In making his own version of the famous novel, Michael Mann paid tribute to Philip Dunne's adaptation for this one, saying he really knocked the book into shape. He did too, focusing the drama on the clash between Hawkeye and the Heyward, making the action flow logically, and creating believable romance.
I noted Mann made some changes - for instance, here the movie ends with Hawkeye and Heyward going to rescue Cora (both determined to die for her) and not the fight between Magua and Chingachook, and also here Heyward is allowed to live (so too is the colonel); this movie is a bit more sympathetic to that character and the British although the American-British tension is still shown. It also puts more emphasis on the Alice-Uncas romance.
It's a very exciting movie - I didn't expect to keep watching but I did. Randolph Scott is fine as Hawkeye (there's not much you can do about those fur caps), Binnie Barnes is bland as Cora but Herbert Wilcoxon is ideal as the stuffy Heyward, Robert Barrett and Heather Angel are likeable interracial lovers (as if they're going to be allowed to live) and Bruce Cabot a wonderful villain. Not particularly well directed - imagine if John Ford had been able to have a go - but great fun.
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