Allegheny Uprising
Encyclopedia
Allegheny Uprising is a 1939 film produced by RKO Pictures
, starring Claire Trevor
and John Wayne
as pioneers of early American expansion in south central Pennsylvania. Clad in buckskin and a coonskin cap (as he would be a decade later in The Fighting Kentuckian
), Wayne plays real-life James Smith
, an American
coping with British
rule in colonial America. The film is loosely based on a historical event known as the Black Boys Rebellion
during the 1760s.
The film did not fare well in its initial release. The superficially similar John Ford
film Drums Along the Mohawk
had been released only one week prior. Retitled The First Rebel for the United Kingdom
, it was banned by the Ministry of Information for placing the British, already at war against Nazi Germany
, in a bad light.
The supporting cast includes Brian Donlevy
, George Sanders
, and Chill Wills
, and the movie was written by P. J. Wolfson from the novel The First Rebel by Neil H. Swanson and directed by William A. Seiter
. Claire Trevor and John Wayne also headed the cast of John Ford
's Stagecoach the same year, and in Allegheny Uprising Trevor is top-billed over Wayne, due to her greater name value at the time.
Captain Swanson, a British army officer, is sent to protect the wagon train at all costs following a complaint lodged by Callender that Smith and his men intend on robbing the wagon train, while neglecting to state that the train contains guns and liquor. Captain Swanson considers the involvement of Smith and his men as a revolt to his authority, and in retaliation he jails more than half of the local colonists, holding them without trial. This sets Smith and Swanson on a collision course.
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
, starring Claire Trevor
Claire Trevor
Claire Trevor was an Academy Award-winning American actress. She was nicknamed the "Queen of Film Noir" because of her many appearances in "bad girl” roles in film noir and other black-and-white thrillers...
and John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
as pioneers of early American expansion in south central Pennsylvania. Clad in buckskin and a coonskin cap (as he would be a decade later in The Fighting Kentuckian
The Fighting Kentuckian
The Fighting Kentuckian American comedy action film starring John Wayne and Oliver Hardy. The movie was written and directed by George Waggner and made by Republic Pictures...
), Wayne plays real-life James Smith
James Smith (frontiersman)
James Smith was a frontiersman, farmer and soldier in British North America. In 1765, he led the "Black Boys", a group of Pennsylvania men, in a nine-month rebellion against British rule, ten years before the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War...
, an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
coping with British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
rule in colonial America. The film is loosely based on a historical event known as the Black Boys Rebellion
Black Boys
The Black Boys, also known as the Brave Fellows and the Loyal Volunteers, were members of a white settler movement in the Conococheague Valley of colonial Pennsylvania sometimes known as the Black Boys Rebellion...
during the 1760s.
The film did not fare well in its initial release. The superficially similar John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
film Drums Along the Mohawk
Drums Along the Mohawk
Drums Along the Mohawk is a 1939 historical Technicolor film based upon a 1936 novel of the same name by American author, Walter D. Edmonds. The film was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck and directed by John Ford. Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert portray settlers on the New York frontier during the...
had been released only one week prior. Retitled The First Rebel for the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, it was banned by the Ministry of Information for placing the British, already at war against Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, in a bad light.
The supporting cast includes Brian Donlevy
Brian Donlevy
Brian Donlevy was an Irish-born American film actor, noted for playing tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles. Among his best known films are Beau Geste and The Great McGinty...
, George Sanders
George Sanders
George Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
, and Chill Wills
Chill Wills
Chill Theodore Wills was an American film actor, and a singer in the Avalon Boys Quartet.-Biography:Wills was born in Seagoville, Texas in 1902. He was a performer from early childhood, forming and leading the Avalon Boys singing group in the 1930s...
, and the movie was written by P. J. Wolfson from the novel The First Rebel by Neil H. Swanson and directed by William A. Seiter
William A. Seiter
William A. Seiter was an American film director. He was born in New York City. After attending Hudson River Military Academy, Seiter broke into films in 1915 as a bit player at Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios, doubling a cowboy...
. Claire Trevor and John Wayne also headed the cast of John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
's Stagecoach the same year, and in Allegheny Uprising Trevor is top-billed over Wayne, due to her greater name value at the time.
