The Last of the Mohicans (1936)

Directed by George B. Seitz. Starring Randolph Scott, Henry Wilcoxon, Binnie Barnes, Hugh Buckler, Bruce Cabot, Robert Barrat, Phillip Reed, Heather Angel, William Stack, William V. Mong.

First full-length sound adaptation of the James Fenimore Cooper novel set during the French and Indian War (Seven Years War) where noble frontiersman and scout Hawkeye (Scott) aids British colonials against the French enemy and treacherous Huron Indian Magua (Cabot). Adequate rendering, although the dialogue is banal and the Native American component is the stuff of hoary clichés; production values and romantic adventure storytelling components are above average for the era. With the vastly superior 1992 version more readily available (which was based on the screenplay to this movie instead of Cooper’s virtually unreadable book), only completists and the curious need bother with this one. Fans of King Kong will recognize pieces of Max Steiner’s score mixed in with Max Webb’s original contributions.

62/100