The Last of the Mohicans

Filmed in the Scottish Highlands, this rendition of LOTM is the most faithful to the Cooper novel of all of them (and there have been many including the popular 1992 Hollywood version which was markedly different from the novel in many places). Perhaps the next most accurate LOTM is the 1920's B&W version - though not nearly as faithful as this Masterpiece Theater piece.

M/T originally presented in in their first year, 1971, as a series of 8 episodes of 45 minutes each and later had a non-M/T version of 13 episodes of about 30 minutes played by a few public TV stations in the mid-'70s. The main difference was the M/T version had an introduction (somewhat flawed as I recall) by Alastair Cooke.

The 13 episode version (same as M/T except for intro) does exist - we are watching it currently on DVD. The double Emmy award-winning producer of this '71 version (John McRae) says that the BBC destroyed the production masters in about the mid-'70s but he feels it was one of his best efforts and also says that it was nominated for the Emmy at the time (but didn't win).

I love BBC Historical Dramas, there historical accuracy is normally far greater than any other channel/studio. But the 1971 date shows, all the Indians are played by white actors with bad makeup and silly almost comical "Indian" accents. While the 1992 film version had many flaws, its portrayal of the natives was very well done(As well the time period in general). This miscasting is very distracting though out, Magua for example in the 92 film as played by Wes Studi was much better(than this version's) simply because his look was so convincing, he looked like a deadly Huron warrior while Philip Madoc looks like some dude in a silly Indian outfit going to a costume party. Beside the unrealistic Indians, all the sets are absurdly poor, for example Fort Henry is a joke. The poor hand to hand fighting scenes(which there are quite a few) are just as bad as the sets if not worse, clearly no one is being shot or cut or hurt in anyway. I understand that the budget for this production must have been limited(very limited), but that does not excuse the fact that the illusion is broken over and over again, we are constantly reminded that we are watching people play at being Indians,soldiers and scouts, not the real thing.

Even with all these flaws, I still found LOTM to be a solid production, as with any BBC production the writing was fairly good and I was reasonably entertained. This is the worst BBC Historical Drama I have seen, but still quite watchable(hard for anything to beat I,Claudius,Elizabeth R,Sharp,etc anyway).

For those others that gave LOTM such high ratings, I think nostalgia is the main reason not the merits of this series.

This adaptation of the Cooper classic had a tremendous impact upon me as a young boy. I saw it twice on "Masterpiece Theatre", and have since not seen it for thirty years. It was a sweepingly beautiful film, and the actors were absolutly compelling. It would be great to see this production released on video or DVD format.

I have read the Leatherstocking Tales several times over the years. This is my favorite book from that collection. I have seen several versions of this story adapted for film. This is by far the best. It follows the story line better than any other version. I grew up in the Lake George - Glens Falls area of New York where this story is set. I'm also a member of the Boy Scout of America Order of the Arrow. This story is part of my heritage. I first saw this film series in the early 1970's, broadcast on PBS (WMHT). I immediately found it to be enthralling. Unfortunately, it was in a time before home VCR's were available. If I had been able to, I would have saved it to view again in the future. I have been looking for it on VHS for several years. I hope that it will be released on DVD. I would certainly buy it and I would recommend it to everyone that I know.

I remember this miniseries on Masterpiece Theater during the early 70's . I was 11 or 12 yrs old. I have never seen it run again. Can someone tell me if it is available on VHS? I have a reel to reel tape of the chase seen where Hawkeye says "Chingachgook, lay an oar on the land and we will double on the dogs". There was a teriffic drum beat to this. I recall the indoor scenes being rather low budget. There was a lot of blood and cleavage.