Plot
In the south central Pennsylvania area of colonial America in the 1760s, colonial distaste and disapproval of the English government is starting to surface. Many local colonists have been killed by American Indians who are armed with rifles supplied by white traders. Local adventurer James Smith (John Wayne) and his followers complain to British officials, pressuring them to make it illegal to trade weapons to the native population. Trader Ralph Callender (Brian Donlevy) and other businessmen are not happy with the new laws, seeing as it cuts into their profit. They begin to trade with the local native American population, hiding rifles and rum inside military supply trains. When the British authorities fail to do anything to prevent this, James Smith organizes his men and heads out to intercept the wagon train. Smith's spirited and bold girlfriend, Janie McDougall (Claire Trevor), assists him and his men in posing as Indians to intercept the gun shipments.Captain Swanson, a British army officer, is sent to protect the wagon train at all costs following a complaint lodged by Callender that Smith and his men intend on robbing the wagon train, while neglecting to state that the train contains guns and liquor. Captain Swanson considers the involvement of Smith and his men as a revolt to his authority, and in retaliation he jails more than half of the local colonists, holding them without trial. This sets Smith and Swanson on a collision course.
Cast
- Claire TrevorClaire TrevorClaire Trevor was an Academy Award-winning American actress. She was nicknamed the "Queen of Film Noir" because of her many appearances in "bad girl” roles in film noir and other black-and-white thrillers...
as Janie MacDougall - John WayneJohn WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
as James Smith - George SandersGeorge SandersGeorge Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
as Capt. Swanson - Brian DonlevyBrian DonlevyBrian Donlevy was an Irish-born American film actor, noted for playing tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles. Among his best known films are Beau Geste and The Great McGinty...
as Trader Ralph Callendar - Wilfrid LawsonWilfrid Lawson (actor)Wilfrid Lawson was a British character actor of stage and screen.-Life and career:...
as 'Mac' MacDougall - Robert BarratRobert BarratRobert Harriot Barrat was an American stage, motion picture, and television character actor.-Career:Born in New York, Barrat's theatrical debut was in a stock company in Springfield, Massachusetts...
as Magistrate Duncan - John F. Hamilton as The Professor
- Moroni OlsenMoroni OlsenMoroni Olsen was an American actor.-Biography:Olsen was born in Ogden, Utah to Mormon parents Edward Arenholt Olsen and Marsha Hoverholst who named him after the Moroni found in the Book of Mormon. Some sources have claimed that Olsen's birth name was John Willard Clawson, or even John Willard...
as Tom Calhoon - Eddie QuillanEddie QuillanEdward "Eddie" Quillan was an American film actor whose career began as a child on the vaudeville stages and silent film and continued through the age of television in the 1980s.-Vaudeville and silent films:...
as Will Anderson - Chill WillsChill WillsChill Theodore Wills was an American film actor, and a singer in the Avalon Boys Quartet.-Biography:Wills was born in Seagoville, Texas in 1902. He was a performer from early childhood, forming and leading the Avalon Boys singing group in the 1930s...
as John M'Cammon - Ian WolfeIan WolfeIan Wolfe was an American actor whose films date from 1934 to 1990. Until 1934, he worked as a theatre actor. Wolfe mostly found work as a character actor, appearing in over 270 films...
as Mr. Poole - Wallis ClarkWallis ClarkWallis H. Clark was a stage and film actor, born in Essex, England. He died in North Hollywood, California.Clark was formerly an engineer. He began his stage career in Margate in 1908...
as Sgt. McGlashan - Monte MontagueMonte MontagueMonte Montague was an American film actor. He appeared in over 190 films between 1920 and 1954.He was born in Somerset, Kentucky, and died in Burbank, California.-Selected filmography:* Elmo the Fearless...
as Magistrate Morris - Olaf HyttenOlaf HyttenOlaf Hytten was a Scottish film actor. He appeared in over 280 films between 1921 and 1955.He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and died in Los Angeles, California from a heart attack...
as Gen. GageThomas GageThomas Gage was a British general, best known for his many years of service in North America, including his role as military commander in the early days of the American War of Independence.... - Eddy WallerEddy WallerEdward C. "Eddy" Waller was an American film and television actor. He was born in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.-Career:...
as Jailer in Carlisle