I always pictured Randolph Scott as a really rustic type, like Gabby Hayes or Chill Wills. He's actually very good looking and sophisticated with the ladies, more like Errol Flynn than John Wayne!
There are a lot of good things about this version of the classic story. Alice and Cora are more playful and more talkative than they are in the 1992 version. They're more like Carole Lombard in MY MAN GODFREY! The only problem is, in this scavenger hunt the prize is their scalps.
Bruce Cabot is great as Magua, but he's still not as good as Wes Studi in the 1992 version. Magua is better played by an older actor who can depict the rage that is building up over a period of years. Bruce Cabot just comes across as full of energy and ambition, without any real personal sense of injury.
But the main problem with this old fashioned version is way everything is shot in daylight, and the woods never seem menacing, and the music sounds downright silly. The 1992 version actually feels "older," if not timeless, because so much of the story is told by music and by images, and by looks rather than words.
There are a lot of good things about this version of the classic story. Alice and Cora are more playful and more talkative than they are in the 1992 version. They're more like Carole Lombard in MY MAN GODFREY! The only problem is, in this scavenger hunt the prize is their scalps.
Bruce Cabot is great as Magua, but he's still not as good as Wes Studi in the 1992 version. Magua is better played by an older actor who can depict the rage that is building up over a period of years. Bruce Cabot just comes across as full of energy and ambition, without any real personal sense of injury.
But the main problem with this old fashioned version is way everything is shot in daylight, and the woods never seem menacing, and the music sounds downright silly. The 1992 version actually feels "older," if not timeless, because so much of the story is told by music and by images, and by looks rather than words.