The Deerslayer

Adding details far from James Fenimore Cooper's novel of the same name, this film fails on its own, as well as an adaptation, to stir interest in a viewer. Sinking in a morass of silliness (hand grenades during the French and Indian War!), the script produces inane dialogue and inconsistent development. Much of the acting is painfully poor with woeful miscasting, including a panoply of obviously non-Indian Indians. The direction surrenders to the vagaries of the scenario. One pleasant surprise is that the film captures an early performance by an ethereal Madeleine Stowe.