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(More customer reviews)Based on James Fennimore Cooper's characters, "Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans" was an adventure series set on the American frontier of the 1750s, which, at the time, meant upstate New York. The titular characters Nat `Hawkeye' Cutler and his Indian blood brother, Chingachgook, the last living member of the Mohican tribe, fight the French, their ruthless Huron Indian allies and various frontier criminal elements while trying to maintain peace between the Americans establishing new settlements in the wilderness and peaceful Indian tribes living in the area.
Hawkeye was played by John Hart, a handsome, athletic, if somewhat bland actor most famous today for stepping into "The Lone Ranger" role when Clayton Moore left the show for a season in a contract dispute. Lon Chaney Jr. might seem a strange choice to play Hawkeye's Indian friend and partner, but the burly actor is actually quite good in the role and Chaney seems to be having a blast playing the character. The last 38 episodes of the series were shot in Ontario, Canada and provide a realistic, rustic backdrop to the proceedings.
The series' outstanding pilot episode was shot in Hollywood with a excellent production values and many top-drawer character actors, such as Michael Ansara and Stacy Harris, filling the cast. Unfortunately, the pilot's promise was not fulfilled in subsequent episodes. Sam Newfield directed all of the remaining episodes with little panache. Newfield directed some of the best "Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion" shows, so he was perfectly capable of providing exciting entertainment on a limited budget, but the grind of producing so many programs week in and week out seems to have had a detrimental effect on his performance. Likewise, the scripts lack the polish and even the wit of similar juvenile adventure series. Finally the subordinate actors don't measure up to those cast in other 1950s programs. One contemporary critic stated that the guest stars seemed to be trying to project to patrons in the third balcony rather than play to the camera. This isn't to say that the shows are without merit; just that other Timeless Media video releases of 1950s adventure series provide superior entertainment. The ten episodes included with DVD set are:
1.01 Hawkeye's Homecoming (guest starring Michael Ansara and Stacy Harris)
1.02 The Threat (John Paris and Lloyd Chester)
1.05 The Delaware Hoax (Bill Walker and Powys Thomas)
1.09 The Medicine Man (Dickson Kerwin and Frederick Euringer)
1.11 The Search (Larry Solway and Marjorie Pulvey)
1.12 Snake Tattoo (Daryl Masters and Bonar Stuart)
1.13 False Witness (Rodney Bunker and Bill Walsh)
1.15 The Scapegoat (Jonathan White and James Doohan)
1.16 The Way Station (James Doohan and Rex Devlin)
1.19 The Promised Valley (Bill Walsh and Larry O'Connor)
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