Treasure of Silver Lake (1962)

Herbert Lom is Col. Brinkley, a bandit who wants the hidden gold at Silver Lake and thinks he might finally have the key to finding it.

He and his men have ambushed a stagecoach, killing a passenger named Engel and stealing his half of the treasure map.

Now they merely need to find the other half. They believe it’s in the hands of Engel’s son Fred (George Gotz), his girlfriend Ellen Patterson (Karin Dor) or her father (Jan Sid).

Meanwhile, Winnetou (Pierre Brice) and Old Shatterhand (Lex Barker) have stumbled upon the outlaw’s tracks and realize something evil is afoot.

When Fred vows to avenge his father’s death and mistakes Old Shatterhand for a suspect … well, they quickly learn about the greed that’s causing the trouble.

The next problem: Keeping Patterson and his pretty dark-haired daughter from falling into the bandits’ trap. And, if they succeed in doing that, finding the treasure before Brinkley and his legion of henchmen.

Review:

This was the first Winnetou film released based on the popular German fiction writings Karl May. And it was such a tremendous success that it spawned 10 more films of the ilk over the next six years.

It’s easy to see why the film was a hit. It’s a lovely looking film, featuring unique Croatian settings. And it’s a fanciful tale, full of action.

For instance, there’s a large-scale attack on stockaded settlement. At one point, Old Shatterhand and his friends are surrounded inside a massacred Indian village.

Plus there’s a treasure hunt, a climatic showdown amongst waterfalls and cliffs and a surprise twist at the end.

As for the fanciful West created here, just check out some of those costumes. And our cast includes an Englishmen chasing butterflies and a man dubbed the Prairie Poet.

Unfortunately, few of the subsequent films would be quite as memorable, and much of what seemed fresh here — including a hand-to-hand combat segment — would become cliche for the series long before the final film was made.

Directed by:
Harold Reinl

Cast:
Lex Barker … Old Shatterhand /
Herbert Lom … Col. Brinkley
Pierre Brice … Winnetou
Gotz George … Fred Engel
Karin Dor … Ellen Patterson
Ralf Wolter … Sam Hawkens
Eddi Arent … Lord Castlepool
Marianne Hoppe … Mrs. Butler
Mirko Boman … Uncle Gunstick
Jan Sid … Patterson
Jozo Kovaccevic … Great Bear
Slobodan Dimitrijevic … Rolling Thunder
Branko Spoljef … Doc Jefferson Hartley
Milivoj Stojanovic … Knox
Velemer Hill … Woodward
Ilija Ivezic … Holton
Sime Jagarinac … Osage chief
Antun Nalis … Bruns
Vladimir Medar … Bartender

Runtime: 111 min.

aka:
Der Schatz im Silbersee

Music: Martin Böttcher

Memorable lines:

Sam Hawkens, spotting Old Shatterhand: “Haven’t you got eyes to see this ain’t no Trapp? Just look at that horse and them two shootin’ irons. If that isn’t the bear killer and his huntin’ guns, I’ll eat my own scalp with corn syrup for breakfast.”

Old Shatterhand to Fred Engel: “No, friend, you can’t buy me. But for the sake of justice, I’ll help you.”

Uncle Gunsmith, as a rider approaches: “He’s carrying a flag of truce; He’s offering us terms, I deduce.”
Sam Hawkens: “Or he’s waving his shirt in the breeze for it to dry.”

Fred Engel: “I used to believe in fairytales once — that the good got rewarded and the bad were punished. It doesn’t work like that. It’s the good who suffer.”

Trivia:

Karl May, born in 1842, wrote the “Winnetou” stories without ever visiting the West. He published his first Winnetou story in 1875 and also wrote adventures set in the Orient. In fact, Kara Ben Nemsi, his German adventurer in the Orient, was more popular than Winnetou during May’s lifetime. May eventually visited the Orient and the U.S., traveling as far West as Niagra Falls. He died in 1912 and more than 200 million copies of his books have been printed.

Lex Barker was reportedly reluctant when first offered a role in a German-made Western. He was apparently convinced to take the role by Irene Labhart, the fourth of his five wives. The former Tarzan went on to appear in seven Winnetou films.

In interviews, Pierre Brice said he hadn’t read the Karl May books when first offered the role of Winnetou. He was born and raised in France, where the books hadn’t gained popularity. And he was reluctant to accept the part of Winnetou because he considered the role of Old Surehand more interesting. But his Paris agent, Olga Horstig, convinced him Winnetou would lead to a great career in Germany.

Karin Dor was married to director, screenwriter Harald Reinl from 1954 to 1968 and played the female lead in three Winnetou films, more than any other actress, including the first and the last in the series. Reinl had directed Dor in her first film “Rosen-Resli” (1954) when she was 17.