The treasure in Silbersee (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The treasure in Silbersee |
| Original title | The treasure in the silver lake Blago u srebnom jezeru Le trésor du lac d'argent |
 | |
| Country of production | Federal Republic of Germany , Yugoslavia , France |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1962 |
| length | 111 minutes |
| Age rating | Rated 12/6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Harald Reinl |
| script | Harald G. Petersson |
| production |
Horst Wendlandt for Rialto Film Preben Philipsen , Hamburg Ivo Vrhoveć for Jadran Film , Zagreb |
| music | Martin Böttcher |
| camera | Ernst W. Kalinke |
| cut | Hermann Haller |
| occupation | |
| |
| chronology | |
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Successor → |
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The treasure in Silbersee is a film by Harald Reinl based on motifs from the book of the same name by Karl May . The script differs significantly from the original novel. In addition to Lex Barker and Pierre Brice, the leading roles are cast with Götz George , Herbert Lom and Karin Dor .
The premiere of the film took place on December 12, 1962 in the Universum cinema in Stuttgart . The first Karl May film to be set in the Wild West was a huge success. With production costs of 3.5 million DM, it brought in gross profits of 6.4 million DM.
action
An ambushed stagecoach arrives in the small western town of Tulsa . Inside lies the murdered father of Fred Engel. Fred's father had part of a treasure map with him that led to the mysterious Silver Lake and was stolen by the bandit Cornel Brinkley. Fred Engel goes in search of his father's murderers and meets with Sam Hawkens and the rhyming Gunstick Uncle on Old Shatterhand and Winnetou, who have also already discovered the crime on the basis of traces.
Old Shatterhand learns from Fred Engel that the second half of the treasure map on Mrs. Butler's fortified farm is in the hands of Engel's partner, Mr. Patterson. However, since this conversation was also overheard by a Brinkley spy, an attack by the bandits on the farm is to be expected. The heroes arrive just in time to fend off the bandits' first attack on the farm. However, Brinkley's men can capture Mr. Patterson and his daughter Ellen, who have just returned from a ride, and only want to release them in return for the surrender of the second part of the treasure map that Patterson had left behind on the farm. Through a hidden escape tunnel, Old Shatterhand and Fred Engel can leave the farm and free Patterson and his daughter and bring them back to the farm. Angry, the bandits start another attack on the farm. At the last second Winnetou arrives with Indians from the Osagen tribe. With this reinforcement it is possible to put the bandits to flight.
On the way to Silver Lake, Old Shatterhand, Winnetou and the rest of the group, which was also joined by the English Lord Castlepool, who was searching for butterflies, are surrounded by the Utah tribe, who believe the troop burned their village. In reality, the Indian village had been attacked by Cornel Brinkley and his bandits. In the mess, Cornel Brinkley also manages to kidnap Ellen Patterson and Fred Engel, who wanted to be exchanged for her, also captured. Old Shatterhand has to fight a life and death fight with the chief of the Utahs, "Big Wolf", in order to convince the Indians of the innocence of his friends. Old Shatterhand wins the fight, knocking the "Big Wolf" unconscious, spares the chief's life and can leave the Indians with his companions unhindered.
Another delay in the trip to Silver Lake occurs when the sub-chief of the Utahs, "Rolling Thunder", attacks the troops around Old Shatterhand on his own and is then shot by his own chief "Big Wolf". After smoking the peace pipe, the heroes and the Indians make their way to the Silver Lake, where Cornel Brinkley has already arrived with Ellen Patterson and Fred Engel. The bandits start building a raft. Fred and Ellen almost manage to escape, but shortly after they have swum across the lake they are discovered by a guard who was supposed to stay with the horses. Cornel Brinkley drives with his closest cronies across the lake to a cave where the treasure is located. If they don't return in time after three hours, Fred should be hanged. What the criminals can do with Ellen, he gives them up to do.
