Long separated from their father, sisters Cora (Sara Lezana) and Alice Munro (Barbara Loy) decide to travel to join him at an English outpost during the French and Indian war.
They’re accompanied by Maj. Duncan Heywood (Jack Taylor), who’s in love with Alice, and by an Indian guide known as Cunning Fox (Jose Manuel Martin).
But Cunning Fox is secretly an enemy and is leading them into an ambush. Only the timely intervention of Hawkeye (Luis Induni) and his two Mohican companions, Chingachgook (Jose Marco) and his son Unas (Daniel Martin) keep them from being captured.
Those three guide Cora, Alice and the major to the fort Col. Munro commands. But it’s under siege and being bombarded on a daily basis by French cannon.
Sensing the situation is desperate, the colonel negotiates with French commander Montcalm to allow women, most civilians and his wounded to leave the fort unharmed.
Ihe Indians allied with the French have made no such promises and attack the caravan of refugees, taking Cora, Alice and Heywood prisoner in the process.
Hawkeye, Chingachgook and Unkas rush to their rescue. After all, by that point, handsome Uncas has fallen in love with pretty Cora.
But it won’t be the last time they cross paths with Cunning Fox.
Daniel Martin as Unkas, issuing a challenge with his life on the line in Fall of the Mohicans (1965)
Jose Manuel Martin as Cunning Fox checking on his captive in Fall of the Mohicans (1965)
Review:
This film plays out like an abridged version of “Last of the Mohicans,” with the plot condensed to nothing but the action sequences.
So we have Cora and Unkas falling for one another with a single glance and a perilous journey to the fort that doesn’t seem all that perilous.
Which wouldn’t be so bad if the action sequences were well done. They aren’t. Just watch the bombardment of the fort. A cannonball hits the exact same spot on the parade ground at least a half dozen times.
Then Montcalm rides into the fort he’s had under siege and complains that it’s dirty!
And try not to laugh too hard when everyone in the cast — Alice and Heywood, Hawkeye and Chingachgook, even Col. Monro and the defeated British troops — show up in the same Indian camp in the nick of time to watch the climatic hand to hand combat between Uncas and Cunning Fox.
If you’re dying to watch a European version of this story, you’d do better to check out 1965’s “The Last Tomahawk,” which transports the tale to the American southwest.
Sara Lezana as Cora Munro, setting eyes on Uncas for the first time in Fall of the Mohicans (1965)
Maria Gentilini (Barbara Loy) as Alice Munro as hostile Indians close in in Fall of the Mohicans (1965)
Directed by:
Mateo Diaz Cano
as Matthew Kane
Cast:
Jack Taylor … Maj. Duncan Heywood
Sara Lezana … Cora Munro
Daniel Martin … Unkas
Jose Marco … Chingachgook
Luis Induni … Hawkeye
Paul Muller … Col. Munro
Jose Manuel Martin … Cunning Fox
Maria Gentilini … Alice Munro
as Barbara Loy
Pastor Serrador … Gen. Marquis de Montcalm
Carlos Casaravilla … Tamenund
Modesto Blanch … Francour, Montcalm aide
Pedro Rodriguez de Quevedo … Gen. Webb
Rufino Ingles … Doctor at fort
Also with: Alfonso del Real, Jose Riesgo, Lorenzo Robledo, Pedro Fenollar, Richard Lillo, Jose Villasante.
Runtime: 85 min.
aka:
Uncas, el fin de una raza
The Last of the Mohicans
Music: Bruno Canfora
and Angelo Francesco Lavagnino
Luis Induni as Hawkeye and Jose Marco as Chingachgook , scouting for the British in Fall of the Mohicans (1965)
Jack Taylor as Maj. Duncan Heywood with Paul Muller as Col. Munro, talking about the French siege in Fall of the Mohicans (1965)
Memorable lines:
Sorry, I watched a foreign language version of this film.
Pastor Serrador as Gen. Marquis de Montcalm, surveying the fort he’s taken in Fall of the Mohicans (1965)
Carlos Casaravilla as Tamerind ,chief of the Indian tribe in Fall of the Mohicans (1965)
Trivia:
* Daniel Martin also played Uncas in “The Last Tomahawk.” Here, he looks less like an Indian than blue-eyed Chuck Connors did in 1962’s “Geronimo.”
* Jack Taylor is actually top-billed here in the Maj. Heywood role. A native of Oregon, he has more 100 screen and TV credits on IMDB and was still active in the mid-2010s. He also appeared in “Custer of the West” (1967), “The Christmas Kid” (1967) and “Tomb of the Pistolero” (1964).
* Sara Lezana appeared in two other Euro Westerns early in her career — “Gunfight at Red Sands” (1963) and “Murieta” (1965). Barbara Loy appeared in just 12 films, but the others included “Kill Johnny Ringo” (1966), “The Magnificent Texan” (1967) and “Fights of Ave Maria” (1970). She also played one of the 50 brides in “Blindman.”
Sara Lezana as Cora Munro, wondering about the route her party is taking n Fall of the Mohicans (1965)
Luis Induni as Hawkeye and Jack Taylor as Maj. Duncan Heywood talk strategy in Fall of the Mohicans (1965)
Jose Marco as Chingachgook, Hawkeye’s reliable companion in Fall of the Mohicans (1965)
Maria Gentilini (Barbara Loy) as Alice Munro (left) and Sara Lezana as Cora Munro reunited with Col. Munro (Paul Muller) in Fall of the Mohicans (1965)
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