Alice (Evelyn Ankers) and Cora Munro (Julie Bishop) have decided to visit their father at an outpost during the French and Indian War at the same time Montcalm has launched an offensive from Canada.
Complicating matters is a scout named Magua, who was once flogged at Gen Munro’s command and has vowed to get even, in this case by lying about the whereabouts of Montcalm’s troops.
So, thinking he’s dispatching them in the safest possible direction, Gen. Webb grants approval for Maj. Duncan Heyward (Jon Hall) to guide the ladies and their younger brother Davy to the fort their father commands.
Fortunately, a frontiersman named Hawk-Eye (Michael O’Shea) and his trusted companion Uncas, the last of the Mohicans, are also about, because the small traveling group is heading straight for the Iroquis.
Review:
Yet another telling of the James Fenimore Cooper tale, but interesting in a couple of ways.
For starters, there’s the casting. The tall, dark and handsome leading man plays Heyward, not Hawk-Eye. And the film puts Buster Crabbe, who had played Tarzan and Flash Gordon, in the role of a villain.
Then there’s the liberties the filmmakers take with the story. Let’s just put it this way: Who survives and who doesn’t might surprise you. And bickering between Hawk-Eye and Alice is also amusing at times.
The downside: Some silliness, like when Heyward is completely surrounded by Iroquois, but somehow escapes. And like when Alice suddenly lets out an ear-piercing scream in the middle of a battle and flees right into the arms of an attacking Indian.
A piece of trivia: Michael O’Shea failed to become a major star, but was married to one. He married Virginia Mayo in 1947 and the two remained married until his death from a heart attack in 1973.
Directed by:
George Sherman
Cast:
Jon Hall … Maj. Duncan Heyward
Michael O’Shea … Hawk-Eye
Evelyn Ankers … Alice Munro
Julie Bishop … Cora Munro
Buster Crabbe … Magua
Rick Vallin … Uncas
Robert “Buzz” Henry … Davy Munro
Frederick Worlock … Gen. Webb
Guy Hedlund … Gen. Munro
Runtime: 79 min.
Memorable lines:
Hawk-Eye, on why Magua might lie about the location of the French troops: “Isn’t he the Indian Munro had flogged last June.”
British officer: “Why, yes, but that was for drunkenness. He’s since reformed.”
Hawk-Eye: “General Webb. Flogging never reformed an Indian.”
Hawk-Eye to Heyward, after shooting an Indian and saving young Davy: “I consider your profound ignorance and forgive you for not thanking me. If the way you travel is any indication of how you value your life, one more lesson won’t make much difference.”
Hawk-Eye: “You’re asking a powerful lot of questions, major, and these woods are full of dead men who didn’t get the right answers.”
Hawk-Eye: “They’re two lovely girls, Uncas. The major’s a lucky man. Tell me, Uncas, how would you go about handling the fair one? Do you think she’d make a good squaw?”
Uncas: “Maybe. After much hard work.”
Hawk-Eye: “And the weight of her husband’s hand, now and then. It’d be a shame if she died before she met the man she couldn’t twist around her little finger.”
Hawk-Eye: “So you’re adored, are you?”
Alice: “I can’t expect a savage to understand that women are respected just because they’e women.”
Hawk-Eye: “That’s not reason enough. The people in this country are respected for what they do.”
Alice: “How quaint.”
Hawk-Eye: “Take you. All I’ve ever seen you do is weep. You’re probably the best weeper that ever came to North America.”
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