Settlers are flooding into Arkansas from the East, and the region is about to be hit with gold fever.
That’s because an Indian stops by the saloon in Marble City and offers to pay for his glass of whiskey with large gold nuggets.
He winds up dead; the map to the gold winds up in the pocket of a cowboy named Foster. Before long, he’s dead too.
Meanwhile, the settlers — including the Brendel family — have taken to mining. And watching whites encroach on their land once more, the Indians have taken to the warpath.
Phil Stone (Brad Harris) and friend Dan McCormick (Horst Frank) are looking for the man who killed Phil’s father.
But they’ll take time out to try to protect the wagon train and try to get to the bottom of the mischief in nearby Marble City, especially since that might lead them to the man they’re seeking.
Who’s behind that mischief? A saloon owner named Matt Ellis (Mario Adorf) and his band of henchmen, including dastardly Jim Donavan.
Heck, Ellis has even lured pretty Jane Brendel (Dorothee Parker) into working for him as a saloon girl while her pretty blonde sister Mary (Olga Schoberova) finds herself falling for Stone.
The family’s going to need help from Stone and his friend. The girls’ mom is killed in an Indian attack. And that gold map lands in the hands of their brother Erik.
Brad Harris as Phil Stone shares news of his father’s murder with friend Dan McCormick in Massacre at Marble City (1964)
Horst Frank as Dan McCormick finds a key piece of evidence in the death of Phil Stone’s father in Massacre at Marble City (1964)
Review:
Well, you certainly can’t say this film isn’t packed with large-scale action sequences. The Indians launch all-out attacks on a wagon train, a mining settlement and, finally, on Marble City.
The latter takes place after the town has already been partly destroyed in a showdown between Ellis and his henchmen and Stone and the men who hope to restore peace to the region.
During that climax, Harris makes a daring rescue of Mary’s sister Jane from a burning saloon. The scene has to match any of Harris’s heroics from the sword and sandal films that preceeded his Spaghetti phase.
There’s also a memorable scene of Ellis, alone, standing upright while driving a buggy, trying to outrun an entire tribe of vengeance-seeking Indians.
And as Phil Stone’s best friend, Frank Horst gets to play a good guy for a change. And Ralf Wolter from the Winnetou films is on hand to provide a bit of comic relief.
Mario Adorf as Matt Ellis and saloon singer Ilona (Fulvia Franco) arrive in Marble City in Massacre at Marble City (1964)
Philippe Lamaire as Jim Donavan, one of Matt Ellis’s henchmen in Massacre at Marble City (1964)
Directed by:
Paul Martin
Cast:
Brad Harris … Phil Stone
Horst Frank … Dan McCormick
Ralf Wolter … Tim Fletcher
Mario Adorf … Matt Ellis
Dorothee Parker … Jane Brendel
Olga Schoberova … Mary Brendel
Dieter Borsche … Pastor Benson
Thomas Alder … Erik Brendel
Serge Marquand … Fielding
Marianna Hoppe … Mrs. Brendel
Philippe Lamaire … Jim Donavan
Joseph Egger … Fishbury
Fulvia Franco … Ilona
Vojislaw Govedarcia … Big Wolf
as Voyo Goric
Anthony Steel … Lopez
Jan Divis … Chief Burning Arrow
aka:
Die Goldsucher von Arkansas
Alla conquista dell’Arkansas
Conquerors of Arkansas
Music: Heinz Gietz (German version)
Francesco De Masi (Italian version)
Jan Divis as Chief Burning Arrow, issuing a warning to the settlers in Massacre at Marble City (1964)
Ralf Wolter as Tim Fletcher, sharing an Indian warning with the settlers in Massacre at Marble City (1964)
Memorable lines:
Sorry, I watched a French language version of the film without subtitles.
Foster, the first white to find the gold, with Pastor Benson (Dieter Borsche) in Massacre at Marble City (1964)
Jaroslav Rozsíval as Sheriff Anderson informing Matt Ellis that one of his men has been accused of murder in Massacre at Marble City (1964)
Trivia:
* Olga Schoberova was the first woman from Czechoslovakia to appear in Playboy. She graced the March 1964 cover, which promises a glimpse of lovely gals from Russia and other countries behind the Iron Curtain.
* Married to Brad Harris from 1967-1969, she also starred with his in “Black Eagle of Sante Fe” (1965) and appeared in the 1964 Czechoslovakian musical Western “Lemonade Joe.”
* The top-billed female here though is Dorothee Parker, who played Olga’s sister in the film. This turned out to be Parker’s final movie; she also appeared in 1963’s “Pirates of the Mississippi,” a Western that also starred Brad Harris and Horst Frank.
Thomas Alder as Erik Brendel finds a man to a fortune in gold in Massacre at Marble City (1964)
Dorothee Parker as Jane Brendel, realizing she’s made a mistake taking a job as saloon girl for Matt Ellis in Massacre at Marble City (1964)
Brad Harris as Phil Stone and Olga Schoverova as Mary Brendel in Massacre at Marble City (1964)
Serge Marquand as Fielding welcomes gambler Matt Ellis to Marble City in Massacre at Marble City (1964)
The Brendel family (from left), Mary (Olga Schoverova), Jane (Dorothree Parker), Erik (Thomas Alder) and Mrs. Brendel (Marianna Hoppe) head west in Massacre at Marble City (1964)
Dieter Borsche as Pastor Benson, doing some less than godly snooping in Massacre at Marble City (1964)
Olga Schoverova as Mary Brendel, Brad Harris as Phil Stone and Horst Frank as Dan McCormick with the wagon train under attack in Massacre at Marble City (1964)
Thomas Aldeer as Erik Brendel and Marianna Hoppe as Mrs. Brendel, taking cover during an Indian attack in Massacre at Marble City (1964)
Brad Harris as Phil Stone and Horst Frank as Dan McCormick, watching the Indians withdraw in Massacre at Marble City (1964)
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