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.

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 considered one of the great silent films of all time. Hmmm… Yes, some of the photography is strong and NICELY restored, and a few scenes must've been absolutely gripping for the 1920 audience, but folks, this is NO "The Passion of Joan of Arc" (silent, 1928). The acting in "Mohicans" is SO melodramatic you MUST laugh at it! – many of the stereotypes are classically dopey – the continuity and visual logic often fall to pieces – the dialog is SO out of character for most of the speakers it's almost surreal (Did that Indian just quote Shakespeare?) – etc. It's no "greatest" film, but it has its moments, definitely. For someone interested in film, this should be on the list. For anyone else… I sort of doubt it.

Keeping the story-line close to that of the original novel, this is perhaps the best telling of the Cooper classic. Great photography, and what for the time, must have been considered "under-acting" maintain a timelessness to this version. It is interesting to see a somewhat slim Wallace Beery as the villain Magua. While the 1936 Randolph Scott version is good, this one is the best, much more so than the Daniel Day Lewis atrocity produced in the 90s!!!