Volume II: Filmography

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS

James Cruze (Right) as Uncas dominates this still from Thanhouser's screen dramatization of James Feinmore Cooper's famous novel. (F-150)

November 10, 1911 (Friday)

Length: 1,000 feet

Character: Drama

Scenario: From the novel of the same name by James Fenimore Cooper

Cast: James Cruze (Uncas), Frank H. Crane, William Russell, Alphonse Ethier, Florence LaBadie (the elder sister), Dark Cloud (father of the last Mohican)

Location: Near Lake George, New York

Note: Dark Cloud, who played a role in the film, in real life was the son of an Algonquin chief.

BACKGROUND OF THE SCENARIO: James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851), sometimes called "the American Scott," was the first American novelist to win a lasting reputation. Like Scott he enjoyed an international vogue; both Dumas and Balzac were influenced by him. With The Spy (1821), The Pioneers (1823), and The Pilot (1824) he discovered for himself and his successors three great fictional worlds: history, the forests and the Indians who inhabited them, and the sea.

He was born in Burlington, New Jersey, but he is generally associated with Cooperstown, near Oswego Lake, in upper New York State, where his father, Judge William Cooper, was a landed proprietor. His early schooling was under an Episcopal clergyman, and he was always passionately devoted to Christian orthodoxy, his allegiance to which he expressed freely in his novels. He was expelled from Yale for a prank, served in the Navy, became a lawyer, and married Susan DeLancey, the daughter of a Loyalist family. In 1822 he moved to New York City, and from 1827 to 1833 he lived in Europe.

Cooper's idealism and his special skill in describing action impelled him in the direction of romanticism, but the main interests of his life were thoroughly practical, hard-headed, and realistic. A publicist and a good citizen, he was most interested in the novels like Satanstoe and Home as Found in which his social and political convictions were most fully expressed.

His most popular novels however are the "Leatherstocking Tales," of which Natty Bumppo (Deerslayer, Hawkeye, Leatherstocking, and Long Rifle) is the hero: The Deerslayer (1841), The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Pathfinder (1840), The Prairie (1827), and The Pioneers (1829). In the order in which they are named here, the first gives us Natty in his youth, the next two in his prime, and the last two in his old age, concluding with his death. It is the second which develops the drama of pursuit and escape that Cooper did so outstandingly well. Of all his work it is therefore the one best adapted to the cinema, the medium in which D.W. Griffith was to develop its suspense element with such overwhelming power and Mack Sennett and his "Keystone Kops" to burlesque it so delightfully that it became difficult for any later writers to match them on the printed page.

Though Cooper's background was aristocratic, he deserted the Federalists to become a Democrat, but he was never blind to the shortcomings and temptations that beset democracy; thrillingly alive to the social evils he saw springing up around him in America, he warned against them and labored valiantly to correct them. All his sympathies were agrarian, and, like Scott, he mistrusted the growing power of merchants and industrialists. Since he described the virgin continent of America as it was before selfish interests had gutted it as no other novelist was ever to do it, it was fitting that Natty Bumppo should be one of the pioneer American conservationists. The battle still being waged between the spoilers and the environmentalists is all implicit in his pages. (by Edward Wagenknecht for the present work)

ADVERTISEMENT, The Moving Picture World, October 28, 1911:

"'Tis too late, tis too late!' Hawkeye exclaimed, dropping the useless piece in disappointment, 'the miscreant has struck the rapid, and had we powder, it could hardly send the lead swifter than he now goes!' Does not this quotation from the novel give you a vivid picture of the manhunt across wild country? This is what the story is about. It is a chase of pursuit of malevolent Indians, who have in their power two helpless girls."

ADVERTISEMENT, The Moving Picture World, November 4, 1911:

"This Cooper novel has been declared 'the greatest Indian story ever written.' It is the story of Indian cunning, daring, ruthlessness, devotion, revengefulness, superstitions and reserve. It is the most vivid portrayal ever attempted of the 'classical' Indian in his own environments in the year 1757. The story revolves about two young women who, in an attempt to reach their father's station at a fort in the wilderness, are waylaid by a treacherous guide. A chase ensues for the rescue of these hapless girls in which the world famous Uncas and Hawkeye are the pathfinders. The unreeling of this story is punctuated with vistas of scenic beauty and convincing acting."

ARTICLE, The Billboard, October 21, 1911:

"James Cruze, the leading man in the Thanhouser Stock Company, plays the part of Uncas in the coming production of The Last of the Mohicans, from the novel by James Fenimore Cooper. Mr. Cruze is a quarter-breed Ute Indian and was born in the Uintah Indian Reservation near Vernal, Utah. His grandmother on his mother's side was burned at the stake for giving birth to a pair of twins. The Indians of the tribe considered this the performance of a witch and took those extreme measures to rid themselves of what they considered a malignant influence. The Last of the Mohicans will be released Friday, November 10th. The production will be remarkable for its scenic beauty and fidelity to the novel. All the scenes were laid out in the same places described in the novel. The whole cast worked in and around the Adirondacks and the lakes for a whole month."