In the cave the bandits meet the ancient Indian "Big Bear" who is guarding the treasure and knock him down without further ado. Immediately after seeing the treasure, which is in a niche inside the cave, the bandits fall on each other in a gold rush; lastly, Cornel Brinkley shoots his cronies. As he is reaching for the treasure, the dejected Indian pulls himself up and pulls on a hidden chain, causing the treasure and Cornel Brinkley to fall bottomlessly into the depths. He sinks into an underground bog.
Since there is no one left to report, the bandits waiting on the bank lose their patience and want to kill Fred. When Old Shatterhand and his companions arrive at Silbersee with the Indians, they can prevent Fred's murder at the last second by shooting through the hangman's rope. The bandits are defeated, and Lord Castlepool even finds the extremely rare butterfly Papilio polymnestor parinda on the shoulder of one of the bandits , which he was missing from his collection. Satisfied with the outcome, Indians and heroes separate and ride towards new adventures in the sunset.
Production history
The initiator of the film was producer Horst Wendlandt, who convinced his most important partners Preben Philipsen , who owned the majority of Rialto Film , and Waldfried Barthel , the boss of Constantin Film , of the promising prospects of the intended large-scale production due to the contemporary popularity of the Karl May novels could. In Consul Barthel's holiday home in Garmisch-Partenkirchen , Gerhard F. Hummel and Hanns Wiedmann developed the first drafts for a Winnetou series in retreats lasting several weeks, the treatments of which became the basis of Der Schatz im Silbersee as well as Winnetou I and Winnetou II . On January 20, 1962, a film rights agreement for the novels Der Schatz im Silbersee and the Winnetou trilogy between Barthel, Philipsen and Joachim Schmid from the Bamberg publishing family Schmid for the Karl May publishing house was concluded at the Constantin headquarters in Munich .
The successful collaboration between Rialto Film and the Yugoslav state film company Jadran Film , which already had extensive experience with lavish costume and equestrian films due to several sandal films made in Yugoslavia, began with The Treasure in Silver Lake .
Wendlandt had Alfred Vohrer as director , but Waldfried Barthel was able to get the experienced mountain filmmaker Harald Reinl through. As the actor in Old Shatterhand, Wendlandt knew Lex Barker from the start, while the ideal Winnetou cast had to be sought for a long time. The preliminary contract with Guy Williams was canceled again because Wendlandt decided on Pierre Brice after an encounter on the sidelines of the Berlinale in 1962 .
The costumes for Old Shatterhand and Winnetou were designed by the costume designer Irms Pauli . To give Winnetou a distinctive look, she implemented a costume with bead embroidery. The leather doublet from Old Shatterhand was originally intended to have stripes. However, she then oriented herself to the wardrobe that Barker wore in the 1957 film Leather Stocking: The Wildslayer . The Shatterhand costume is, however, much more elegant, to which the silver- studded Navajo belt from Barker's private collection also contributed.
Filming and finishing
Shooting began on August 6, 1962, the press was not informed until August 17. The outdoor shots at Silbersee were shot right at the beginning at the Plitvice Lakes in the Dinaric Karst . Lake Kaluđerovac served as a silver lake . The treasure cave there is a small natural cave, the interior photos were taken in the studio. The dramatic final scene when Fred is about to be hanged was created at the large waterfall on Lake Galovac . The Indians were represented by residents of Plitvička Jezera . The butler farm was built in the Grobnik valley (Grobničko polje) near the port city of Rijeka in Croatia (then Yugoslavia ). In the Paklenica gorge (near Starigrad ) the western town of Tulsa, the tramp camp “El Doro” and the pictures in the ghost canyon were made. The last day of shooting was October 1, 1962. The rough cut was finished on October 25th, the fine cut on November 2nd. The voice synchronization took place from November 14th to 20th, the music recordings in the Hamburg studio lasted from November 21st to 23rd. In total, the production cost 3.5 million DM.
