El tesoro del lago de plata

Treasure of Silver Lake is one of the most entertaining films I've ever seen. Establishing the template for every euro-western that followed, it features non-stop action, beautiful scenery (unfortunately compromised by the pan and scan version recently aired on Encore Westerns), and an amusing and watchable cast. Like most euro-westerns the film is more sympathetic to Native Americans than a typical Hollywood movie, but the Indians aren't really the focal point of the story--though they do ride around a great deal and emit fearsome war whoops. The Good Guys, led by sometime Tarzan Lex Barker, have a treasure map that will lead them to, erm, some treasure. The Bad Guys, led by a re-dubbed Herbert Lom (and who seem to have an unlimited supply of men, horses, and ammo), want that map! Much gunplay ensues. Lom gets to whip some of his men into shape (literally), there's a trapper with a frightwig (literally), and another trapper who speaks in rhyme! Highest recommendation, as long as you know what you're getting: a fun movie with lots of action.

Having read some of the comments on this film I feel somehow compelled to defend one of my favourite childhood movies. First off, I find it very odd that accuracy in the depiction of Indian culture and the what kind of equipment was used in a film made in the 1960s, when with very few exceptions (such as Cheyenne Autumn and Broken Arrow) American Westerns only depicted Indians as villains. Moreover, in the 1960s cinematography was maybe a bit more boring by modern music-video style cutting standards. Also, the prop work (costumes, the kind of guns and knives used etc....excuse me?) was simply making do with what you could get. This was not a multi-million-dollar budget movie, it was produced for German TV in a coproduction with Yugoslavia and I think Italy. Of course the story is full of clichés, and that's not surprising since Karl May never even left Germany, he was writing escapist romanticised fantasies of noble savages and cowboys fighting against evil savages and cowboys, it's not an ethnographic study on mid-19th-century Native American war-painting styles. It is still a very good and entertaining movie with likable characters, including some for comic relief. It is still the best of all the Karl May films, even though it greatly deviates from the book. When you see these films as an adult and don't know them from childhood I can understand they don't really grip you or blow you away. But they are classics. Their clichés, great music, and scenery make them so popular and the films have, along with the books, had a great impact on popular culture in Germany, even having spawned their own spoofs and parodies. If you are looking for factual accuracy, don't watch Westerns at all, if you just like a good adventure story, watch it.

Paving the way for the Italian "Spaghetti Westerns" was this German-made "Kraut Western" that kicked off a whole series of films based on the writings of frontier adventure author Karl May. American audiences will likely have a difficult time fully appreciating this film because of the downright horrendous dubbing. Also, even though this film is inspired by the countless American westerns that preceded it, it has certain elements that may be a turn-off to traditional western enthusiasts. However, to those who approach the film with an open mind and anticipate that the dialogue will sometimes sound unintentionally funny when paired with the faces on screen, the film is more than a little entertaining. Barker plays a legendary drifter called Old Shatterhand. He roams the plains with his best pal Winnetou ("Chief of all Apaches" as the script dictates) played by Brice (and apparently played over and over by Brice in film and even on stage!) This neo-"Lone Ranger and Tonto" duo rights wrongs and helps various settlers with their sizable problems. This time out, they team up to thwart a ruthless band of criminals (led by Lom) who will stop at nothing to retrieve the title goods. If this rather simple plot sounds dull, it is decidedly not! The nearly epic film depicts stunning scenery, a nail-biting assault on a fort, a knock down contest between Barker and a towering Indian chief and a satisfactory climax at Silver Lake. Barker, a gloriously handsome former "Tarzan" has his beautiful mug hidden under a beard at first, but not for too long. He gives a standout performance in a role which won him multitudinous European fans. Brice (a French, blue-eyed actor!) doesn't get to do as much, but still made enough impact to assure a long career as this character. Also in the cast is hunky, stocky, deliriously sexy George. He manages to overcome the ridiculous vocal dubbing and provide a highly energetic and entertaining performance. In fact, all of the actors got a rigorous workout in the making of this film. They clearly did much of their own riding and stunt work. (Some of it is really odd. Watch for the fight scene between George and Lom in which George practically sits on Lom's face and then picks him up by his genitals to throw him! George also throws a dead/injured man down a well....the only source of drinking water for miles and miles! Why?) On hand for decorative purposes (which she fulfills well) is Dor, who would later be a Bond girl and the subject of one of Hitchcock's most famous camera shots in "Topaz". Lom (with a shocking burst of red hair on his usually bald head) is also beset by bad dubbing, but comes across as a serious villain. There are some comic relief characters that are excruciating. A Gabby Hayes-style rip off in a fright wig, a foppish entomologist with a butterfly net and, worst of all, a lanky, coonskin cap-wearing man who insists (to the utter torture of the viewing audience) on speaking everything in rhyme! There are also goofy elements like people hiding behind tiny trees and bushes in plain sight, yet not being seen. Still, the good outweighs the bad here with the colorful characters and exciting situations going a long way to make the film entertaining. The music also tends to be pretty interesting when it isn't intrusive. The scenes at the title lake are truly beautiful, not only due to the gorgeous setting, but also because George finally takes his shirt off for a while. Fans of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" will find the climax of this film to be a bit of an inspiration for the climax of that film.

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?

As a fan of western movies, I was astonished by this one. There was at least 300 or more extras in this film. There were bad guys, good guys, a whole lot of Indians, a secret tunnel, a cave with treasure, a beautiful girl, etc. The scenery was terrific. Apparently it was shot in southern or eastern Europe. All in all, a terrific film. I gave it a 10.