I saw Michael Mann's 1992 version of this film first, and I have also seen the silent version as well. Mann's is superior. This is a very "Hollywood" film (made in 1936). For example, the characters are overplayed, with the "indians" basically taken from seeing too many plains westerns. That noted, there are an abundance of exact quotes that Mann used in his film which are straight from this version. The reason why is both give credit to Philip Dunne's screenplay. Although Michael Mann had the last word in his film (of course), he gave credit where it was due to Pholip Dunne. The worst part of this film is Randolph Scott's demeanor and look. He could have walked straight off the set of "Daniel Boone", with his "coonskin cap" and leather coat. That noted, the disagreements, and many other scenes are identical to Mann's film. This film was overlooked, award wise, as was Michael Mann's; especially Daniel Day-Lewis' outstanding performance. He is the only male actor to win 3 Best Actor Oscars (Kathrun Hepburn won 4, and was nominated 14 times for "Best Actress". This is a must see if you liked the 1992 film. I caught it on TCM one evening.
Review of The Last of the Mohicans
