I was surprised by the overwhelmingly negative tone of reviews of this serial - even the one which was positive qualified the judgment with a 'for its time' proviso.
I thought the acting was fine, the cliffhangers acceptable, and the action pretty good. I've liked Harry Carey ever since seeing him as the sardonic Speaker of the House in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and he doesn't disappoint here. Cora and Alice have little to do other than look scared when the bad Indians are fighting their heroes. (I call this the 'Dale Arden' scenario - once you've seen the Flash Gordon serials, you'll understand how pathetically thin the writing for female leads was in those days - unless, off course, they were villains). The music teacher was a real laugh - especially when he remains completely unseen while taking out two Hurons with his slingshot at a critical point in the story.
All the native Amerindians were played by white actors, and their guttural deliveries and tendency to speak of themselves in the 3rd person {eg: Magwa says 'Magwa will not rest until Colonel Munro pays for what he did to Magwa!) was kinda dumb.
6/10 - a relatively high rating for a serial in my judgment.
The biggest failing was the lack of any clear resolution as to what happened to the real bad guy at the end. It's shown that he's fighting with the Sagamore, then the French bad guy shoots the good Mohican who falls. Then cut to his son hanging on over the edge of the cliff and off to the rescue of the ladies. And no clear resolving of what happened to Magwa!
I thought the acting was fine, the cliffhangers acceptable, and the action pretty good. I've liked Harry Carey ever since seeing him as the sardonic Speaker of the House in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and he doesn't disappoint here. Cora and Alice have little to do other than look scared when the bad Indians are fighting their heroes. (I call this the 'Dale Arden' scenario - once you've seen the Flash Gordon serials, you'll understand how pathetically thin the writing for female leads was in those days - unless, off course, they were villains). The music teacher was a real laugh - especially when he remains completely unseen while taking out two Hurons with his slingshot at a critical point in the story.
All the native Amerindians were played by white actors, and their guttural deliveries and tendency to speak of themselves in the 3rd person {eg: Magwa says 'Magwa will not rest until Colonel Munro pays for what he did to Magwa!) was kinda dumb.
6/10 - a relatively high rating for a serial in my judgment.
The biggest failing was the lack of any clear resolution as to what happened to the real bad guy at the end. It's shown that he's fighting with the Sagamore, then the French bad guy shoots the good Mohican who falls. Then cut to his son hanging on over the edge of the cliff and off to the rescue of the ladies. And no clear resolving of what happened to Magwa!