Steve Forrest is Hawkeye and Ned Romero his faithful friend Chingachgook, partners in an attempt to rescue an Indian maiden.
The Huron have snatched Wa-Tah-Wa (Betty Ann Carr), pretty daughter of a Delaware chief. Huron Chief Rivenoak wants her for his own.
Hawkeye and Chingachgook offer to try to get her back, hoping to prevent all-out war between the tribes.
En route to the rescue, they encounter British Lt. Plowden. He’s been ordered to deliver a message to Fort Niagra, evacuate settlers from the area and help consolidate British forces at Crown Point.
Turns out, the Huron have already massacred the garrison at Fort Niagra.
But Hurry Harry March (Charles Dierkop) survived and convinces Lt. Plowden, Hawkeye and Chingachgook to help save the Hutter family.
An old trapper, Hutter (John Anderson) lives nearby and has two pretty daughters, one of whom March has fallen in love with.
Steve Forrest as Hawkeye, facing the prospect of torture by the Delaware Indians in The Deerslayer (1978)
Ned Romero as Chingachgook, Hawkeye’s faithful companion in The Deerslayer (1978)
Review:
Here’s a TV movie that doesn’t lack for action. In the first nine minutes alone, there’s an attack on an Indian village in which Wa-Tah-Wa is captured, a counter attack by the Delaware and a flashback sequence in which we see how Chingachgook’s only son was killed.
And the action scenes include a couple of unique ideas, a canoe filled with explosives that the Hurons float toward Hutter’s lake-side home and an early version of hand grenades that help even the odds for our heroes.
Unfortunately, all that action is mixed with a fair share of silliness, making this no more than a mediocre film version of another of James Fenimore Cooper’s oft-told tales.
Ah, but there’s a link to the far better film based on one of his novels — 1992’s “Last of the Mohicans,” starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Madeleine Stowe.
This movie marked one of Stowe’s first film appearances. She plays Hetty, a character so in tune with the woods where she lives that she can talk to bears and pass herself off as simple-minded when it suits.
Sadly, her character is asked to pull off some simple-minded scenes as well. Yep, even worse than talking to a bear.
That aforementioned flashback scene comes from 1977’s “Last of the Mohicans,” which also starred Forrest and Romero.
Madeleine Stowe as Hetty Hutter and Joan Prather as her older sister Judith in The Deerslayer (1978)
Betty Ann Carr as Wa-Tah-Wa, whose kidnapping starts hostilities between Indian tribes in The Deerslayer (1978)
Directed by:
Richard Friedenberg
Cast:
Steve Forrest … Hawkeye
Ned Romero … Chingachgook
John Anderson … Hutter
Victor Mohica … Huron Chief Rivenoak
Joan Prather … Judith Hutter
Charles Dierkop … Hurry Harry March
Brian Davies … Lt. Plowden
Ted Hamilton … Sieur de Beaujeur
Betty Ann Carr … Wa-Tah-Wa
Madeleine Stowe … Hetty Hutter
Ruben Moreno … Delaware Chief Tamenund
Runtime: 95 min.
Brian Davies as British Lt. Plowden in The Deerslayer (1978)
John Anderson as Hutter, an old trapper with a secret in The Deerslayer (1978)
Memorable lines:
Hawkeye: “You’d think the French and English would have the good sense to keep their wars over in Europe where they belong. Not here in our forests.”
Chingachgook: “My brother, this forest is what they fight over.”
Chingachgook, on the prospect of Lt. Plowden proceeding alone: “I could not sleep with him crashing around these woods.”
Lt. Plowden to Hawkeye: “Sir, you have a way of making this wilderness seem less frightening.”
Hawkeye: “Well, there’s no reason it should be … It’s the people who make it a fearsome place.”
Hetty Hutter to the Huron village, after beating down the flames around Hawkeye’s feet: “Shame on you treating a good man like this. You’re all bad!”
Victor Mohica as Huron Chief Rivenoak, who wants Wa-Tah-Wa for his own in The Deerslayer (1978)
Ted Hamilton as Sieur de Beaujeur. a French officer working with the Delaware Indians in The Deerslayer (1978)
Ruben Moreno as Delaware Chief Tamenund, determined to get his daughter back in The Deerslayer (1978)
Madeleine Stowe as Hetty Hutter, a young woman in tune with nature in The Deerslayer (1978)
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