Title: Lugosi as Chingachgook
Product review: Bela Lugosi's Chingachgook flashes past but is the best thing in this confused telling of James Fenimore Cooper. Filmed in 1920 in Germany as two features, mashed down to this one-hour cut for 1923 US release. Competently made and occasionally pretty. Brutal abridgement means film often flirts with incoherence, and Emil Mamelok plays Hawkeye like a stolid German burgher. Much energetic canoeing. Lugosi's role is largely cut, but he shines when onscreen. This edition offers a soft 16mm print, ungainly intertitles and no extra features. Essential for Lugosi completists, not without interest for students of early German film, otherwise pass.
Would you say this review depicts the product in a flattering or unflattering light?
