Karl May films
Karl May films are films based on the works of the German writer Karl May (1842–1912).
history
The first film adaptations appeared as black and white silent films as early as the 1920s . The first sound film was the 1936 black and white film Through the Desert , and the first color film was 1958 The Slave Caravan .
In 1962, the German film producer Horst Wendlandt from Rialto Film , under the direction of Harald Reinl , began filming the production of the most popular novel in the green Karl May volumes: The Treasure in Silver Lake . The music for this film by the German composer Martin Böttcher was formative for the other Karl May films. He composed the music for a total of 10 Karl May films.
After the overwhelming success of the movie, the series was inevitable, which culminated in a veritable wave of Karl May films in German cinema, in which the producer Artur Brauner then also took part with his Berlin CCC film . Most of the films of the 1960s were co-produced with the then Yugoslav film company Jadran-Film in Zagreb , and most of the filming locations were found in Croatia (then part of Yugoslavia ). Not only the mountain landscapes there with the white limestone cliffs and the strong green meadows were characteristic of the series, the impressive lake landscapes also offered ideal terrain for film implementation. Among other things, the film was shot in the now famous Plitvice Lakes National Park , which is home to wolves and wild brown bears. Many viewers are still primarily familiar with the oldest national park in Croatia and the former Yugoslavia through these films.
Almost all of the novels were only heavily adapted in the film, and in some cases only the names of characters were used for a film, without a specific novel. In the book The Treasure in Silbersee, Old Firehand was actually the main character, in the film it was Old Shatterhand . The films Old Shatterhand (1964) and Winnetou and his friend Old Firehand (1966) are not based on novels or short stories by Karl May, the plot is entirely invented by the screenwriter. The two-part film Winnetou's return with Pierre Brice in the lead role, produced for television, is not based on works by Karl May, apart from the person of the chief.
After the cinema series ended, some film adaptations were also made for television. The television series / films Das Buschgespenst and Kara Ben Nemsi Effendi have been implemented much more faithfully.
After the great success of the West German Karl May films, the equally successful DEFA Indian films were made in the GDR in the 1960s and were produced until the 1980s.
On behalf of RTL, Christian Becker produced Winnetou - The Mythos Lives in 2015 , a film adaptation of the romantic trilogy directed by Philipp Stölzl, which was broadcast at Christmas 2016 as a three-part television film from 25 December 2016.
Filming locations in the former Yugoslavia
Croatia
- Plitvice Lakes National Park
- Paklenica National Park
- Krka National Park
- Zrmanja ( Obrovac )
- Dubrovnik
- Rijeka (vicinity)
- Rovanjska (near Starigrad-Paklenica )
- Zadar
- Karlobag ( Velebit )
- Benkovac
- Split and Trogir (surrounding area)
- Omis
- Crvena Luka near Biograd
- Vrlika (Suho Polje)
More locations
- Postojna and Ljubljana in Slovenia
- Vrbanje , Ulcinj and Podgorica in Montenegro
- Trebinje (Popovo Polje and Zupci) in Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Peć (Decani Monastery) in Serbia (Kosovo)
- Kravica waterfalls Ljubuški in Bosnia-Herzegovina
Publications
cinemamovies
- On the Rubble of Paradise (1920, silent film), directed by Josef Stein
- The Caravan of Death (1920, silent film), directed by Josef Stein
- The Devil Worshipers (1920, silent film), directed by Ertugrul Moussin-Bey
- Through the desert (1936), directed by Johannes Alexander Hübler-Kahla
- The Slave Caravan (1958), directed by Georg Marischka / Ramón Torrado
- The Lion of Babylon (1959), directed by Johannes Kai (= Hanns Wiedmann) / Ramón Torrado
- The Treasure in Silbersee (1962), directed by Harald Reinl
- Winnetou Part 1 (1963), directed by Harald Reinl
- Old Shatterhand (1964), directed by Hugo Fregonese
- Der Schut (1964), directed by Robert Siodmak
- Winnetou Part 2 (1964), directed by Harald Reinl
- Under vultures (1964), directed by Alfred Vohrer
- The Treasure of the Aztecs (1965), directed by Robert Siodmak
- The Pyramid of the Sun God (1965), directed by Robert Siodmak
- The Oil Prince (1965), directed by Harald Philipp
- Through the wild Kurdistan (1965), directed by Franz Josef Gottlieb
- Winnetou 3rd part (1965), directed by Harald Reinl
- Old Surehand Part 1 (1965), directed by Alfred Vohrer