Galovac waterfall in the Plitvice Lakes, 2007
Grobnik Valley, 2009
Paklenica Gorge, 2005
The vote of the film evaluation board
On August 21, 1962, Constantin Film submitted an application for rating to the Wiesbaden film evaluation office . However, the film evaluation board initially refused a rating . Your expert opinion ruled that the script did not convincingly unfold the fable based on Karl May's original. The story was played through with penetrating seriousness, the director lacks tight leadership, the camera work is quite average apart from a few sequences of pictures at the Silbersee. Not a single acting achievement is responsible for a rating. However, on January 24, 1963, the main committee of the Filmbewertungsstelle revised the original verdict and awarded the film The Treasure in Silbersee the rating "valuable".
premiere
From November 1962, the film appeared as a picture story in the program magazine Bild und Funk in the manner of a serial novel. The first performance on December 12, 1962 in the Universum in Stuttgart and the first performance in Munich in the Mathäser on December 14th met with an enthusiastic audience. The film's success continued nationwide. In 2019 it was shown again in cinemas after it had previously appeared in cinemas in 1971. The film was first shown on German television on March 23, 1974 during prime time on ZDF . The film was first shown on television in the GDR in 1983, and it was released in cinemas in 1984.
Age rating
The FSK gave the distributor the option to run the film without editing from the age of 12 or with the editing of some racket scenes from the age of 6. Constantin decided on the uncut version from 12 years of age. A year later, however, scenes such as the whipping of the bandits and their mutual killing in the treasure cave were removed, so that at Easter 1964 the shortened version could be released in cinemas from the age of six with new advertising material.
Film music
The film music of Martin Böttcher was crucial for the further Karl May movies. The main theme of the film, the " Old Shatterhand Melody ", sold over 100,000 copies as a single . That was very unusual at the time, especially since it was still instrumental film music.
Others
- At the beginning of the film, according to the literary model, Old Shatterhand wears a full beard for the only time, which he shaves off soon after. He also never puts on the hat that hangs on his saddle. Thus, the presentation of his distinguished West man from those in the US Western movies . Even when the game killer was filmed, Barker did not wear a headgear. In the Karl May films with Old Surehand , played by Stewart Granger , he always wears a hat. The renunciation of the beard and the old hat stand for the clearly visible modernization of the figure of the Old Shatterhand. The filmmakers clearly wanted to distance themselves from the character Karl May described in his books in order to make her more attractive to the young audience. The shaving scene in Tulsa was therefore made visible.
- The film and the book have comparatively little in common. The plot has changed a lot. In addition, for example, Old Firehand and Aunt Droll do not appear. For this, Sam Hawkens appears in the film, who is not mentioned in the novel. Fred Engel and Ellen Patterson are children in the book but adults in the film.
- Unlike in the later Karl May films, Lex Barker is not dubbed by Gert Günther Hoffmann , but by Horst Niendorf , who lent him his voice in earlier films. Barker received a fee of 120,000 DM for his role.
- Pierre Brice was not convinced of his role. Due to the few dialogues, the Indian was not an acting challenge for him. He tried to persuade the director to allow him more dialogue, but the latter refused. Reinl asked him to continue to look proud, to be silent and to maintain a noble demeanor, which was excellent for the effect of the figure. Since he was still largely unknown as an actor at the time, his fee was 42,000 DM.
- Herbert Lom, another "world star", received 78,000 DM. Lom, who spoke German fluently and almost without an accent, dubbed himself in this film.
- 3000 extras and 2500 horses were used for the shooting.
- Gerhard F. Hummel (under his pseudonym Piet ter Ulen ) was responsible for the dramaturgical and scientific advice .
