The Indians are on the warpath in Pennsylvania in the days before the revolution, and the colonists are tired of seeing loved ones killed with weapons traded to them by other whites.
So Jim Smith (John Wayne), fresh off three years as a captive of the French, sets out to stop the crooked trader named Callendar (Brian Donlevy) and soon rallies the entire valley to his side.
That prompts Callendar and his allies to cook up a new scheme. They’ll secure a contract to supply the British army, though it isn’t nearly as profitable, and smuggle some goods to the Indians in the process.
Smith and his men, including sidekicks MacDougall and the Professor, are quick to realize what’s happening. But that puts them at odds with the British forces under Capt. Swanson, who view them as renegades and the traders as the colonists in need of protection.
If an assault on Fort Pitt to disclose the truth doesn’t land Smith back in prison, a phony murder charge just might.
Meanwhile, Smith is busy trying to stay out of the arms of pretty Janie MacDougall, daughter of his pal. She’s been in love since first setting sight on Smith, and now that he’s back from prison, she’s equally determined to make sure he doesn’t slip away from her grasp again.
Review:
RKO rushed to put John Wayne and Claire Trevor back on screen together following the success of “Stagecoach.” Unfortunately, the studio didn’t have a classic script of John Ford as director this time around.
Still, it’s an enjoyable action film that finds time for plenty of humor, even if the British officers are stereotypes — unbending sticklers for playing things by the rules of war, regardless of how much sense that makes.
Trevor actually got top billing here and the film wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining without her performance as Janie, a young woman determined to stick by her man’s side, lest she become the girl he left behind.
In one of the film’s funnier scenes, Wayne’s Jim Smith agrees she should go on a raid along with the men, all of whom object. She’s thrilled. Until she finds out they’ll be stripping to the waist and masquerading as Indians.
Directed by:
William A. Seiter
Cast:
Claire Trevor … Janie
John Wayne … Jim Smith
George Sanders … Capt. Swanson
Brian Donlevy … Callendar
Wilfrid Lawson … MacDougall
Robert Barrat … Duncan
John F. Hamilton … Professor
Moroni Olsen … Calhoon
Eddie Quillan … Anderson
Chill Wills … M’Cammon
Ian Wolfe … Poole
Wallis Clark … McGlashan
Monte Montague … Morris
Olaf Hytten … Gen. Gage
Eddy Waller … Jailer
aka: The First Rebel
Runtime: 81 min.
Memorable lines:
Jim Smith: “You’ve grown up Janie.”
Janie: “Isn’t that much nicer. For both of us.”
Smith: “Still the same shameless wench.”
Janie to Jim Smith: “You can’t die once, come back and go away again. It’s like making me see you die twice. I couldn’t stand it.”
Jim Smith about Janie as they prepare to track down murdering Indians: “Let her come along.”
Janie: “Oh, Jim, Jim. You’re a fine and generous man.”
Jim: “Alright, off with your shirts. Smear your bodies. We’re supposed to be Indians, you know.”
Janie: “Oh, how sly! How very sly!”
The Professor, as Janie checks on Jim Smith’s wound: “If he’s a bit warm, it’s the kissin’ business, not that bullet.”
Janie, trying to prevent the wounded Jim from going on a dangerous mission: “I’m not going to be a widow before I’m a wife … He’s going to go see Dr. Stoke if I have to kill your and him to do it.”
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