The Oil Prince (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The oilprince |
| Original title | The oil prince / Kralj petroleja |
 | |
| Country of production | Federal Republic of Germany , Yugoslavia |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1965 |
| length | 91 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Harald Philipp |
| script |
Fred Denger , Harald Philipp with the dramaturgical assistance of Manfred Barthel from the Karl May film book by Michael Petzel |
| production |
Preben Philipsen (production) and Horst Wendlandt (overall management) for Rialto Film Preben Philipsen, Berlin Ivo Vrhoveć for Jadran-Film, Zagreb |
| music | Martin Böttcher |
| camera | Heinz Hölscher |
| cut | Hermann Haller |
| occupation | |
| |
The Oil Prince is a movie based on motifs from the book of the same name by Karl May ( Karl May Film ). The premiere took place on August 25, 1965 in the Mathäser -Filmpalast, Munich .
In addition to “ Schut ”, “Der Ölprinz” is the only Karl May film in which the title character is a villain . For the second time Stewart Granger plays the Old Surehand , different from the novel in which Old Shatterhand takes the lead role. Martin Böttcher again composed atmospheric music.
action
The bandit "Oil Prince" wants to sell the banker Duncan a fake oil well. However, a trek of settlers who want to settle in the area stands in his way. The oil prince has the settlers' scout replaced by a member of the Finders gang. Old Surehand and Winnetou track this down and warn the trek.
Winnetou convinces the Navajo chief Nitsas-ini of the peaceful nature of the settlers, and with Old Wabble as a guide he lets them move unhindered through his area to a stop on the Chinla River.
On the way to the Utahs, Old Surehand is lured into a trap by the Finders bandits, from which Winnetou can save him. On the Chinla River, the settlers, including the widow Ebersbach, the cantor Hampel, the cardsharp Richard Forsythe and the seedy businessman Bergmann, get ready for an overnight stay when the Finders bandits attack. However, the attack can be repelled by the Winnetou and Old Surehand arriving in time.
After the attack didn't work out, the Oil Prince comes up with something new. He murders the son of chief Mokaschi and blames the settlers among the Indians. The Indians surround the settlers on the river, but allow themselves to be persuaded to hold off their attack if Old Surehand delivers the real killer to them within a day. Winnetou wants to bring the women and children to safety on the raging river with a raft. In doing so, however, they fall into the water and only when Old Surehand arrives they are saved. He sets out to pursue the oil prince, who in the meantime has taken the money for the fake oil well from the banker Duncan and trapped him in the oil cave with an avalanche of debris. Old Surehand is able to capture and tie up the Oil Prince after a brief pursuit and battle.
The Indians have become impatient and begin their attack on the settlers. The first cars are already in flames when Old Surehand returns. The oil prince brought with him is handed over to the Indians and receives his just punishment from them.
background
For the film adaptation of The Oil Prince , producer Horst Wendlandt, who played Old Shatterhand Lex Barker, was not available because of Artur Brauner's production Durchs Wilde Kurdistan . So Stewart Granger came as Old Surehand for his second assignment, although Old Surehand does not appear in the novel. Marie Versini was originally supposed to take on the part of Lizzy , but she was also already under contract with Brauner at the scheduled time of shooting.
Fred Denger wrote the script , then Harald Philipp revised it . Philip dispensed with the portrayal of the death of the oil prince as provided in the original version. Instead, he built in a short guest appearance by Old Shatterhand and Sam Hawkens ( Ralf Wolter ) at the end , but this was not realized.
Wendlandt originally envisaged Paul Martin as the director, as Harald Reinl and Alfred Vohrer were busy . When the collaboration failed, he called Harald Philipp in Berlin at Christmas 1964, and he immediately agreed.
The organization of the shooting was again in the hands of the proven production manager Erwin Gitt . During March 1965, the film crew met in Dubrovnik . On March 28, filming began in Zupci near Trebinje , where architect Dusko Jericević had transformed the western town “Golden Hill” from Old Shatterhand into “Tucson”.