Distribution title abroad
The film was announced on film posters abroad with the following titles:
- Belgium : "Le Tresor du Lac D'Argent" / "De Schat van het Zilvermeer"
- Czechoslovakia : "Poklad na Stříbrném jezeře" / "Poklad na Striebornom jazere"
- Denmark : "Winnetou og Skatten i Sølvsøen" / "Skatten i Sølvsøen"
- France : "Le Trésor du Lac d'Argent"
- Italy : "Il Tesoro del Lago d'Argento"
- Yugoslavia : "Blago u srebrnom jezeru"
- Spain : "El Tesoro del Lago de la Plata"
- Romania : "Comoara din Lacul de Argint"
- Hungary : "Az Ezüst-tó kincse"
- USA : "Treasure of Silver Lake" (in the invented color variant "Flaming Arrow Color")
Awards
- Golden screen for over 3 million visitors within 12 months, awarded on January 22, 1964 in the Mathäser -Filmpalast, Munich . The treasure in Silbersee is the first recipient of this award.
- Feature film premium of 200,000 DM from the Federal Ministry of the Interior, 1963.
- Bambi for the most commercially successful film 1963, awarded on April 19, 1964 in the Schwarzwaldhalle , Karlsruhe
- "Valuable" rating from the Wiesbaden film evaluation agency on January 24, 1963
Reviews
“Nobody looks at old Karl May and his lavishly blooming imagination: This CinemaScope color film by Harald Reinl packs all of Winnetou's naivete, including higher justice and brave heroism, into proper Wild West garb, the Yugoslav landscape is a wonderful Indian playground, and what When it comes to the prairie saloons, the rogue visages and the various jaw-dropping scuffles, this righteously staged boys' adventure can technically compete with many a Hollywood horse pounding. "
“One went to the cinema not without suspicion. How violently would imagination and (film) reality quarrel? It is not the first attempt to bring Karl May novels to the screen. Not much of that is remembered. But this time it was a success. "
“Harald Reinl's direction, striving for constant movement, kept the heroic deeds, bold gallops, wild fights and the story enriched with cheerful episodes in rapid flow. The naive game, taken from a novel world that cannot be killed, remains refreshing to the last meter. "
"Queues in front of the box office, as we only faintly remembered them, prove that this film is obviously a pot of gold."
“Producer Horst Wendlandt has made a particularly attractive acquisition with his Winnetou: The young French star Pierre Brice brings the noble chief Winnetou in front of the camera with so much romantic charm that it is almost certain that WINNETOU I to III will soon be filmed . "
“Reinl turned the crank, certainly with a wink, but still very serious about the cash register, according to the famous model. To this end, he strictly ensured that every degree of comfort is maintained, which is always attached to German cinema successes. "
"Martin Böttcher's music hits the western tone exactly and has the prospect of becoming a hit with the one hundred percent successful film adventure for young and old."
“In the atmosphere coherent Karl May film adaptation, the first of numerous from the 1960s (...). An entertainment film set in an impressive scenic setting, which, although coarsened the specifications of the novel, is similarly noble in its plot; reluctant to fight scenes. "
“THE TREASURE IN SILBERSEE is naive, but not stupid; cleverly told and technically perfect. This is how Karl May films should be! "
“[In the Karl May films] the bandits, especially their leaders, [...] are of unprecedented malice. Above all Brinkley in Der Schatz im Silbersee , who executes in cold blood with the gun or the knife, whether those whom he wants to deprive of their belongings or his own gang members. So also at the end of the film: Colonel Brinkley and his three closest allies stand in front of the flashing and flashing treasure and believe that they have achieved the goal of their dreams. But nobody wants to share with the other, so one stabs and kills one another or is shot by Brinkley. But even that fails, because the ancient Indian, believed dead, who had to guard the treasure, operates a lever so that Brinkley falls with the gold into a deadly bog pit. Greed has seldom been more impressively visualized in the western than in this scene, which may also act as an indication of a conspicuous mixing of this western with motifs from the adventure film. Their similarity to the finale of the Indiana Jones films, the motifs of the treasure, the treasure map, the guardian of the treasure, the almost paradisiacal Silver Lake and the punishment of greed through a special mechanism, give the film a special aura of adventure, which is evident in the following Karl May Western was lost. "
"The main reasons for the success were the naive freshness and straightforwardness of the film, which aptly reflects the attitude of its director Harald Reinl: to let the good win in the cinema."
literature
- Karl May: The treasure in the Silver Lake (= Collected Works. Vol. 36). Karl-May-Verlag, Bamberg [no year?], ISBN 978-3-7802-0036-5 .