- In the kingdom of the silver lion (1965), directed by Franz Josef Gottlieb
- The Legacy of the Inka (1966), directed by Georg Marischka
- Winnetou and the half-breed Apanatschi (1966), directed by Harald Philipp
- Winnetou and his friend Old Firehand (1966), directed by Alfred Vohrer
- Winnetou and Shatterhand in the Valley of the Dead (1968), directed by Harald Reinl
- The track leads to the Silbersee (1990, puppet film), directed by Günter Rätz
- Winnetou (Hungary, 1995) Director: Csaba Bollok
- WinneToons - The legend of the treasure in Silbersee (2009, animation), directed by Gert Ludewig
TV series / films
- With Karl May in the Orient (1963, 7 episodes)
- Kara Ben Nemsi Effendi (1973/75, 26 episodes)
- My friend Winnetou (1980, 14 episodes)
- The Bush Ghost (1986, 2 parts)
- Strong as a bear! , originally: Hallo-Karl May (1987, 4 parts of 25 minutes)
- Prairie Hunters in Mexico (1988, 2 parts)
- Winnetou (1996, SWR, animated series 10 times 10 minutes)
- Winnetou's Return (Part 1 and 2) (1998)
- WinneToons (2002, KiKa / Das Erste, animation, pilot film - 75 minutes and 26 episodes of 25 minutes each)
- Winnetou - The Myth Lives (2016, 3 parts)
Biographical films
- Acquittal for Old Shatterhand (1965, 60 minutes), with Friedrich G. Beckhaus as Karl May
- Karl May (1974), film by Hans-Jürgen Syberberg , with Helmut Käutner as Karl May
- Karl May (1992, ZDF, 6 episodes of 52 minutes each), with Henry Hübchen as the adult Karl May
Others
- The toy industry clung to popular success by faithfully recreating the main characters of various 1960s film adaptations, recognizable by the actors' facial features.
- Of three Karl May films, 3D images were released on three View Master discs each : of Winnetou 3rd part , Old Surehand 1st part and of Winnetou and the half-blood Apanatschi . There are also View Master discs from the film Der Ölprinz , but they did not go on sale and can only be seen in the Karl May Museum in Radebeul .
- The Winnetou Sketch (A seven-minute sketch from the 1971 Rudi Carrell Show with Lex Barker , Pierre Brice, and Marie Versini ).
- Yes uff first… - Winnetou among comedy vultures - radio night from October 2000, recorded by WDR television, broadcast several times as a repeat, is also available as a radio play version.
- Die Legende Winnetou (2001) - Documentary ZDF RomanWelten - A film by Jutta Szostak and Joachim Giel .
- Der Schuh des Manitu (2001) - parody of the successful series with Michael Herbig and Christian Tramitz in the lead role. 11,721,499 moviegoers.
- The locations in Croatia - double DVD (approx. 3 hours) with exact descriptions, as well as sketches of the camera positions at the Plitvice Lakes and Trogir by Joachim Giel, 1999, 2002 and 2003.
- News from Wixxer (2007) - At the end of the Edgar Wallace parody, when Inspector Very Long is hit by a shot, the film parodies the dying scene from Winnetou 3rd part .
Discography
- Wilder West - Hot Orient - Karl May Film Music 1936–1968 (Bear Family Records BCD 16413 HL - 8 CDs with 192-page book with film posters for domestic and foreign film releases)
- Karl May - Film hits : Original recordings with the Martin Böttcher orchestra (carousel 554-404-2 - Polygram): Melodies from the various Winnetou films.
See also
literature
- Reinhard Weber: "The Karl May Films." Specialized publisher for film literature Landshut 3rd edition Oct. 2018 ISBN 978-3943127089
- Michael Petzel: Karl May film book. Karl-May-Verlag, Bamberg 1998, ISBN 3-7802-0153-4 .
- Michael Petzel: The way to the Silbersee. Filming and locations of the Karl May films , ISBN 978-3-89602-358-2
- Reinhard Weber, Solveig Wrage: "The Treasure in Silbersee - A Success Story of German Film"; Specialized publisher for film literature May 2012 ISBN 978-3943127010
- 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 2011 ISBN 978-39809390-9-6
- Reinhard Weber: The Karl May Films , Reinhard Weber Verlag Landshut, 2002, 2nd edition, ISBN 978-3-9802987-8-0
- Michael Petzel: The big album of the Karl May films - Volume 1 , Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf Berlin, 2003, ISBN 978-3-8960246-9-5
- Michael Petzel: The Big Album of the Karl May Films - Volume 2 , Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf Berlin, 2004, ISBN 978-3-89602479-4
- 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 2011 ISBN 978-39809390-9-6
Web links
- The Karl May films
- Filming locations of the Winnetou films, Winnetou festivals
- rialtofilm.de: Everything about the Karl May films
- Everything about the locations of the May films
- Karl May Star - film production
- Karl May pictures - picture database
- On Winnetou's footsteps at the original locations of the Winneto films