Last of the Redmen [Last of the Redskins] *** (1947, Jon Hall, Michael O’Shea) – Classic Movie Review 12,637

‘BIG! BARBAROUS! BEAUTIFUL! TEMPTATION IN THE WILDERNESS! Love Racing Against Death! Filmed in VITA-COLOR!’

Director George Sherman’s 1947 Columbia Pictures colour Western film Last of the Redmen [Last of the Redskins] stars Jon Hall, Michael O’Shea, Evelyn Ankers, Julie Bishop and Larry Buster Crabbe. It is made by Sam Katzman Productions as the first of several collaborations between star Hall and producer Katzman, and set in upstate New York during the French and Indian War in 1757.

James Fenimore Cooper’s novel The Last of the Mohicans is the inspiration for this intelligent, tense Western adventure drama about Major Duncan Heyward (Jon Hall) having to ponder the fate of British men and children lost in the Wild Wilderness.

He has to lead three children (Evelyn Ankers as Alice Munro, Julie Bishop as Cora Munro and Buzz Henry as Davy Munro) across Indian land to safety at the bidding of their English father, General Alexander Munro (Guy Hedlund). Michael O’Shea also stars as the book’s hero Hawkeye [Hawk Eye] / Natty Bumpo, who helps Major Heyward escort the three children, with Buster Crabbe as Indian Scout Magua and Rick Vallin as Hawkeye’s Indian companion Uncas.

Though the film is shot in Vitacolor as advertised, it was released in Cinecolor.

James Fenimore Cooper’s novel The Last of the Mohicans may be disappointed. It is not a simple straight remake of previous film versions. Instead it is a retelling with many changes, or a re-interpreted free adaptation of the 1826 novel that adds the boy character of Davy Munro as a brother for Cora and Alice Munrom does not feature lone Mohican chief and hero’s companion Chingachgook, and dumps the romance between Uncas (Rick Vallin) and Cora (Julie Bishop). There is no battle of Fort William Henry and the characters mainly ride horses instead of going by foot.

It was the first of several collaborations between Jon Hall and Sam Katzman.

It is remade as The Last of the Mohicans. There are also previous versions as The Last of the Mohicans (1920) and The Last of the Mohicans (1936).

The cast are Jon Hall as Major Duncan Heyward, Michael O’Shea as Hawk Eye / Natty Bumpo, Evelyn Ankers as Alice Munro, Julie Bishop as Cora Munro, Buster Crabbe as Magua, Rick Vallin as Uncas, Robert ‘Buzz’ Henry [Buzz Henry] as Davy Munro, Guy Hedlund as General Alexander Munro, Frederic Worlock, and Emmett Vogan.

Jon Hall’s horse Rex was owned by Robert ‘Buzz’ Henry.

Ankers and Bishop wear 1940s hairstyles and the California scenery in no wat resembles the film’s upstate New York setting.

Last of the Redmen [Last of the Redskins] is directed by George Sherman, runs 78 minutes, is made by Sam Katzman Productions, is released by Columbia Pictures, is written by Herbert Dalmas and George H Plympton, based on The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, is shot by Ray Fernstrom and Ira H Morgan, is produced by Sam Katzman, and is scotred by Mischa Bakaleinikoff.

It premiered on 19 July 1947 in Los Angeles and was released on 1 August 1947 in the US.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,637

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