The Deerslayer
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Kurt Neumann
Lex Barker
Rita Moreno
Forrest Tucker
Cathy O'donnell
Jay C. Flippen
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
After The Deerslayer, a white man reared by the Mohicans, and his blood brother Chingachgook, a Mohican chief, save trader Harry Marsh from the hostile Huron Indians, they learn that the Hurons will attack Old Tom Hutter and his two daughters, Hetty and Judith, who live on a floating raft fort on the river. Judith longs to run away to Albany with the burly Marsh, but her stern father insists that she and her strange, untamed sister Hetty remain with him. The Deerslayer and Chingachgook decide to help the beleaguered family, but soon learn that Hutter hates the Indians because they scalped his wife years before and has since devoted his life to collecting Indian scalps. The Hurons are determined to retrieve the scalps of their dead so that their souls may rest in peace. On a scouting mission, The Deerslayer and Chingachgook discover the Hurons are forming a canoeing party to attack the fort. They are trapped when they attempt to smash the canoes, but are rescued by Marsh and Hutter, who kill and scalp two of the Hurons. Later, the Hurons attack, and Hutter is captured by the Indians. Marsh wants to take Hutter's gold and scalps, but The Deerslayer decides to use the scalps to bargain for Hutter's release. Meanwhile, from a notation in Hutter's Bible, The Deerslayer learns that Hetty is an Indian whom Hutter stole and reared as his own daughter. Unaware that the conniving Marsh has stolen the scalps from his pouch and intends to sell them, The Deerslayer meets with the Hurons, who agree to the trade. Upon discovering that Marsh has stolen the scalps, Hetty swims to shore to warn The Deerslayer and Chingachgook, and feeling betrayed, Judith denouces Marsh and runs away from him. When the Hurons discover that the scalps are missing, they take The Deerslayer, Chingachgook, Hetty and Judith captive. Crazed, Hutter breaks his bonds and attacks his captors, and is killed in combat. In the chaos, The Deerslayer, Chingachgook, Hetty and Judith flee into the woods to fend off their attackers. Just as they run out of ammunition, Marsh comes to their rescue, firing a cannon that he hauled from Hutter's fort. Judith then accompanies Marsh back to Albany, while The Deerslayer, Chingachgook and Hetty return to the Mohicans.
Director
Kurt Neumann
Cast
Lex Barker
Rita Moreno
Forrest Tucker
Cathy O'donnell
Jay C. Flippen
Carlos Rivas
John Halloran
Joseph Vitale
Rocky Shahan
Phil Schumacher
George Robotham
Carol Henry
Crew
Fay Babcock
Stephen Bass
E. J. Baumgarten
Jodie Copelan
Nadine Danks
Max Goldman
George Herrington
Louis Hippe
Theobold Holsopple
Clarence J. Marks
H. E. Mendelson
Herbert Mendelson
Kurt Neumann
Kurt Neumann
Neva Rames
Paul Sawtell
Walter M. Scott
Bert Shefter
Karl Struss
Carroll Young
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The title card for this film reads "James Fenimore Cooper's The Deerslayer." According to a May 1957 Hollywood Reporter news item, portions of the film were shot on location at Bass Lake in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Northern California. For information on other film versions of Cooper's novel, see the entry for the 1943 Republic film Deerslayer in AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1941-50.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Fall September 1957
Remake of the 1943 version, directed by Lew Landers.
CinemaScope
Released in United States Fall September 1957
