Desperado Trail (1965)

Winnetou and his fellow Apaches are trying to live in peace, but it’s proving difficult. Whites are sneaking onto their land to attack their buffalo herd, even when they’re not hungry, and stirring up unrest as a result.

The bigger problem is back in Sante Fe and neighboring Clifton, where a man name Vermeulen with a henchman named Rollins are plotting to get the oil-rich land of the Apache by prodding them into war with the Jicarillos.

And they’ll stop at nothing to do it, plying Jicarillos Chief White Buffalo with booze and providing his tribe with guns to help them fight their Indian rivals.

Sensing trouble is afoot, Winnetou (Pierre Brice) and Old Shatterhand (Lex Barker) head to Sante Fe. After meeting with the governor, they agree to try to find out who’s behind all the plotting.

From that point on, Rollins and his men are out to get Winnetou and Shatterhand. And when ambush after ambush fails, they kill White Buffalo’s son and frame Winnetou as the guilty party.

Review:

Nice looking piece of fluff you certainly won’t use to teach any history lessons about Indians in the southwestern U.S. Unfortunately, it lacks any of the twists and turns that makes a good European Western stand out.

We do get plenty of action and Shatterhand and Winnetou showing the invincibility of super heroes through most of the film. And there’s an interesting scene in which Rollins’ men are trying to float down a river to reach the Apache camp. Until the Apache use fire arrows to set the river ablaze.

This was the fifth outing for Winnetou with Old Shatterhand by his side. And even though he dies near the end of the film, it wouldn’t be the last Winnetou film.

Directed by:
Harald Reinl

Cast:
Lex Barker … Old Shatterhand
Pierre Brice … Winnetou
Rik Battaglia … Rollins
Ralf Wolter … Sam Hawkens
Carl Lange … Governor
Miha Baloh … Gomez
Dusan Antonijevic … White Buffalo
Aleksandar Gavric … Kid
Ilija Ivezic … Clark
Veljko Maricic … Vermeulen
Slobodan Dimitrijevic … Quick Panther
Sophie Hardy … Ann

Runtime: 93 min.

aka:
Winnetou: The Last Shot
Winnetou 3

Memorable lines:

Winnetou: “Your church bells speak to Winnetou, and he understands them.”
Old Shatterhand: “He understands them?”
Winnetou: “They say, ‘Love all that is good. And hate all that is evil.'”

Rollins, of the ambush of Winnetou: “If this thing works, he’ll break his neck. If it doesn’t, we’ll help him.”

Sam Hawkens to Ann: “Remember this one, daughter: If a crook gets a message, it’s gotta be a crooked message. See?”

Rollins to his men: “Now ride the guts out of your horses.”

Trivia:

Rik Battaglia plays Rollins, the villain who fires the bullet that kills Winnetou. In a review of this film on the Spaghetti Western database, Simon Gelten reports that Battaglia was booed at the film’s premiere over the ruthless deed and that fans complained to him for years about his role in the death of Winnetou.

Sophie Hardy plays a saloon girl being harassed by Rollins’ right-hand man before Sam Hawkens rushes to her defense. This marked her only Western in about 20 film credits. And she does not have a romance with Lex Barker’s character, as some posters for the film would seem to suggest.

Pierre Brice said he expected to be free to play other characters after Winnetou’s death in “Last of the Renegades.” Instead, the Winnetou films were so popular, more were planned and his character revived. He wound up appearing in all 11 Winnetou films made in the 1960s.

Which of his other cast mates could have been Winnetou’s blood brother? In an interview, Pierre Brice pointed to Rik Battaglia, the villain responsible for his character’s death in this film. “Precisely because he was very critical, we understood each other well. He also knew how to celebrate. His love of life was contagious.”

Ralf Wolter as Sam Hawkens with Sophie Hardy as Ann in Desperado Trail (1965)

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