Mohawk (1956) starring Scott Brady, Rita Gam, Neville Brand, Lori Nelson, Allison Hayes, John Hoyt, Rhys Williams, Barbara Jo Allen, Mae Clarke directed by Kurt Neumann Movie Review

Mohawk (1956)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Scott Brady and Lori Nelson in Mohawk (1956)

Brady is Game for Gam

There is an uneasy peace between the white man and the Native Indians around Fort Alden but for artist Jonathan Adams (Scott Brady - Johnny Guitar) it is not his concern as not only is he carrying on with the Greta (Allison Hayes) who works at the Fort but his fiancee Cynthia Stanhope (Lori Nelson - Underwater!) arrives with her aunt from Boston and then there is Onida (Rita Gam - The Thief) the daughter of an Indian chief. But things get messy when settler John Butler (John Hoyt) plots to get rid of not only the Indians but also the army by playing them off against each other till war breaks out. But Butler's plans leave Adams caught in the middle.

Let me tell you what the most entertaining thing is about "Mohawk", the native Indians are made up of the Mohawks and the Tuscaroras and so that you can tell the difference the Mohawks have mohawks and the Tuscaroras have long hair. It is sad that the most memorable thing about "Mohawk" is the hair styles but that is the sad truth and I wouldn't even class this as b-western as it is so ropey.

So where do I start with what is wrong, well the dialogue and the delivery of the dialogue is simply atrocious and it is at times comically poor the way we have actors delivering the stilted dialogue. And as such there is not a single decent performance in the entire movie with every single actor coming across as wooden. Then there is the comedy surrounding Jonathan being a ladies man who has to juggle three women at the same time which is not as amusing as it sounds. But that also leads to a romantic subplot as Jonathan ends up with one of these women but trust me the story is never engaging enough to make us care. Basically there is nothing good about "Mohawk" and that includes the action which is basic at best and distinctly lacking with the exception of footage lifted from a John Ford western.

What this all boils down to is that "Mohawk" is a western which is hard work, seriously hard work as it is not only boring but forced from start to finish. Even as a fan of westerns I found it hard work even when watched expecting it to be bad.


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