ARTICLE, The Moving Picture News, October 21, 1911:

"Near Lake George - to be exact, several miles north, in the wilds of the Adirondacks - stands an old block house which is said to be more than 200 years old. This house is at present inhabited by a family of three - an old man of 95, his wife of 90, and a young son of 45, who, the mother says, is still too young to get married. The house was also inhabited by the father of the head of the family in possession now. The house stands in the locality described in James Fenimore Cooper's novel of The Last of the Mohicans. When the Thanhouser Stock Company sojourned for nearly a month in the region to get a true setting for the production of Cooper's novel, they came upon this interesting trio. The old man has never been in New York nor has his wife, but the 'young' son made the trip and speaks of his experience in the 'big city' with considerable awe. He informed his inquisitive guests that he sat up all night looking out of his hotel window watching the excitement and listening to the news of the 'Great White Way.'

"It was very hard to make the old man understand about motion pictures. He had never seen one in his life, and when it was explained to him that the Thanhouser players were at that very moment working on a moving picture production of Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans, he was beside himself with wondering incredulity. The son, however, had already been initiated. In fact, he was enthusiastic and offered to assist the Thanhouser outfit. He knew of a number of places which are said to be the exact spots to which Cooper alludes. Naturally, the Thanhouser players were glad to avail themselves of his good offices. He showed them scenes, and the natural beauty of which engendered a feeling akin to bewilderment. They were dazzled by this display of nature's splendor and beauty. The directors and cameramen eagerly went to work and staged amidst this scenic paradise a large portion of The Last of the Mohicans...."

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, November 4, 1911:

"During the French and Indian War, while America was still under the role of England, Colonel Munroe was the commander of Fort William Henry, in New York State. His two daughters arrived from England, and pushed their way into the wilderness determined to join their father. The last stage of their journey was made under the escort of a young army officer, Major Heyward, one of their father's most trusted officers, and who was deeply in love with Alice, the younger girl. Their guide was a treacherous Indian, who had planned to lure them into the wilderness, and make them captive. They were saved, however, by a chance meeting with a trapper and his two Indian companions, who were men of reputation throughout that wild region.

"The trapper, American born, lived with Indians all his life, and because of his skill with his rifle was known as Hawkeye. The Indians were the last of the tribe of Mohicans, but at one time ruled the country that is now New York City. But they had been driven back by the encroachments of the white men, and had made their homes in the then wild region around what is now Lake George. Through the aid of this trio, the little party of whites were lead toward the fort, but the treacherous guide escaped, and backed by the Huron Indians, a hostile tribe, followed and attacked them. During the attack the girls were captured, and carried off to the Hurons' village. Heyward and Hawkeye, disguised as a medicine man, and his trained bear, by skill and daring, managed to rescue the younger of the two girls, but the elder was still in the power of Maqua, their former guide. He was cornered at last with his fair captive, and an effort to rescue her, Uncas was killed. His death was avenged by the unerring rifle of Hawkeye. The old chief, the last of his tribe, mourned his dead, comforted by Hawkeye, who tells him, 'the gifts of our color may be different, but God has so placed us as to journey in the same path. I have no kin, and like you, no people. The boy has left us for a time, but, sagamore, you are not alone.'"

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, November 12, 1911:

"J. Fenimore Cooper's novel, The Last of the Mohicans, has a commendable presentation here in photoplay form. It follows the tale as closely as possible, relating of the journey of Colonel Munroe's daughters, under the protection of Major Heyward and the guidance of Magus [sic], the treacherous Indian, their capture by Hurons, the rescue of the youngest girl at first and the older later, and the death of Uncas through the aim of Hawk Eye. It is dramatically acted, staged amid the most appropriate surroundings of forest greenery, and easily worked out in its scenario."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, November 18, 1911:

"Cooper's famous novel is extremely well pictured on this film. The settings and backgrounds are on the actual scene in the story, near Lake George. The costumes were carefully chosen, and the players plainly took much pleasure in interpreting the different parts. As a consequence, we have our old friends, Hawkeye, with the Mohicans, father and son; the crafty Huron, 'LeGros Serpent;' the two daughters of the colonel, the brave major, all in the screen in this reel's length. It puts us back in the glorious time when we first read Cooper's gripping tales. How can such a film help being popular? It is very worthy and one can safely predict a fine success for it."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, November 15, 1911:

"This is proof conclusive that the Thanhouser company can produce an Indian story of the highest order. It is an exceptional production in many ways; first, above all, it has been treated as a motion picture and not as a series of events with titles, and the construction has been quite careful, bringing forth the story in a comparatively clear manner. The acting is also most vivid and brings new life to this famous old tale of Cooper, the atmosphere of which in the expression of Indian life, custom, and character as he presented it has been well realized, although liberties are taken with the story. Maqua is appointed as guard to bring the party containing the daughter of the commander of the fort through the wilderness to her father. He plays the traitor by pretending to be lost and thus brings about the capture of the two ladies by hostile Indians. The young major, however, manages to evade him and meets Hawkeye, the last of the Mohicans, with his son. They agree to help him. Disguised as a medicine man and a bear, they find the whereabouts of the daughter and rescue her by wrapping her in a blanket and carrying her past the Indians, who believe the medicine man is taking the sick one away to be cured. The other girl is also rescued from an Indian who would wed her. The old Indian's son is lost in the combat from Maqua's hand and the major avenges his death. The film has been made a very absorbing and picturesque one."

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