Boring

Admirable film.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I have to say that being an English major and having taught for many years, I always found these James Fenimore Cooper books incredibly dull. They were so talky an descriptive. I would imagine creating a screenplay for one wasn't so hard because most of the setup was there. So what gets pulled out is a sort of generic pioneer guy (Daniel Boone like) and the adventures he had. At his side was his Indian buddy and his adversaries were usually other tribal characters. He had the long rifle which had to reloaded time after time. He was feared by his enemies because he managed to be pretty much alone. Women were there but they were silly (some say Cooper never met one) and pretty much to be rescued. This is probably the most entertaining book and the one movies seem to latch on to. Randolph Scott does an adequate job as Hawkeye (for some reason the same guy had different name in the books). The non Native American actors are also adequate.

This is kind of enjoyable in an old-fashioned way. I've never read the novel so I don't know how closely the film follows it, but the film gets by in its own right.The story is a complicated one involving conflicts of various sorts during what we called The French and Indian Wars and what Europe called The Seven Years War. The principal oppositions are between the colonials, led by Scott, and the British leaders, led by Henry Wilcoxin. The two men are also at odds over a young lady, Binnie Barnes. Then there is the battle between the British soldiers and the French under Montcalm, with both sides oozing honor and virtue from every pore. There are the Huron Indians, who side with the French but are basically against the palefaces. And there are definite vibes between Uncas, the next-to-last of the Mohicans, and Heather Angel, as a British general's daughter. This affinity cannot stand in 1936 -- whether or not it stood in 1826, when James Fenimore Cooper published the book. Both Uncas and his blond cutie die proudly, his hand over hers.The movie is almost as rough-hewn as the story and it doesn't spare the killing of horses, the bloody scalpings, or the altruistic suicides. That's not to say that the Indians are all stereotyped, although there are some scenes that are exceptions. The iconography is all Eastern Woodlands and looks correct as far as elementary stuff goes. The round-topped communal housing is traditional for the area that is now New York state. The torture was real enough. Uncas wears a puka-shell bracelet from Hawaii but, okay.Some of the location shooting was done around Crescent City on California's northwest coast and some extras from the Hupa and Yurok tribes were hired. They were an interesting group in themselves. The Yurok had the equivalent of a Protestant Ethic, as Max Weber described it. They used the shells of razor clams for currency, called "tsik", and went around THINKING of tsik, believing that would bring them more of it. Well, I don't want to get into it.Randy Scott, as Hawkeye, wears a coonskin hat and a tailored buckskin outfit. He comes across as a likable guy and gets the job done. The British are portrayed as mostly proud, if not arrogant, but dumb about how to manage the colonies. Hawkeye and the Indians know how to creep around in the woods, and they do a lot of it in the near absence of horses. The British troops march in easily targeted columns wearing red coats that stand out like bulls eyes in the forest.Historically, the French and Indian Wars cost the British an awesome amount of money and lives but it saved the colonies for the settlers and for the British who governed them. In an attempt to get the colonials to pay back some of that expense, the British imposed a stamp tax, which turned out to be a bad idea.There's nothing particularly special about the film. Nice action sequences but not a whole lot of gun play and no galloping steeds. It's not a Western. The stern British army manages to come to terms with Scott's woodsman and vice versa, but there's no message to speak of, except maybe that codes of honor, while necessary for the smooth functioning of societies, should sometimes be bent to allow for unusual circumstances. Nothing wrong with that. As a novelist, to the extent that I understand it, Cooper was popular but not a literary giant. If he'd been French, he might have written "The Three Musketeers."

There have been many films/TV shows made from the Cooper novel, but only 2 really stand out as movies I never tire of watching. This 1936 version, starring Randolph Scott, is one of them. While lacking the majestic beauty of panoramic cinematography that the 1992 version has, it tells the story straight out, with great acting from Randy Scott & his supporting cast. Scott, always the stalwart hero, was never better than as Hawkeye. The director cut no corners, giving the actors whatever they required to make their characters living, breathing, people rather than just cardboard stereotypes as many Hollywood productions did in those early days of sound film. The B/W photography, rather than detracting, actually gives the film a certain historical aspect, as if we are watching a real event through the binoculars of time. I whole-heartedly encourage anyone who hasn't suffered terminal "brain-rot" from the modern crop of "hack-em & slash-em", drugs, sex & rock music, movies, to add this one to their collection of really excellent films!

Although I have never read the book, I have seen several movies about "The Last of the Mohicans" including those that starred Harry Carey, Michael O'Shea (Buster Crabbe as Magua), Steve Forest, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Randolph Scott as Hawkeye (Nathaniel). Also the TV program starring ex-Lone Ranger, John Hart. For me the number one is Randolph Scott. I'm not saying that the others aren't good, but he is my idea of a clean cut, all American hero whom I'd like to have as a friend especially in time of danger. Actor for actor, the 1936 version has the best cast. Nobody is better than Bruce Cabot as Magua and Robert Barrat is the greatest Chingachgook of all, even though neither one is a real Indian. The final fight to the death between the two of them is far superior than that of any other version and Barrat's homage to his dead son Uncas (Phillip Reed) brings me to tears. There is room for all of these versions, and if you can, watch all of them and pick your own favorite.