The Treasure of the Silver Lake (1962)

In their first cinematic adventure, Apache chief Winnetou and mountain man Old Shatterhand pursue a gang of murderous outlaws who will stop at nothing to find the legendary treasure of Silver Lake.

Director:

Harald Reinl

Writers:

Karl May (novel), Harald G. Petersson (screenplay) (as H.G. Petersson)

Stars:

Pierre Brice, Lex Barker, Herbert Lom

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lex Barker	...	Old Shatterhand
Herbert Lom	...	Colonel Brinkley
Götz George	...	Fred Engel
Karin Dor	...	Ellen Patterson
Marianne Hoppe	...	Mrs. Butler
Eddi Arent	...	Lord Castlepool
Ralf Wolter	...	Sam Hawkens
Sima Janicijevic	...	Patterson (as Jan Sid)
Ilija Ivezic	...	Hilton
Mirko Boman	...	Gunstick Uncle
Branko Spoljar	...	Doc Jefferson Hartley
Milivoj Stojanovic	...	Knox
Slobodan Dimitrijevic	...	Rollender Donner
Jozo Kovacevic	...	Grosser Wolf
Velimir Chytil	...	Woodward (as Velimir Hitil)

Storyline

In Arkansas, a stagecoach is robbed by Colonel Brinkley's gang. What the gang is really after is a treasure map one of the stagecoach passengers carries. However, Mr. Engel only has half the map. The other half of the treasure map is held by Engel's partner, a Mr. Patterson. Even so, the gang kills Engel and steal his half a map. Later, Fred Engel, the son of the murdered stagecoach passenger, seeks help to find his father's killers and retrieve the map. He contacts famous frontier scout Old Shatterhand and his Apache blood brother Winnetou. The three men set out to catch the killers. Fred Engel reveals to his two friends that his father's missing map pinpoints the location of a gold treasure at Silver Lake. They head toward the farm owned by Mr. Patterson, Engel's business partner. Patterson has the other half of the map and a daughter, Ellen, whom Fred is in-love with. Unfortunately, Colonel Brinkley's gang has the same idea of retrieving the other half of the treasure map, since ...

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Plot Keywords:

lake | treasure | euro western | bare chested male bondage | siege | 

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Taglines:

Indian Gold! Blood-Red Fury!

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Genres:

Western | Adventure

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Details

Country:

West Germany Yugoslavia France

Language:

German

Release Date:

1 November 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Treasure of the Silver Lake

Filming Locations:

Croatia

Box Office

Budget:

DEM 2,900,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rialto Film Preben-Philipsen, Jadran Film, Rialto Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the very first movie to receive the "Golden Screen" (Goldene Leinwand) for having over 3 million visitors within 12 months. It was awarded on 22 January 1964 at the Mathäser-Filmpalast, Munich. The movie also received the Bambi-award 1963 as best box-office-production, handed over on 19 April 1964 at the Schwarzwaldhalle, Karlsruhe. The movie also received a sum of 200.000 DM from the Federal Ministry of the Interior in 1963 as movie-prize. The main title by composer Martin Böttcher, the "Old Shatterhand-Melodie" was the most successful track in German hit-parades in the 1960ies, stayed there for several month and was sold with over 100.00 copies. For that time that was very unusual, especially for a film music-track without any singers. The music was played by members of the symphony-orchestra of the NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk = North German Radio). The theme later also was recorded as vocal track by several singers, including a version by the movie's actor Pierre Brice (Winnetou). The set-location was in Yugoslavia (that doesn't have any Alps, as some foreign critics seem to believe). "Der Schatz im Silbersee" was the first screening of a novel by Karl May set in the American West. Earlier movies after his novels were all set in the Near East.

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Goofs

The mentioned butterfly Papilio polymnestor parinda is from Sri Lanka and not from North America.

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Alternate Versions

When the film was submitted to the FSK, they offered the distributor the choice of either a "Not under 12" rating for the uncut version or a "Not under 6" rating if some fight scenes were removed. Distributor Constantin decided to release the uncut version. However, for the re-release in 1964, some scenes were removed and the film was released with a "Not under 6" rating. Unfortunately, these cuts were done to the original negative and the removed parts were destroyed.

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Connections

Followed by The Oil Prince (1965)

User Reviews

Perfect for a Sunday afternoon

The first of the very popular Karl May films of the sixties in Germany is at the same time really embarrassing and touching with its simple good vs. evil plot. A German Western, shot at location in oops, Yugoslavia, is surely strange, but if Italian Western movies have their charme why not German?

Winnetou and Old Shatterhand as played by Bierce and Barker have shaped our image of the way heroes have to look and behave. Götz George, arguably the best living German actor, plays one of his early roles and you can see that he is taking it not really seriously.

I recently tried to watch it when it was on TV on prime time. There is a treasure somewhere in the "silver lake" and evil guys trying to steel the plan. Nothing really spectacular. But good supporting cast. It is really only endurable on a Sunday afternoon when you are relaxed and can enjoy the haunting film score. It helps to have read the books which are very popular in Germany. A perfect example of how the mood of a book can be recaptured with a movie. In fact one of my teachers said that the Karl May films were the only examples of films that come close to the literature that they are based on. And that only because the books are not worth much. It is not true really. There are other examples like...hm, Name of the Rose?