The Last of the Mohicans

This remains for me the best film version by far of Cooper's improbable tale. I have vivid memories of it from its first airing. The somewhat stilted script was very much in keeping with Cooper's writing, as were the artificial situations, and melodramatic acting. "Dr. Who" veteran Philip Madoc brings real malice to his role as Magua. Uncas, beautifully acted by Richard Warwick (blue eyes and all)is a genuine leading character, as in Cooper's book, not a mere prop for Hawkeye.

I have been looking for a recorded version since first seeing it without success. I notice that an early comment on this board mentions a 13-part version on DVD. If anyone has any information on how to obtain copies, please post them here or email me!

As a kid, I was moved by this version when it first aired in the 70's and again when I viewed it recently. The richness of dialog in the script and the quality of acting make this version my favorite by far. This is one for your bookshelf.

I love BBC Historical Dramas, there historical accuracy is normally far greater than any other channel/studio. But the 1971 date shows, all the Indians are played by white actors with bad makeup and silly almost comical "Indian" accents. While the 1992 film version had many flaws, its portrayal of the natives was very well done(As well the time period in general). This miscasting is very distracting though out, Magua for example in the 92 film as played by Wes Studi was much better(than this version's) simply because his look was so convincing, he looked like a deadly Huron warrior while Philip Madoc looks like some dude in a silly Indian outfit going to a costume party. Beside the unrealistic Indians, all the sets are absurdly poor, for example Fort Henry is a joke. The poor hand to hand fighting scenes(which there are quite a few) are just as bad as the sets if not worse, clearly no one is being shot or cut or hurt in anyway. I understand that the budget for this production must have been limited(very limited), but that does not excuse the fact that the illusion is broken over and over again, we are constantly reminded that we are watching people play at being Indians,soldiers and scouts, not the real thing.

Even with all these flaws, I still found LOTM to be a solid production, as with any BBC production the writing was fairly good and I was reasonably entertained. This is the worst BBC Historical Drama I have seen, but still quite watchable(hard for anything to beat I,Claudius,Elizabeth R,Sharp,etc anyway).

For those others that gave LOTM such high ratings, I think nostalgia is the main reason not the merits of this series.

A commendable translation to the small screen of the novel - i am assured that it is a more faithful adaption than other tv series or movies - and i believe it - while i never read the novel - i had it at hand to check that the scenes were in order - they were - and much of the novel's dialog was inserted into the script

as an american indian - i was not bothered by the use of white actors in the indian roles - it was common in american tv shows too at the time - i doubt many american indians were strolling around Britain available for casting - and the pitiful budget for this production couldn't afford to import and provide for the real thing

originally the BBC series extended over 6 hours - in 8 episodes - which is more time than movies can afford - which allowed it to contain more of the novel - tho even then - it was condensed - but that's to the audience's advantage - only the really pertinent scenes remain

while much of the series is shot on small sets - and they were forced to use 10s of extras - they had one nice advantage - they were able to utilize the wild landscapes of Scotland - which stand in pretty well for the forests of the american east coast - and the dutiful costuming and makeup comes across even better than many american productions - which had a stereotypical look for indians

as could/should be expected from the BBC tv shows - they cast some lesser known yet highly skilled actors - for me - Kenneth Ives as the rangy & confident Hawkeye - and Philip Madoc as the dark & sinister Magua - were the most charismatic - but all performed at a high level

if only they had the budget to match the positive facets of this production

Fortunately, several of the Masterpiece Theater productions are slowly being re-released on DVD, which is allowing those of us who loved the various stories to revisit them. I remember seeing The Last of the Mohicans when it previously aired in 1971, and loved the story so much, I bought and read the paperback and subsequent Hawkeye stories.

This production closely follows the book, and compared with today's production, it may seem dated, since the indoor scenes are filmed in a studio. Today's younger crowd will not appreciate it, but they have to remember that budget was a major factor in what could be done. The producers wanted to lovingly tell the tale as it was written. Today's productions are hacked up and condensed to the point that sometimes the intent of the author is lost. Also, today's directors/producers spend most of the budget for filming on location, at the sacrifice of the plot.

So try and overlook the production qualities and enjoy the story, the way James Fenimore Cooper basically wrote it.