Old Shatterhand (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Old Shatterhand |
| Original title | Old Shatterhand Les cavaliers rouges La battaglia di fort apache |
 | |
| Country of production | Federal Republic of Germany , France , Italy |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1964 |
| length | Short version: 97 minutes Long version: 122 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12/6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Hugo Fregonese |
| script |
Ladislas Fodor Robert A. Stemmle with the assistance of Hugo Fregonese; James W. Burke |
| production |
Artur Brauner for CCC Film, Berlin Criterion Film, Paris Serena Film, Rome in collaboration with Ratko Drasević for Avala Film, Belgrade |
| music | Riz Ortolani |
| camera | Siegfried Hold |
| cut | Alfred Srp |
| occupation | |
| |
Old Shatterhand is a feature film based on themes by Karl May ( Karl May Film ) directed by Hugo Fregonese . The main roles are cast with Lex Barker and Pierre Brice as well as Daliah Lavi , Guy Madison and Ralf Wolter .
The film premiered on April 30, 1964 in the Mathäser-Filmpalast in Munich .
action
After white bandits along with some drunken Comanches raided the farm of Dutch settlers Kampendijk, leave them there two murdered Apache warriors back. This appears to have broken the truce with the Indians. An initially stranger wants to prevent the army of Fort Grant from concluding a peace treaty with the Indians.
Old Shatterhand is able to rescue Winnetou's adopted son Tujunga from the hands of the bandits on his return to the West . He then visits the half-Indian Paloma Nakama at a mission station on the Foaming Waters, who has taken in little Tom, who has observed the attack on his parents' farm and therefore knows that it was not the Apache who committed it. Shatterhand plans to house Paloma and Tom in the town of Golden Hill for safety. However, a certain Dixon and his men are currently staying in this town and the raid on the farm is on his account. From the stranger, Dixon receives the instruction to ambush and rob an army trek that is about to arrive. Old Shatterhand and his companions encounter this trek led by Captain Bradley and Corporal Bush on their way to Golden Hill. Old Shatterhand's old friend Sam Hawkens and two of his friends are available to them as scouts. After the trek is attacked in a canyon, two dead Apaches are again at the scene. But Old Shatterhand sees through the trick.
In Golden Hill, the saloon landlady Rosemary and Sam Hawkens watch out for Paloma and Tom while Shatterhand sets out to look for the bandits. He meets Winnetou, and together they discover that the Comaniac together with the Dixon gang committed the robberies. In a duel , Winnetou kills the chief of the Komantschen, Big Bear. In the meantime, the ambushed army trek arrives at the fort, where Captain Bradley reports to the commander, General Taylor, that the trek had been attacked by the Apaches. However, General Taylor cannot imagine that the Apaches want to endanger the coming peace treaty, so he meets with Winnetou and Old Shatterhand for advice. When smoking the peace pipe together, both parties assure each other that they want to respect peace.
In Golden Hill, Sam Hawkens tries to ease the tension with a shooting trick that little Tom is supposed to help him with. The bandit Joe Burker murders Tom from an ambush, eliminating the only witness to the raid on the farm. Meanwhile, General Taylor leaves Fort Grant with an army escort to report to his superiors about the peace negotiations with the Apaches. He transfers command of the fort during his absence to Colonel Hunter. Meanwhile, Old Shatterhand confronts Burker on his ranch and is ambushed by the Dixon gang. Sam Hawkens and Paloma arrive just in time to help him. Old Shatterhand brings Burker to Winnetou in the Apache camp, where he forces him to sign a confession; either the signature or the stake of the Apaches.
While Shatterhand is at Winnetou's camp with Burker, Captain Bradley and Corporal Bush arrive at Burker's ranch. There they find the badly wounded Dixon, who tells them that Burker was taken away by Old Shatterhand, after which he passes out. Bradley then orders Bush to set fire to the ranch, revealing himself to be the unknown mastermind who wants to sabotage the peace negotiations at all costs. At the fort, Bradley then reports that Apaches also burned Burker's ranch. Colonel Hunter then sends Lieutenant Miller to confirm Bradley's report. Burker, who wants to return to the ranch at the same time, is shot dead by Corporal Bush on Bradley's orders. Meanwhile, on Bradley's advice, Colonel Hunter sends a messenger to Winnetou to speak to him on the Burker's Ranch affair. He assures the Apache chief safe conduct. Winnetou and Old Shatterhand arrive at the fort, where Captain Bradley has since taken command. In a personal conversation with Winnetou, Bradley reveals the reason for his hatred of the Indians, Bradley's wife and children were murdered by Indians. When Old Shatterhand asks about Colonel Hunter, Bradley leads him into a room where the Colonel is laid out. Bradley claims the Colonel was killed by a rattlesnake bite. This also meant that the Colonel's guarantee of safe conduct became invalid. Bradley offers Shatterhand free withdrawal for himself and Winnetou in exchange for Burker's confession. Shatterhand is forced to enter into this trade.
