Last of the Mohicans (1920) - Clarence Brown and Maurice Tourneur)

Remade several times, for many people this remains the finest adaptation of James Fennimore Cooper's novel of the same name. This version is somewhat literal and is compelling in its own right. Some of the plot threads may seem to be used and reused several times over. The film may be noted today as the first picture to give Clarence Brown directorial credit. He was Tourneur's assistant at the time and when Tourneur fell ill, Brown took over the project, and Tourneur insisted he get credit even giving him top billing. Future leading man Wallace Beery plays a villainous Indian, but most of the remaining cast is somewhat indistinguishable. The story is easy to follow, thanks in part to the remakes, and fans of the Michael Mann version might not be able to sit through this one which is comparably much less action packed, but certainly has some worthwhile sequences for its time.