After a week the team moved to the Hotel Marijan in Split . All the remaining motifs in the film were approached from there. At Trilj on the banks of the Cetina the most important scenes were filmed with the settlers' trek. Because of the early season, the weather was mostly cold and rainy. Pierre Brice squeezed his right index finger between two raft beams. In order to hide the bandage, he usually wore a tomahawk during the following filming .
Then they headed for the Krka Falls at Skradin , where the raft fell down the cliffs. Another spectacular raft scene was filmed from a narrow wooden bridge near Kreševo . The final scene at “Shelly Lake” took place on the banks of the Perućko jezero .
In May, a few more scenes followed in the outdoor area of the CCC Studios in Berlin , including the fight between Old Surehands and Knife. In the studios of the Berliner Union-Film , the close-ups of the main actors on the raft as it were shooting were made. Spray and waves were simulated with hoses and a flushing mechanism. Shooting was finished on May 31, 1965.
The plan to have Old Shatterhand and Old Surehand appear together in one film at the end of the film was discarded. The budget for two “world stars” would not have been enough for such a short scene, and there were no days of shooting together. There is only one film in which the three stars Stewart Granger, Lex Barker and Pierre Brice all appear, the detective film " I gladly killed women " ( Le Carneval des barbouzes , 1966), shot a year later . However, it is an episode film in which the three each have their own short film and also do not appear together here.
Three-dimensional recordings were made of the film for the View-Master system, but they were not commercially available. The only copy is kept in the Karl May Museum in Radebeul .
Awards
- Golden screen for over three million visitors within twelve months, awarded on August 17, 1966 in the Mathäser-Filmpalast, Munich on the occasion of the world premiere of Winnetou and the half-breed Apanatschi .
Reviews
“With a raft ride through rapids, the camera (Heinz Hölscher) does an impressive job. Antje Weisgerber as a settler's wife - why not, even if she may seem a little out of place. Since you also need a funny figure according to the tried and tested pattern, Heinz Erhardt has been hired, who, perhaps as a naive organ-playing organist, provides well-dosed laughter with all too much pleasure. "
“Since Stewart Granger as Old Surehand always shows a sense of humor and hypocritically cheers the inviolable prairie super man with a pinch of cold-tempered self-parody under the leather vest, the balance between heroic pathos and adventurous bandit-huntedness is assured. Harald Leipnitz is also making his debut as an excellent Karl May villain and miniature Jack Palance . "
“Director Harald Philipp was content to copy from old Karl May films. Judging by this new product, the Karl May wave seems to be gradually following the course of the Edgar Wallace wave : it seeps into banality. "
"Germano-Western based on Karl May, which impresses above all with its landscape shots."
“Now the downward trend can no longer be overlooked in the Winnetou films either. The film has hardly anything to do with the book, but the characters are often completely recorded. [...] On the plus side are the impressive raft scenes and the atmospheric music by Martin Böttcher. "
"Karl May film adaptation that does not match its predecessor in quality or tension."
"Since the screenplay and direction did not know how to film Karl May's adventurous story convincingly, the overall effect remains inconsistent despite the clean representation and surprisingly beautiful color photography."
media
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Literature
Karl May - Collected Works, Volume 37: The Prince of Oil . Karl-May-Verlag, ISBN 3-7802-0037-6
Author collective: The large album of Karl May films. Volume 2 . Schwarzkopf and Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2004, 287 pages, ISBN 3-89602-479-5 - Michael Petzel: Karl-May Filmbuch , Karl-May-Verlag, Bamberg, second expanded edition 1999, - ISBN 3-7802-0153-4
- Music : Wild West - Hot Orient - Karl May film music 1936–1968 - Bear Family Records BCD 16413 HL - 8 CDs with 192 pages of film book
Web links
- The Ölprinz in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Oil Prince at filmportal.de
- The Oil Prince in the German dubbing index
- Sound carrier with the film music
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Oil Prince. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Evangelischer Presseverband München, Review No. 327/1965.