The Last of the Mohicans (1936)

INFORMATION FROM IMDb

Plot Summary
In the year 1756, Fort William Henry on Lake George is under siege by the French and Hurons under General Montcalm. Alice and Cora Munro, young daughters of the British Commander, Colonel Munro, set out from Albany to join their father at the fort. They are accompanied by Major Duncan Heyward, who has loved Alice for a long time, and by a renegade Huron named Magua. He leads them astray with the view of betraying them into the hands of a wandering party of Hurons, but his plans are foiled by Hawkeye, a Colonial scout, when he and his comrades, Chingachgook and his son Uncas, rescue the party and conduct them safely to the fort. Shortly after wards, Munro surrenders on honorable terms to Montcalm and is permitted to march out of the fort under arms and colors. He is then mortally wounded by Magua during a massacre by the Indians as the fort is being evacuated. Cora and Alice are carried off by Magua and Heyward, aided by Hawkeye, Chingachgook and Uncas, sets out in search of them.
Written by Les Adams

Cast
Randolph Scott ... Hawkeye
Binnie Barnes ... Alice
Henry Wilcoxon ... Major Heyward
Bruce Cabot ... Magua
Heather Angel ... Cora
Phillip Reed ... Uncas
Robert Barrat ... Chingachgook
Hugh Buckler ... Colonel Munro
Willard Robertson ... Captain Winthrop
William Stack ... General Montcalm
Lumsden Hare ... General Abercrombie
Frank McGlynn Sr. ... Gamut
Will Stanton ... Jenkins
William V. Mong ... Sachem
Art Dupuis ... De Levis
Ian Maclaren ... William Pitt (as Ian MacLaren)
Reginald Barlow ... Duke of Newcastle
Olaf Hytten ... King George II
Lionel Belmore ... Patroon
Claude King ... Duke of Marlborough
and many more...

Directed
George B. Seitz

Writing Credits
James Fenimore Cooper ... (novel)
Philip Dunne ... (screen play)
John L. Balderston ... (from an adaptation by)
Paul Perez ... (from an adaptation by)
Daniel Moore ... (from an adaptation by)

Produced
Edward Small ... producer (uncredited)

Music
Roy Webb ... (uncredited)

Cinematography
Robert H. Planck ... (as Robert Planck) (photographed by)

Trivia
May 1, 1936, the Triplicate reported that a camera crew showed up in Crescent City & Smith River to undertake the preparations for filming an adaption of "The Last of the Mohicans" using Yurok, Hoopa and Tolowa extras. Tolowas and mixed-Tolowas hired on as extras included Clifford Winton, Harry Bob, Fred Moorehead, William White, Andrew Whipple, Chester Scott, Johnny Frank, Chester James, Robert Spott, Lawrence Spott, Edward Spott, and Jack James. They were paid $5.00 a day. The federal government arranged the pay scale for the reservation Indians who had acted as extras.

For several years, the Oscars included a category for Best Assistant Director. Clem Beauchamp received such a nomination for his work on this movie.

This movie features two alumni from the film, King Kong (1933). The actor Bruce Cabot, who plays Magua, ( and played John Driscoll in King Kong) and parts of the King Kong music score by Max Steiner, which can most easily be heard during the action sequences.

The scene in which a bare-chested Randolph Scott is tied to a torture-stake inside an Indian village does not appear in James Fenimore Cooper's novel.

The film takes place in 1757.

Crazy Credits
Opening credits are shown on a rock, with rock art (petroglyphs)

Goofs
Factual errors
A settler tells Hawkeye he hasn't seem him in a coon's age. However, this form of expression was first known to be used in 1843 - nearly 90 years after the events in the film are supposed to have occurred (in 1757).

Memorable Quotes

Filming Locations
Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA
Iverson Ranch - 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA
Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA
Cedar Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA
Kern River, Bakersfield, California, USA
Lake Sherwood, California, USA
RKO-Pathé Studios - 9336 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA (studio)
San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

The Last of the Mohicans is a 1936 American adventure film
based on the novel The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper.
It was directed by George B. Seitz and stars Randolph Scott, Binnie Barnes and Henry Wilcoxon.

Production
The movie was the last of several producer Edward Small's Reliance Picture Corporation made for United Artists. Merle Oberon was originally announced as the female lead.
There were plans to make the movie in colour but Small decided it was too expensive.

Philip Dunne worked on the script with John L. Balderston. Dunne later claimed that the final film:

Is only a pallid ghost of what John and I originally wrote. Ours was a full-blooded screenplay, combining adventure and excitement with what we considered some respectable poetry in the love story between the patrician English girl and the young Mohican brave. Above all we painted an authentic picture of colonial American in the eighteenth century.

Dunne said that production of the film was postponed due to casting problems; he and Balderstone went away and by the time they came back shooting had started.

The film was appalling. In our absence, Eddie 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 eighteenth century period piece into a third-rate Western. The characters even spoke to each other in twentieth century colloquialisms, and each had been rendered banal beyond belief

Small then hired Dunne to rewrite the dialogue on set, although he says the structure of his original script remained altered.

Reception
In his review for AllMovie, Paul Brenner wrote that Randolph Scott had "one of his best roles as Hawkeye in this exciting film adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's often filmed novel."
Clem Beauchamp was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Assistant Director.

Stars, Duke 'Pal's Randolph Scott, Bruce Cabot, Binnie Barnes

User Review

An Excellent Adventure Film!
24 June 2007 | by azcowboysingr (United States)

Quote from azco

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!