Maurice Tourneur and Clarence Brown co-directed this version James Fenimore Cooper's classic tale of the American primeval forest, The Last Of The Mohicans. In it we have an opportunity to see Wallace Beery get first billing in a film, possibly for the first time as the villainous Magua.
Steeped in the tales of the French and Indian War growing up in the forest region of Upstate New York, Cooper knew his subject and his region well and created some unforgettable literary characters. He was also influenced by Rousseau's ideas of the 'noble savage' who the white man with his civilization had destroyed and continues to destroy. The American Indian was the perfect example for that theory.
Cooper also knew that the Indians, the Hurons here were in the pay of the French. The British too had their allies, the Iroquois Confederation were allied with them. In the end they all got used and abandoned.
As bad as Magua is it's also clear he's in the pay of one faction of the white man which is how I'm sure the Indians saw it back in the day. The noble savage is Uncas played here by Alan Roscoe, a truly magnificent tragic figure who is brought down by his love for one of the Munro sisters.
The Munro sisters Cora and Alice played by Barbara Bedford and Lillian Hall respectively are the daughters of Colonel in charge of Fort William Henry in the Adirondacks. Outnumbered and outgunned the British agree to a surrender to the French, but the Indians all liquored up go hog wild and start killing. Magua who had the Munro Sisters captive before has a thing for Alice who has fallen for Uncas.
Given the title you know it all is going to end badly for a lot of the cast members. That's all I can really say.
This version of The Last Of The Mohicans was filmed at Big Bear Lake and Yosemite National Park to create the primeval forest. Actually that area between the Hudson River and the Massachusetts/Vermont border is still pretty primeval. The cinematography is really outstanding, the best thing about this film.
This silent film after 90 years holds up very well as does Cooper's novel which is an immortal classic.
