Last of the Redmen

One more version of the oft-filmed LAST OF THE MOHICANS, this one was shot in color and has what might be described as an 'interesting' cast. The big surprise, perhaps, is the Jon Hall does not play the scout Hawkeye, though at about the same time he attempted to make the changeover from sarong-star, most often opposite Dorothy Lamour, into a western hero, having played the legendary scout Kit Carson in a relatively big budget production from Edward Small. Instead, he's Duncan, the up-tight British officer who vies with Hawkeye during the French and Indian war. Michael O'Shea plays Hawkeye, and what's most intriguing about the film is that he does it as a character role, coming much closer to the "Natty Bumppo" of James Fenimore Cooper's books than is usually the case with Hollywood, where Hawkeye almost invariably is turned into a conventional hero figure, tall, dark and handsome. The pace is sometimes sluggish, though the film remains of interest in terms of the way in which it sometimes closely follows and at other moments departs from the source. Most offbeat of all is the casting of Buster Crabbe, usually a hero of outer space (Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers) or the old west (Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp in B movies) as the evil Magua, a Huron who betrays Alice and Cora Munro - certainly the biggest stretch of Crabbe's career.

I always confound this one with WHEN THE REDSKINS RODE. DAVY CROCKET FRONTIER SCOUT, CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND POCAHONTAS. Maybe because it takes place in America during the eighteenth century, at the same moment Americans fought against English and French forces to get their independance. Those films were not really westerns actually. George Sherman shows here his great talent in action, colourful scenes, and enhanced by Jon Hall's performance. Great atmosphere, photography, music score. I would say that only Maria Montez was missing here, in a perfect movie for her. But I guess she was busy on another film. This one looks like a Lew Landers' one, but Landers was not George Sherman however.

L.O.T.R. (Redmen) aka 'Last Of The Redskins' was a postwar effort in 'B' adventure by Columbia Pictures. Featuring Cinecolor, a alternative to the more expensive (and beautiful) 3-Strip Technicolor. The plot was the reworking and simplification of 'The Last Of The Mohicans'. Eliminating several Action Sequences, Characters and Plot Elements. In other words, emasculating some of the best parts of the Film/Novel.

The most positive thing could be said about the Film is the curious casting. Columbia borrowing from other Studios, Jon Hall, Evelyn Ankers, Julie Bishop and Buster Crabbe with the quality Director Vincent Sherman. With the short running time of 79" being the films only other merit. Unfortunately being a Columbia feature and Produced by Sam Katzman you know it would be done on the cheap. The cheapness would continue in further Adventure Epics, but the leads would evolve to Paul Henreid, Cornel Wilde and John Derek.

A better watch would be 'The Last Of The Mohicans' (1936) a Edward Small Production or the 1992 version featuring Daniel Day-Lewis as HAWKEYE. The most complete version of T.L.O.T.M. was a BBC T.V. Serial in 1971 shown in the U.S.A. on Masterpiece Theater. Though largely Studio bound it was a dedicated and sincere production. So take a pass on L.O.T.R. and view the suggested three (3).