the Brits and the discontents that eventually lead to the 1776 Declaration of Independence.

At the end, the tomboyish Janie will not take no as an answer, and follows Jim. When asked where she's going, Janie simply says: “With My Man!”

Produced by Pandro Berman, “Allegheny Uprising” is more technically polished than John Wayne's other films of the era, with strong imagery from Nicholas Musuraca.

Credits

Running Time: 92 minutes Release date: April 5, 1940

Produced by Pandro S. Berman and P. J. Wolfson
Directed by William Seitler
Screenplay: P.J. Wolfson, based on the story, “First Rebel,” by Neil Swanson
Camera: Nicholas Musuraca
Edited by George Crone
Art Direction: Van Nest Poglase