Soldiers take Tujunga prisoner by the foaming waters, who wanted to prevent one of them from molesting the naked bathing Paloma. In the course of this action, however, the soldier died. Now Tujunga is threatened by the gallows; the rest of the soldiers take him to Fort Grant. Paloma informs Winnetou and Old Shatterhand of this event, whereupon the Apaches demand that Winnetou lead them on the warpath to free Tujunga. Shatterhand asks Winnetou to wait another two days, he wants to try to free Tujunga. In the meantime, Sam Hawkens should ride to General Taylor as soon as possible to inform him of what was going on. While trying to free Tujunga, Old Shatterhand is also arrested by Captain Bradley. After the deadline, Winnetou and his warriors set out on the warpath to free Tujunga and Shatterhand. A wild fight ensues, in which the soldiers even shoot the Indians with cannons. Shatterhand has to watch powerlessly tied to a pole in the fort. In the course of this fight, however, Tujunga can provoke Corporal Bush to the point that he takes him out of his cell. In the ensuing scuffle between Tujunga and Bush, a shot is fired from Bush's revolver, which causes an explosion in the fort's powder magazine. Tujunga and Bush are killed in the process. With that the fight is over. General Taylor returns to the fort and has Captain Bradley arrested. The dying Dixon could still be questioned by Lieutenant Miller at Burker's ranch. The court martial will judge Bradley. Shatterhand and Winnetou return to the Apache hunting grounds with the dead Tujunga.
Reviews
“The scenes in which hundreds of Indians and cavalrymen have the final battle are impressive. The color photos of the mountains are among the best that have been shown on screen for a long time. "
“The dialogue is so cruelly kitsched up and the batch actors are so miserable that you feel like you're at a carnival ball. The Apache war dance arouses stormy exhilaration, and even a short-sighted old mother notices the bumbling work of the fireworks in the fight for the fort. "
"While the fight scenes can withstand any comparison with American westerns, there is no adequate formation of the atmospheric sequences for the literary model."
"In contrast to the two previous products of the German Western wave, OLD SHATTERHAND is not satisfied with a colorful, romantic picture arc of the Wild West, but tries to catch up with the style of modern, socially critical Westerns."
“Completely uninspired, wooden film adaptation of the classic youth book; the film music, excellent color photography, attention to detail and grandiose landscapes compensate for a directorial disaster. "
"The film is able to captivate its audience and fascinates with fantastic recordings, good actors and indulgent music."
“European Westerns, designed with visual impact on motifs from several Karl May novels, routinely and excitingly staged [...]. The partly mythical exaggeration of the title figure is unpleasant. "
"A western from the Karl May series, which cannot deny the American influence in the realism of its scenes, but which for the rest operates an unacceptable mythical exaggeration of its title figure."
Distribution title abroad
The film was announced on film posters abroad with the following titles:
- Argentina : "La ultima lucha del Apache"
- Belgium : "The Battle of Fort Apache"
- Czechoslovakia / Austria / Romania : "Old Shatterhand"
- France : "Les Cavaliers Rouges"
- United Kingdom / United States : "Apache's Last Battle"
- Italy : "La Battaglia di Forte Apache"
- Yugoslavia : "Old Šeterhend"
- Spain : "La ultima batalla de los Apaches"
Awards
- Golden screen for over 3 million visitors within 12 months. Awarded on October 8, 1965 in the Gloria-Palast , Berlin .
Others
- The film, with which producer Artur Brauner wanted to build on the overwhelming success of Der Schatz im Silbersee by his competitor Horst Wendlandt , was made under considerable time pressure. Brauner was able to circumvent the rights for all America material that Wendlandt had secured from Karl May Verlag by creating a film that did not refer to any Karl May novel. The participation of Winnetou actor Pierre Brice was ultimately secured when Brauner agreed to release Elke Sommer , who was under contract with him, for a later Wendlandt film, which was redeemed by her participation in Unter Vultures .
