The Deerslayer

I always assoociate Kurt Neuman the director as a science fiction film maker, but no he also made something else besides KRONOS, ROCKETSHIP XM, THE FLY...He also offered us MOHAWK - close to this one - and some adventure movies such as WATUSI, some TARZAN films for RKO with Johnny Weissmuller, and westerns: KID FROM TEXAS, DESPERADOES ARE IN TOWN.... Only films noirs miss in his career, or very small ones which I have never seen. So, this one is a very agreeable adventure western flick with a Lex Barker very comfortable in this role which seemd to have been made for him. The only regret I have is to watch it in Pan and f...scan frame. Instead its genuine LBX. Painful.

The others contributing to the comments section on this 1957 film seem pre-occupied with the so-called Political Correctness and racism of today. One goes so far as to say that he can't understand how children of the 1950's could accept this as entertainment. Well, let me comment on the last thing first. This film was released in the UK in December, 1957, when I was ten and three quarters years of age. At that time, both myself and all my boyhood pals had recently gone through the Davy Crockett phase and subsequently, any movie set in Colonial America and having plenty of yipping injuns; frontiersmen and flintlock muskets and pistols was bound to be popular with us. In this respect and at that very different time, THE DEERSLAYER was bound to be popular with the juvenile audience it was aimed at. It also had beautiful, warm and sunlit scenery, spendidly photographed

in CinemaScope and Color by De Luxe and a memorable score by Paul Sawtell and Bert Shefter.

At the time, I thought this film was marvellous and very exciting, especially the Indian attack on the fort in the middle of the lake. Me and my pals had a new hero in The Deerslayer and incorporated him into our games of cowboys and Indians in which some of us would play the Hurons, mown down mercilessly by the musket fire of the other boys.

This may seem very strange now to younger readers of this site who can't remember the 1950's, but this was the way it was then. Throughout our childhood, we had been indoctrinated by the cinema into believing that what would now be considered racist ideas about native Americans were correct. They were represented as "squalling polecats" and "savages" and "heathens", not as people. Just as anonymous targets to be mown down. A hindrance and a thorn in the side of white settlers pushing the frontier Westward.

So this film is a product of its time and should not be judged by our modern standards. There had been the very isolated film like BROKEN ARROW, that gave a more accurate and sympathetic view of the American Indian, but for every BROKEN ARROW, there were a dozen films of the calibre of THE DEERSLAYER; THE GUNS OF FORT PETTICOAT and DRAGOON WELLS MASSACRE. I do not think that our ideas as children about Red Indians would have been considered racist in 1957, because we kids had never heard that word at that time. But I like to think that we've all grown up a lot in our knowledge and attitudes since then. After all, I realise now that the Indians were fighting for their land, which was being stolen from them by the whites and fighting to preserve their way of life. They had a right to fight back. Looked at today, THE DEERSLAYER may look corny and racist, but it was filmed in 1957, not 2003. For it's time, then, a rousing Boy's Own adventure that would have been popular with juveniles. Modern boys in the eight to thirteen age bracket, though, probably wouldn't like it.

Lex Barker hanging around with a Mohican, guys in Davy Crockett hats and two ridiculously beautiful women. Native Indians in canoes, all we needed was Hawaii 5-0 music.

The scenery with the cabin on the lake was stunning and to be honest, this is the best part of the movie.

It's not short on action, lots of gun fights, hand to hand combat and even a small cannon thrown in, some of it is not overly convincing but the movie is watchable and the decision to keep it short was sensible.

The acting such as when a guy got caught in a bear-trap is fairly basic and the whole thing, watching it now, is a little non-PC.

"The Deerslayer," much like the novel that came before it, is perhaps one of many politically INcorrect movies in America. Sure, the guy who wrote the book lived 150 years ago, but he had an excuse; he and the rest of the settlers were probably so busy trying to survive in unknown territory that they could afford to be completely ignorant of the fact that the Native Americans were people just like him. Civil Rights were the LEAST of their problems.

The people who made this horrible movie, however, have absolutely NO excuse for the crude, offensive portrayal of Native Americans. It seemed at first that they were *trying* to be politically correct (or PC, as I usually abbreviate it), but it sank to using terms like "savages" and kept the focus entirely on the white characters and the "good Indian."

