Auf Winnetous Spuren

George Montgomery and Brenda Marshall star in The Iroquois Trail which is taken and a quite watered down version of James Fenimore Cooper's Last Of The Mohicans. But Cooper fans will not see any of Cooper's ideas about the American Indian as noble savage here not his more daring theme of his time about interracial love. George Montgomery as Hawkeye and his faithful Indian companion Monte Blue are little more than a colonial version of The Lone Ranger and Tonto.

That being said there is a lot of action to satisfy any action film fan in this story set during the French and Indian War. Montgomery and Blue are on the trail of two traitorous skunks who shot his younger brother Don Garner who was riding dispatch for British commander Sir William Johnson played here by Paul Cavanaugh.

This was Brenda Marshall's last feature film as she settled into the role of being Mrs. William Holden raising their sons.

Sheldon Leonard is barely recognizable with shaved head and dialog that is Hollywood monosyllabic for Indian characters. In this case the better not to get his most urban speech pattern.

If you're an action fan you'll like this. But lovers of James Fenimore Cooper beware.

Hawkeye, an American scout, helps the British side in the French and Indian War, aided by his Indian blood brother Sagamore.

This is one of Phil Karlson's early westerns, and as expected it's a nifty piece of work that balance politics, drama and action adeptly. The location is utilised greatly in this colonial adventure. The camera is great, zooming in close to the face and the violence is gritty. It's an entertaining film with a grand finale, a canoe chase and rousing knife fight between Hawkeye and the main villain. George Montgomery make a great Hawkeye and Brenda Marshall sizzles as his lady love.

I saw this film courtesy of Youtube and was quite impressed. Considering the presumably-small budget it compares well with other versions of "The Last of the Mohicans". It is pared down a bit: Hawkeye only has one Indian sidekick and there's only one daughter at risk from the rapacious Native Americans.

But the plot flows along nicely, the scenes of the besieged fort are adequate and a river chase with canoes is good.

But it did defy credulity that the daughter, "Marion Thorne", was allowed to try to get to the fort from comparative safety through hostile country escorted by one supposedly-trusted Indian, a British officer and a frontiersman and another Indian, the last two being unknown quantities to the British general.

In the version that I saw, there was a jump between the French commander Montcalm announcing that he would offer the British a truce and his men occupying the fort; the first that I knew that a truce had actually been agreed and implemented was when the Indians attacked the fort and overpowered the French guards.

Although set during the French and Indian War, this suspenceful, fast and violent film is fuelled by strick Film Noir. An innocent man falls deeper into a web of deceit and danger trying to prove his innocence. Director Phil Karlson weaves his powerful style of disturbing close ups, unique twists and turns, unflinching / sudden violence and claustrophobic realism with charactors from James Fennimore Cooper's "Last of the Mohicans". Colorful performances all around particularly from film heavy Sheldon Leonard as a rather sinister Native American Indian. Contains the magical quality that compels you to watch it every six months or so.

I recently discovered this movie, which is based on the James Fenimore Cooper novel, "The Last of the Mohicans", and stars George Montgomery as Nat Cutler (the "Hawkeye" role). The story takes place along the St Lawrence River and in Albany, in the first years of the French and Indian War and depicts the siege of Ft. William Henry at Lake George.

There's a lot going on, as Nat tries to clear his murdered brother's name (he was an army officer, falsely accused of being a traitor), while Ogane, (Sheldon Leonard) the Huron native posing as a Mohawk scout for the British, is responsible for his death and working for the French. (Because of this, an important dispatch, requesting help from Fort Williams for the Crown Point outpost was not delivered and the British lost Crown Point to the French.) Nat is being helped by Chief Sagamore (Monte Blue), a Delaware native, and they enlist as scouts at Fort William, and act as escorts for Captain West (Glenn Langan), who needs to deliver important dispatches for Col. Thorne (Paul Cavanagh) and for the Colonel's daughter, Marion (Brenda Marshall).

As the story progresses, Nat and Marion fall in love, much to the chagrin of Captain West, who has been paying court to her for quite some time. She has another (very unwelcome) suitor, when Ogave decides he wants her for his wife, despite her being one of the Anglo-Americans he despises. This leads to quite a battle between him and Nat. Also, it must be discovered who the spy is, that's supplying information to French General Montcalm. Meanwhile, both Nat and Sagamore are charged with insubordination.

A lot goes on in this short film. It's worth watching/