The Last of the Mohicans *** (1936, Randolph Scott, Binnie Barnes, Bruce Cabot, Henry Wilcoxon, Heather Angel, Hugh Buckler, Phillip Reed, Robert Barrat) – Classic Movie Review 4,663

Randolph Scott makes a sterling hero as the noble frontiersman Hawkeye, in the exciting, lovingly crafted 1936 adventure movie The Last of the Mohicans, based on James Fenimore Cooper’s classic tale of the 18th century French-Native American battles.

Randolph Scott makes a sterling hero as the noble frontiersman Hawkeye in director George B Seitz’s exciting, lovingly crafted 1936 adventure movie The Last of the Mohicans, based on James Fenimore Cooper’s 1826 classic tale of the French-Native American battles in the 18th century.

The exciting historical adventure is set during the French and Indian War of 1754 to 1763 in North America, where the settling British colonists are subject to attacks in 1757. Gathered at an upper New York State colonial fort, which is being besieged by the French forces commanded by General Montcalm (William Stack), are the Fort William Henry commander Colonel Munro (Hugh Buckler), his daughters Alice (Binnie Barnes) and Cora (Heather Angel), and Major Duncan Heyward.

Also arriving helpfully on the scene are Natty Bumppo, a white frontiersmen known as Hawkeye (Randolph Scott) because of his skill with a musket, and the last two surviving members of the Mohican Indian tribe, Chingachgook (Robert Barrat) and his son Uncas (Phillip Reed). At the start of the film, it’s up to Hawkeye to escort Major Heyward, Alice and Cora to safety.

While on a scouting expedition from the British outpost Fort William Henry. Hawkeye, Chingachgook and Uncas have come across Major Heyward, Alice and Cora, who are journeying to Fort William Henry to join their father, but have been misled by a hostile Huron named Magua (Bruce Cabot). They heroes drive off a Huron war party and agree to guide the party to the fort, which is being besieged by the French forces commanded by General Montcalm (William Stack). 

The Last of the Mohicans is a little faded now, but the story’s entertainment value and director Seitz’s craftsmanship still shine through.

Also in the cast are Phillip Reed as Uncas, Willard Robertson as Captain Winthrop, Lumsden Hare as General Abercrombie, Frank McGlynn Sr as Gamut, Will Stanton, William V Mong and Art Dupuis.

It was the last of several films that producer Edward Small’s Reliance Picture Corporation made for release by United Artists. Unfortunately it is in black and white, as Small decided that it was too expensive make it in colour.

Scott was reluctant to tackle the ‘flowery Cooper dialogue’, but relented after he was allowed to change some of his lines. The screenplay is credited to Philip Dunne, with John L Balderston, Paul Perez and Daniel Moore credited for the adaptation.

Philip Dunne worked on the script with John L Balderston, but they left when production of the film was postponed because of casting problems. When they were re-hired, shooting had started. Dunne recalled: ‘The film was appalling. In our absence, Edward Small apparently had succumbed to the itch many producers have to tamper with inactive scripts. I don’t know what writers he had hired, but they had succeeded in turning our authentic 18th-century period piece into a third-rate Western. The characters even spoke to each other in 20th-century colloquialisms, and each had been rendered banal beyond belief.’ This is odd, because Small had hired Dunne to rewrite the dialogue on set. Maybe the 20th-century colloquialisms are the lines Scott put in.

It is shot in California at Big Bear Lake and Cedar Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest; Smith River, near the community of Hiouchi, Del Norte County, Iverson Ranch, 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles; Kern River, Bakersfield; Lake Earl, near Crescent City, Del Norte County; Lake Sherwood in the Santa Monica Mountains; San Bernardino National Forest; and in the studio at RKO-Pathé Studios, 9336 Washington Blvd, Culver City.

Runtime: 92 minutes.

Release date: September 4, 1936.

It was previously the 1920 silent film The Last of the Mohicans with Wallace Beery, and it was remade as the 1957 Canadian TV series Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans, with John Hart as Hawkeye and Lon Chaney Jr as Chingachgook; the 1971 BBC serial The Last of the Mohicans, with Philip Madoc as Magua, Kenneth Ives as Hawkeye and John Abineri as Chingachgook; the American TV movie The Last of the Mohicans in 1977 with Steve Forrest as Hawkeye; the feature film The Last of the Mohicans in 1992 with Daniel Day Lewis, which credited Dunne’s screenplay as its basis; and the 1994 American TV series Hawkeye.

The 1971 serial popularised the term Mohican hairstyle, though it was actually worn by the Hurons not the Mohicans in the TV show.

The cast

The cast are Randolph Scott as Hawkeye, Binnie Barnes as Alice Munro, Henry Wilcoxon as Major Heyward, Bruce Cabot as Magua, Heather Angel as Cora Munro, Phillip Reed as Uncas, Robert Barrat as Chingachgook, Hugh Buckler as Colonel Munro, Willard Robertson as Captain Winthrop, William Stack as General Montcalm, Lumsden Hare as General Abercrombie, Frank McGlynn Sr as Gamut, Will Stanton as Jenkins, William V Mong as Sacham, Art Dupuis as De Levis, Ian MacLaren as William Pitt, Reginald Barlow as Duke of Newcastle, Olaf Hytten as King George II, Lionel Belmore as Patroon, Claude King as Duke of Marlborough, Harry Cording as Trapper, Ethan Laidlaw as Colonialist.

Philip Dunne (February 11, 1908 – June 2, 1992) 

Philip Dunne was a key participant against the Hollywood Blacklist of the 1940s and 1950s. In 1947 he co-founded the Committee for the First Amendment with John Huston and William Wyler in response to hearings held by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).

Classic black‑and‑white Westerns

Many Westerns cry out for colour, but then there are also some iconic black‑and‑white Westerns with a classic monochrome look associated with the golden age of Westerns: Stagecoach, High Noon, The Ox‑Bow Incident, Red River, My Darling Clementine, 3:10 to Yuma, The Big Sky (1952), The Gunfighter  (1950), Hud, and The Misfits, and the Fifties TV Westerns.

Films based on the book

Films based on James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans: Leather Stocking (1909), The Last of the Mohicans (1920 American), The Last of the Mohicans (1920 German), The Last of the Mohicans (1932, pre-Code Mascot movie serial), The Last of the Mohicans (1936), Last of the Redskins (1947), The Last Tomahawk (1965), Fall of the Mohicans (1965), The Last of the Mohicans (1968), The Last of the Mohicans (1971), Last of the Mohicans (1977), The Last of the Mohicans (1992).

TV based on the book

The 1957 Canadian TV series Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans, with John Hart as Hawkeye and Lon Chaney Jr as Chingachgook; the 1971 BBC serial The Last of the Mohicans, with Philip Madoc as Magua, Kenneth Ives as Hawkeye and John Abineri as Chingachgook; the American TV movie The Last of the Mohicans in 1977 with Steve Forrest as Hawkeye; the 1984 PBS miniseries Once Upon A Classic: The Leatherstocking Tales Part 3, with Cliff DeYoung as Hawkeye and Roger Hill as Chingachgook; and the 1994 American TV series Hawkeye.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4,663

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