Speaking of Indians, here's one of the many ***SPOILERS*** I warned you about; Hetty Hutter (played by the brilliant Rita Moreno) is NOT Judith's sister - Hetty is actually an Indian that the old guy took from a camp he would later set fire to (she was just a baby when this happened). I have two MAJOR problems with this. First of all, if the old guy hates Indians so much, WHY WOULD HE BOTHER TO TAKE ONE OF THEIR BABIES??? The movie says it's because he thought he could raise her to be "normal," and not like one of her "savage race," and by now we all should know that this is SO RACIST. At best, this establishes the old guy as a villain (though not THE villain). I found myself wanting him to die and I loathed the main character for wanting to save him, but the old guy's final death took so darn long, I couldn't enjoy it. Second, prior to the discovery of Hetty's true heritage, everyone thought she was just stupid (or crazy). The idiot screen-hog who plays Deerslayer tries to comfort her (she's *saddened* by this discovery) by making up some gibberish about Indians having some sort of 6th sense that's unique to their genes and that it's okay if she wasn't "one of us." I don't remember the exact wording - it came off sounding completely racist (more so than the old guy), and when I tried to think about it, the characters had moved on to the next problem.

And, not surprisingly, this movie's also UNBELIEVABLY SEXIST! Rita Moreno constantly looks like she wants to get in on some of the action, but the white male screen-hogs are the ones who get to do the fight-scenes. All Hetty gets to do action-wise is dive into a lake and carry a knife in the hopes of rescuing Judith - but Hetty gets captured, as all female leads before 1973 did. Poor Rita. I had hoped her character would get to be one of the heroes, too - but it turns out that all Hetty was there for was to;

1) look odd (or "exotic," as I've heard her be described),

2) add to the pathetic drama,

and

3) make Deerslayer LOOK like he's all for equal opportunity (when he's really just like the old racist guy).

Rita Moreno, one of my favorite actresses, persevered through a movie that both degraded and exploited her. I have to give her 8 stars for her bravery. However, as a staunch supporter of Civil rights, I cannot - in good conscience - give "The Deerslayer" more than one star.

In the wilderness of early Colonial days , mountain man Deerslayer (Lex Barker) and his Mohican blood-brother, Chingachgook (Carlos Rivas) get involved with trapper Tom Hutter (J. C. Flippen) who is living with his two contrasting daughters (Rita Moreno, Cathy O'Donnell who's in love for wanderer Forrest Tucker) on an isolated floating fort . Tom's one-man vengeance against Indians has brought the wrath of the Hurons down on him , thereby garnering the reluctant aid of wilderness hunter Deerslayer . Among adventures, violence and escapes , a batch of dirty and dark secrets emerges.. James Fenimore Cooper's Great Adventure Classic !. Last of the Great Mohicans...First of the Great Pioneers... Bravery, Loyalty and Wilderness Justice.

This is a thrilling film set in colonial America, with plenty of action , battles , violence , a love story , and including breathtaking outdoors . This peculiar B frontier western in 1950-style containing overwhelming adventures , intrigue , fights and romance . It's a quickie with lack luster and low budget but it manages to be at least an enjoyable adventure movie because containing action, sensational outdoors and outlandish thrills situations abound . The story is neither realistic nor ambitious, but sympathetic with good scenarios, costumes and gorgeous landscapes . Excellent action sequences with bloody attacks and spectacular as well as impressive fights. Charismatic performance for all casting . There are magnificently photographed scenes featuring forests, lakes , rivers and mountains . The reason why The Deerslayer holds up so well even today is that director Kurt Neumann invests his roles with dignity and strength. The sextet of starring actors : Lex Barker , Rita Moreno , Forrest Tucker , Cathy O'Donnell , Carlos Rivas are pretty well with special mention for Jay C. Flippen as the bigoted father.

The film displays a haunting and rich cinematography capturing flavor of colonial life by Karl Struss, Neumann's usual cameraman. The motion picture was nicely produced and directed by Kurt Neumann (The fly, Cronos , She-Devil , Tarzan and the leopard woman). German-born film director, a specialist in second features. Made the rounds of Hollywood studios, beginning with Universal , followed by RKO , Paramount and United Artists . From 1945 worked for Sol Lesser, in the dual capacity of director and co-producer, on the "Tarzan" franchise. Excelled in low-budget crime thrillers , westerns and science-fiction subjects, such as Rocket K-1 (1950) and The Fly (1958), arguably his most successful and best-known picture. This vigorous picture The Deerslayer (1957) obtained limited successful but results to be agreeable enough . It's a good stuff for young people and adventures lovers who enjoy enormously with the extraordinary dangers on the luxurious landscapes and marvelous Technicolor photography. Rating : 6/10, acceptable and passable . The flick will appeal to adventure and Western fan .