- Producer Artur Brauner initially tried to hire a director with Hollywood experience, but could not come to an agreement with Henry Koster , George Sherman or Donald Siegel . So he signed the less experienced Leopold Lahola , but then parted with him again. A director could only be engaged five days before the scheduled start of shooting with the currently unemployed Argentinian Hugo Fregonese, who was in Rome.
- Since the film was not related to any novel, there was great uncertainty about the plot. This was not least due to the Constantin company , which was responsible for the distribution and insisted that the content was compatible with Horst Wendlandt's productions. Therefore, a new role had to be created for Daliah Lavi, originally intended as Winnetou's sister Nscho-chi. The original script by Daniel Mainwaring and two drafts by Ladislas Fodor remained unsatisfactory, so that when shooting began, only drafts and individual scenes were available. The final script was written in Yugoslavia during the shooting by the flown in Robert A. Stemmle, who combined the existing drafts with suggestions from producer Artur Brauner and director Hugo Fregonese.
- This time the Apache camp Winnetous was located in the Krka National Park near the waterfalls there and thus deviated from the pueblo village from the film Winnetou 1st part, which was recently shown . The most important filming took place in the vicinity of Dubrovnik , where the film team was based in the Hotel Argentina . The Fort Grant was in the valley of Popovo Polje built nearby Burkers Ranch . The western town of Golden Hill stood in the Zupci valley, the Northern Ranch in a side valley . Then, at the end of November, the team moved south to Ulcinj , in the vicinity of which the ambush and the duel between Winnetou and the Comanche chief took place in constantly bad weather.
- The jump of the completely naked Paloma into the waterfalls, an unusually spectacular film scene when it was made, was performed by the then 16-year-old Gordana Zeitz-Ceko.
- Old Shatterhand was the most expensive of all Karl May films at a total cost of around five million DM. Composer Riz Ortolani was even allowed to use a choir for his film music (which is somewhat reminiscent of the music of the film The Magnificent Seven ).
- The later “Stammindianer” in the East German Indian films of the DEFA , Gojko Mitić, had his first short appearance in this film as a dancing Apache warrior. However, he was listed as "Georg Mitić" in the credits . Mitić was then in two other Karl May films: in Winnetou Part 2 and Under Vultures .
- The villain Captain Bradley is the only Winnetou movie villain who survives in the end. His actor Guy Madison also showed his shooting skills with a bow and arrow in the role of the Indian "Hawk Eye".
- The actual singer of the song "The Hour Came" sung in the film by barmaid Rosemarie (Kitty Mattern) is no longer known.
- Contrary to some claims, according to the Karl May Archive in Göttingen , the 70 mm film version does not have six-channel magnetic sound . No use was made of the sound technology of the 70 mm format; the film music is also only available in mono.
- Yugoslavia , where the film was shot, is not officially named among the participating countries . In contrast to the French and Italian co-producers, the Yugoslav Avala Film was not part of the production agreement. Avala Film only acted as a service partner of CCC-Film.
- On September 27, 1970, after a long effort, Old Shatterhand was the first Karl May film ever to be shown on German television (ARD) and achieved a viewing participation of 34% with 17.88 million viewers.
media
- VHS : Old Shatterhand - Polyband
- DVD : Old Shatterhand - Polyband 75020-6
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Music :
LP: Old Shatterhand - Celine Records - CLSP 5001-X (only on the collector's market)
CD: Old Shatterhand - Cobra Records - CR 002
CDs: Wilder Westen - HOT Orient - Karl May film music 1936 - 1968 - Bear Family Records BCD 16413 HL - 8 CDs with 192 pages of film book
Web links
- Old Shatterhand in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Old Shatterhand at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Michael Petzel: Karl-May-Filmbuch . Karl-May-Verlag, Bamberg 1998, ISBN 3-7802-0153-4 , p. 502 .
- ↑ Old Shatterhand at filmportal.de : "In cooperation with" with Avala Film (Belgrade). See also note under miscellaneous .
- ^ According to Michael Petzel, the voice actress Inge Landgut says: Karl-May-Filmbuch , Karl-May-Verlag, Radebeul (²1999), ISBN 3-7802-0153-4 , p. 500; IMDb and others name Ingeborg Wellmann as the dubbing voice
- ↑ Old Shatterhand. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Der Tagesspiegel: In the gorges of the Balkans
- ^ Michael Petzel: Karl-May-Filmbuch, Karl-May-Verlag, Radebeul (²1999), ISBN 3-7802-0153-4 , p. 171