- The treasure in Silbersee (illustrated book), Bertelsmann, Gütersloh o. J. [1960s].
- Michael Petzel: Karl-May film book . 2nd, expanded edition. Karl-May-Verlag, Bamberg 1999, ISBN 3-7802-0153-4 .
- Reinhard Weber: The Karl May Films. 2nd Edition. Specialized publisher for film literature, Landshut 2002, ISBN 978-3-9802987-8-0 .
- Thomas Klein: The treasure in the Silbersee. In: Bernd Kiefer, Norbert Grob (ed.), Marcus Stiglegger (collaboration): Filmgenres. Western (= RUB 18402). Reclam, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-15-018402-9 , pp. 258-261 [with references].
- K. Pöschl, M. Trescher, R. Weber: Harald Reinl, the director who brought Winnetou, Edgar Wallace and the Nibelungen to the cinema. A bio and filmography. Specialized publisher for film literature, Landshut 2011, ISBN 978-3-9809390-9-6 .
- Reinhard Weber, Solveig Wrage: The treasure in the silver lake. A success story of German film. Specialized publisher for film literature, Landshut 2012, ISBN 978-3-943127-01-0 .
Other media
- VHS: “The Treasure in Silver Lake”, Kinowelt Home Entertainment
- DVD: “The Treasure in Silbersee”, Kinowelt Home Entertainment No. 500008
- Blu-ray: "The Treasure in Silbersee", Universum Film Home Entertainment / Rialto Film / Tobis (January 15, 2010)
- Blu-ray: "The Treasure in Silbersee - Remastered Edition", Universum Film Home Entertainment / Rialto Film / Tobis (December 3, 2010)
- 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
- The “Karl May Collection” by Martin Böttcher, CD 1 - Edel; Music mosaic TCS 106-2
Web links
- Treasure of Silver in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The treasure in Silbersee in the German dubbing index
- The treasure in the Silbersee at filmportal.de
- Sound carrier with the film music
- ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: filming locations of the Karl May films in Croatia )
- Filming locations in Croatia by Günterschichter
- Karl May locations in Croatia
- Winnetou - The Treasure in Silver Lake (1962) - Full movie HD , on YouTube
Individual evidence
- ↑ Joachim Kramp: Hello! This is Edgar Wallace speaking. The story of the legendary German crime film series from 1959–1972 . 2nd edition., Berlin 2001, p. 72
- ↑ Joachim Kramp: Hello! This is Edgar Wallace speaking. The story of the legendary German crime film series from 1959–1972 . 2nd Edition. Berlin 2001, p. 99
- ↑ "The Treasure in Silbersee": Classics back in the cinema. Retrieved August 18, 2019 .
- ↑ widescreenmuseum.com: Movie poster accessed on August 11, 2008
- ↑ The treasure in Silver Lake. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Thomas Klein: The treasure in the silver lake. In: Bernd Kiefer, Norbert Grob (ed.), Marcus Stiglegger (collaboration): Filmgenres. Western (= RUB . No. 18402). Reclam, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-15-018402-9 , pp. 258-261, here 260.
- ↑ As in volumes on other Karl May films, the plot of the film is briefly described and retold with photos. Since it was the last volume in the series and the Karl May wave was already ebbing, few copies were put on the market, although it should be the beginning of the successful film series. As a result, the illustrated book has a considerable collector's value today, depending on its condition.
- ↑ Blu-ray medium on hd-reporter.de accessed on December 11, 2014
- ↑ Blu-ray medium on hd-reporter.de accessed on December 11, 2014