Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans (1957)

Information From IMDb

Plot Summary
Nat Cutler, known as Hawkeye, is a fur trader.
With his faithful Indian companion Chingachgook,
the last of the Mohican tribe, he fights to protect settlers
against the raiding Huron Indians.
Written by Jim Beaver

Series Cast
John Hart ... Nat 'Hawkeye' Cutler (39 episodes, 1957)
Lon Chaney Jr. ... Chingachgook (39 episodes, 1957)
Bill Walsh ... Col. Courtney / ... (6 episodes, 1957)
Leonard Ontkean ... Chief Thunder Cloud / ... (5 episodes, 1957)
John Vernon ... Eliwasset / ... (5 episodes, 1957)
and many more....

Series Produced
Sigmund Neufeld .... producer / executive producer (18 episodes, 1957)
Leon Fromkess .... executive producer (16 episodes, 1957)

Series Writing Credits
James Fenimore Cooper (38 episodes, 1957)
and many more...

Filming Location
Valley Farm Rd, Pickering, Ontario, Canada

Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans is a 1957 Western television series made for syndication
by ITC Entertainment and Normandie Productions.
It ran for one season of 39 half-hour monochrome episodes.
The series is available on DVD and some episodes on VHS.

Loosely based on The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper,
the series was released under several different names, including Hawkeye and The Last of the Mohicans.

The series was set in New York's Hudson Valley in the 1750s but was filmed in Canada.
The end credits state that the series was filmed in Canada
with the cooperation of The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

The series had a more realistic view of America than most series of the times.
The settlers were rough and dressed in old but suitable clothes for the long hard winters
in the small settlements of the new frontier.
The Native Americans were more realistically portrayed too, as an intelligent people
with good and bad individuals among them.
Fights in the film needed more than just the odd blow as the opponents hit hard at each other,
and torture was used in a number of episodes. Weapons used were normally single shot rifles and tomahawks (which often ended up in someone's back).
Furs were often a motive of crime as they were the currency of the northern settlements.

Mistake: In the episode "Washington Story", Stan Francis played
a young George Washington but in the end credits,
he is named as Benjamin Franklin
(this might be a mistake limited to the home video edit taking the end credits from a different episode).

Anyone else but me, remember this one.
Only one series made in 1957, but it was different from the others.
It was for a start sympathetic to the plight of Native Americans.
Personally I thought Lon Chaney as Chingachgook,
stole the show from Hart, but nevertheless, they made a great team.

Quote

haney Jr. Had Hart, 4 May 2006
7/10
Author: animal_8_5 from Dundalk, Canada

John Hart, former Lone Ranger, played Nat "Hawkeye" Cutler, the lead in this series, co-starring with the legendary Lon Chaney Jr as his aboriginal half-brother, Chingachgook. The man who is still considered "the most prolific director in the American sound age", Sam Newfield directed every episode except one (the pilot, directed by colleague Sidney Salkow), while brother Sig Neufeld produced. Sig's son has a music credit in "Hawkeye" and another son is alleged to have appeared in the series.

This was an absolutely great series compared to what else was being churned out of Canada in this era, but somewhat pedestrian compared to the wealth of similar material available in the U.S. at the time. Still, it was shown all over the world, easily accessing U.S. and British Commonwealth television markets and while filmed in B&W, still a pretty good package to view on DVD today.

The outdoors scenes in the program were filmed in picturesque Pickering, Ontario, Canada in the late summer and fall of 1956. There was a movement in 2006 by some dedicated fans of the show to have a plaque erected in the vicinity of the outdoor film lot, as well as a campaign to have a Pickering street renamed "Hawkeye Drive" in commemoration of the show's fiftieth anniversary. Unfortunately, their request has been rejected by Pickering City Council.

Display More