Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Good concept, poorly executed.

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Director: MAURICE TOURNEUR. Associate director: Clarence Brown. Screenplay: Robert A. Dillon. Based on the 1826 novel by James Fenimore Cooper. Photographed in black-and-white by Philip R. Dubois and Charles Van Enger. Art director: Floyd Mueller. Producer: Maurice Tourneur. A Maurice Tourneur Production. Copyright by 16 November 1920 by Maurice Tourneur. Released through Associated Producers in the U.S.A. New York opening at the Strand: 2 January 1921. 77 minutes at sound speed (which is slightly too fast. At correct speed, film should run 85-90 minutes). SYNOPSIS: Betrayed by a cowardly officer, Fort William Henry falls to the French and their barbaric Indian allies. One traitorous Indian captures the colonel's two daughters, but is pursued by the eldest daughter's lover, Uncas, the last of the Mohicans. NOTES: First film version of the Cooper novel, a top money-maker worldwide.COMMENT: Handsomely realized on the grandest of scales, this superb presentation of the second Leatherstocking Tale is a grippingly suspenseful narrative from start to finish. Tourneur has directed in his usual, meticulously picturesque style, each frame both beautifully and dramatically composed. Making marvelous use both of outdoor locations and man-made sets, the picture constantly engages the eye as much as it grips the heart and the emotions. The use of white actors in Indian roles (which Hollywood was still doing even in 1999) was much criticized at the time of the film's release. Fortunately, we are now so used to this convention, that we can enjoy the film far more than contemporary critics. Wallace Beery, in fact, gives a typically villainous performance as the evil Magua. Opposite him, Barbara Bedford makes a feisty heroine, whilst solid support is offered by George Hackathorne as the cowardly Randolph. The only player I was a little unhappy with was Albert Roscoe, whom I thought a little stiff as Uncas. The photography (aided in the print under review by wonderful tinting) is a joy to behold. As stated, the budget is unstinting, the action scenes especially being staged on the most elaborate scale. The camera rarely moves, but when it does as in the rapid tracking shots during the massacre sequence, it is more than routinely effective. The novel has been translated to the screen with such admirable fidelity that its realism is too potent for children and adolescents.

Last of the Mohicans, The (1920) *** (out of 4) Early adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's novel doesn't have the best of stories and has more in common with The Birth of a Nation rather than the book but overall the film remained entertaining. The best moments happen at the end with a dazzling action sequence on a tall cliff that has to be seen to believed. Follow that up with a terrific knife fight with some beautiful locations makes this an easy film to recommend. But be forewarned that if you were offended by the Griffith film then you'll probably be even more outraged here. The cliff scene borrows a lot from the Griffith movie and some of the battle scenes do as well but with the white actors playing Indians with paint on them (which you can see melting in a few scenes) and some of the negative stereotypes some might find it offensive. Boris Karloff was an extra in this film but I wasn't able to spot him while watching.

Good retelling of the James Fenimore Cooper story thats a pretty fine spectacle. Focusing more on the relationship between Cora Munroe and Uncas as well as the treachery of Magua this is different enough from the 1992 Michael Mann version and other versions to be not a simple retread. Great looking with a wonderful sense of place this feels like up state New York and three hundred years back in a way that no other version has matched. A huge plus is the treachery of Magua. If you thought Wes Studi was evil, you have to see Wallace Beery who is as vile as they come (Hey he throws a woman's baby in the air and doesn't catch it). This is 70 minutes well spent.

This is truly a magnificent film. It goes way beyond nostalgia in its appeal - it is a sublime work of art. Maurice Tourneur, one of the most neglected geniuses of cinema, directed most of it but, after being injured on set, he gave the great Clarence Brown his first directing assignment. And it's easy to see where Brown learnt a lot of the visual stylings that he became so famous for. This film, in a gorgeously restored print with colour tints, is a visual treat - with its revolutionary use of shadows, changes of light, actors moving into the camera, extreme long shots and even a tracking shot. The camera was still pretty immobile in 1920, but through quick edits and superb shot composition, Tourneur creates a sense of movement.But you'll forget all the technical brilliance once the emotion of the story grabs you - and that will be in the massacre scene, which is one of the most horrifying sequences I have ever seen. And the film's finale on a cliff-top is awesome. Excellent performances from the 17 year old Barbara Bedford, in her film debut, and Alan (then Albert) Roscoe - as the inter-racial lovers. They create an eroticism together that'll have you panting - it's not surprising that the pair later married in real life. And Wallace Beery is menacingly evil as the man who comes between them.It's an astonishing picture politically too - very contemporary in its treatment of racial issues. The Native Americans, the English and the French are all portrayed as both good and bad - the massacre being blamed primarily on the French giving the Native Americans alcohol. And the inter-racial love is respected by the film-makers and most of the characters.Don't miss this one - it deserves a place with the great achievements of cinema.