I am delighted to see this again! I saw it on TV as a kid in 1971, and loved it! It is by far the best version. Unlike the popular 1992 film version, it sticks to the book in plot and characterisations, including some of the details about their backgrounds. Brilliant fun!
shareYou made me so curious!
I'm a little bit "fixed" upon that, but I would like to know if you remember Uncas played by Richard Warwick... I don't know the other actors but I read they were fine, too.
I hope it will edit also for Region 2 and possibly with subtitles... I fear that's hard to happen....
Yes, he's good, as are the others. (Philip Madoc's Magua was the memory that I had retained from childhood: an impressive performance.) I loved Duncan! And the girls are great: I recall having a crush on poor, brave, tragic Cora.
It doesn't have subtitles. Most DVD players are hackable to multi-region (I did mine when I got it), hence I was able to buy this online from Canada and play it here in the UK.
I’ve just managed to watch the first two episodes, and yes, it’s just as good as I remembered. (How many iconic TV dramas can you say that about, 36 years on? How many are even not-embarrassing?)
And God, it’s so much better than the 1992 version. Partly of course because a TV serial can just include so many more of the subtleties; in a cinema movie you’d have a job finding time to explain that yes, Duncan Hayward is Scottish but no, he was actually born and brought up in America; at the same time he doesn’t actually come from the Great Lakes area where the action takes place but from Virginia, so he isn’t really local either. And minor characters like Lieutenant Grant would probably have to be chopped out entirely.
But also because back in the 1972 film and TV directors didn’t seem to have this mania for altering historical or classical literary stories to “Make Them Relevant” or “Provide Contemporary Resonances”. They just told them to the best of their ability, which means that they are as relevant now as they were then. If that serial were to be made now, the details of the costume and the musket-drill might be improved, but I don’t believe anyone is capable of not tinkering with the story.
My other half’s comment:
”I really enjoyed this BBC production, and I’m looking forward to their next Fenimore Cooper serial.” – F Schubert, Vienna
(How many iconic TV dramas can you say that about, 36 years on? How many are even not-embarrassing?)
Not many. The historical ones tend to wear better because the costumes blunt visual datedness to some extent.
in a cinema movie you’d have a job finding time to explain that yes, Duncan Hayward is Scottish but no, he was actually born and brought up in America; at the same time he doesn’t actually come from the Great Lakes area where the action takes place but from Virginia, so he isn’t really local either.
Yes. Similarly with Cora's Afro-Caribbean maternal ancestry, and Grant's Jacobite parentage. (It was odd that the 1992 version completely ignored Cora's background, especially as it made her the female lead: one would have thought that would have increased her modern appeal.)
And minor characters like Lieutenant Grant would probably have to be chopped out entirely.
Yes. I don't think Grant or the psalmodist were in the cinema versions.
But also because back in 1971 film and TV directors didn’t seem to have this mania for altering historical or classical literary stories to “Make Them Relevant” or “Provide Contemporary Resonances”. They just told them to the best of their ability, which means that they are as relevant now as they were then. If that serial were to be made now, the details of the costume and the musket-drill might be improved, but I don’t believe anyone is capable of not tinkering with the story.
The old BBC classic serials were good because neither the scriptwriters who adapted them nor the directors presumed to think they could improve on stories that had stood the test of time and were still loved after over 100 years. If a story ain't broke, don't fix it.
The 1992 film version was based on the 1930s film version, rather than on the book, but went even further in demoting Duncan in order to make Hawkeye the romantic lead. I like him better as the philosophical old-timer of a woodsman that he is in this (as in the book).
My other half’s comment:
”I really enjoyed this BBC production, and I’m looking forward to their next Fenimore Cooper serial.” – F Schubert, Vienna
Mikhail Lermontov (another Cooper fan) probably agrees!
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Uncas may have been my first crush ... :). And even now, I still shudder whenever Philip Madoc's name is mentioned - he had that much of an effect on me. It was a great series - and the movie doesn't even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath.
shareYes, it was wonderful!
Seingner Conrat, tot per vostr'amor chan
http://www.silverwhistle.co.uk/knightlife
Saddened to see, though, since I've finally got hold of a copy of the DVD and been able to re-view some of it, that Richard Warwick, who played Uncas, died at the age of 52 :(
shareUncas may have been my first crush ... :).
I agree with you 100% about this being the best version of LOM. I was pretty excited when I heard about the Daniel Day Lewis movie, but almost walked out of the theater during the middle of it. I was SO DISGUSTED by the changes in the movie from the book. How can you kill people who lived in the book and keep characters alive who died in the book?! How can you dare think you can "improve" on James Fenimore Cooper's writing?!?!?
I remember this version from Masterpiece Theater and looked for it periodically over the years. I found it on PBS site... am looking forward to watching it again.
M
It's great! I was delighted to find it!
shareOf course this version is better! *merk* the only thing I completely liked about the 1992 movie is the music (I made a video using that but with clips from the 1971 version --> http://youtube.com/watch?v=MYhQl_yCWu8), but for pitys sake, they even get the romances wrong! Sorry, but Duncan loved the other sister, and one of the most beautiful parts of the story is the subtle love between Uncas and Cora.
shareI haven't seen this excellent version since it was originally aired on M/T, then repeated a few years later on PBS. Nearly 40 years later, I remember vividly how riveting the whole series was. I counted the seconds until 9 pm every Sunday night while LOTM aired. I wept at the ending. As soon as the series ended, I raced out and bought the Leather-Stocking Tales, which I devoured in two sittings. Masterpiece Theatre inspired a whole generation of readers. My family all read voraciously, and we always watched M/T together, then discussed the productions afterward.
If only the BBC still created such quality programs on such a consistent basis. I'm so tired of these reworked, dumbed down versions of the classics, as well as history. I miss those respectful writers, directors and performers of my youth.
Put puppy mills out of business: never buy dogs from pet shops!
I too saw it as a kid and thought it was great, but was terribly disappointed in the the way the story turned out. I desperately wanted Cora and Hawkeye to get together and was horrified by the ending.
Yes, this version is a true and excellent version of the book, but I'm a sap for romance, so I love the Daniel Day Lewis version, as inaccurate to Fennimore Cooper's version it is, sorry.