Winnetou - 2. Teil

The cast is as cosmopolitan as it can be : German (Dor,the director's wife , Kinski) ,French (Brice) ,English (Steele) ,Italian (Massimo Girotti aka Terence Hill) ,American (Barker), .....

But this is not my favorite Winnetou:Hugo Fregonese did a better job with "old shatterhand "even though the principal's role is reduced to his well-known philosophy ;"old shatterhand " had a better screenplay and a much more effective directing .

There are shades of "broken arrow " in it ,and too many plotholes ; the love of Lieutenant Merrill is a fait accompli; out of the blue ,he decides to marry the beautiful Indian ,and the father and Suzanne (his sister? ) accept it without a moment's hesitation ; this kind of marriage is common in westerns since "broken arrow",but they often meet a bad end (Delmer Daves ' film) or are strongly disapproved by the daddy ("gunman's walk" )

Gallic Pierre Brice is true to himself as the Indian Gandhi ; peace is the key to everything in his philosophy and his words of wisdom always make sense;he's ready to give it all to preserve it,even though he must sacrifice his love for Ribanna ;but ,a bachelor , he will be able to follow his paleface brother in further adventures; the comic relief and his six-dollar-hat are not very funny. Kinski makes up for it as the baddie: but , his count-the-steps trick is far-fetched .

Adventures , action , crossfire and gorgeous Yugoslavian exteriors magnificently photographed .This is a thrilling and stirring adventure based on Karl May trilogy with two agreeable characters as Old Shatterhand and Winnitou, being stunningly played by Lex Barker and Pierre Brice respectively . It deals with Forester (the British Anthony Steel), a ruthless oil baron, who spreads a reign of terror from the badlands of Oklahoma to the hell-hills of the Dakotas and attempts to take Indian lands where there's petroleum . He wants to create a war between the native American tribes and the white men . Then there takes place an emotive meeting between and Winnetou (Pierre Brice) and Old Shatterhand (Lex Barker who married Spanish Carmen Cervera who subsequently wedded Braon Thyssen) .Old Shatterhand, Winnetou and their sidekick Castlepool (Arent) try to prevent this . Meanwhile Apache chief Winnetou saves a girl from a bear attack and then he falls in love for the gorgeous Indian (Karin Dor who married to director Harald Reinl) . They free three US soldiers taken prisoners by the Ponka tribe . They are joined by an army party and an amateur botanist to track down the outlaws .There is also a Lt. named Robert (Terence Hill or Mario Girotti previously his successful ¨Trinity¨) from the Army helping the group and he also falls in love with the Indian girl ,and takes place a particular loving triangle between Pierre Brice , Terence Hill and Karin Dor (of ¨Topaz¨ and appeared in other Karl May films as white woman) . Old Shatterland and his faithful half-brother are on the trail to chase the nasty Forester . In spite of troubles caused by bandits led by Luke (Klaus Kinski) who attack and massacre an Indian village , they get escape . Old Shatterhand set out on pursuit of the bandits and prepares them a trap . But when Shatterhand rides for military help against Forester's gang who captured their companions, he finds the tribe's friendly chief succeeded by his hostile Indians who prove to be a dangerous enemy . Later on , Winnetou attempts a treaty of peace and prepares a summit between the Indian tribes and the Northern Colonel (Renato Baldini). At the end , into a cave occurs a breathtaking epilogue by means of shootouts , explosions and fire .

This Western|Adventure results to be an acceptable episode about one of the series of popular German made Western , featuring the duo formed by valiant ¨Old Shatterhand¨ who agrees to guide the motley group trough Indian territory and immortal ¨Winnetou¨ , both of them repeat their same notorious roles as dignified as always . This enjoyable saga benefits from sensational adventures , shootouts , explosions , exciting combats, larger-than-life characters and spectacular scenarios shot in Atelier, Spandau, Berlin, Germany (studio),Grobnicko Polje, Croatia ,Kredarica, Lukovo, Plitvice, Yugoslavia ,Postojna cave, Radmanove Linice valley,Stobrec quarry, Yugoslavia,cement factory, Solin, Split, Croatia

Winnetou-Pierre Brice repeats , as usual, his excellent and immortal role to be continued in a TV series. Lex Barker scores especially high marks , though he plays as a serious and intelligent frontiersman . Enjoyable relationship between Old Shatterhand and Winnetou is quite match . Pierre Brice is sensational as Winnetou , he is descendant of old French nobility , after enlisting as volunteer to the French Army and fighting in Indochina, he attended acting lessons and got a first small role in some film . In 1962, a German producer searched for an actor who should play the Native American chief Winnetou on a Western movie adapted from novels by Karl May and got to know Brice at the Berlin Film Festival. He got the role and portrayed "Winnetou" in ten more movies with his co-star Lex Barker as "Old Shatterhand". These very successful productions made him a superstar in Germany, winning several awards such as Bambi or the Golden Otto of teenager magazine "Bravo". Furthermore , received Germany's Cross of Merit, First Class as one the most popular Frenchmen in Germany . Although appearing on countless other movies and TV shows, he will always be best remembered as "Winnetou", whom he also played at the Bad Segeberg open air theater.

The highbrow Lex Barker who like his co-star and good friend Pierre Brice started a singing career and released several records and played the most part of series : ¨Apache gold(1963)¨ by Harald Reinl, ¨Apaches last Battle(1964)¨ by Hugo Fregonese, ¨Last of renegades(1964)¨, ¨The desperate trail¨, ¨Old Surehand¨ (1965) directed by Alfred Vohrer, ¨Old Shatterland(1966)¨ by Harald Philipp, ¨In the valley of death(1968)¨ by Harald Reinl . Stewart Granger took the role in two occasions ,he starred a diverse character but the role is pretty similar to Old Shatterland , he plays with mirth and liking manner as ¨Among vultures¨ and ¨Winnetou and Surehand¨ .Besides Rod Cameron starred only one : ¨Old Firehand¨ in which chemistry between stuffy Cameron and Brice is inexistent . The film displays a colorful cinematography and a catching , sensible musical score ,though with excessive use of synthesizer by Martin Bottcher , series' ordinary , being eventually replaced in some episode by Peter Thomas . The motion picture produced by Rialto Productions is professionally directed by Harald Reinl who realized various Karl May titles , besides he was a German thriller expert called Krimi - Edward Wallace adaptation- and filmed other Western as ¨The last Mohican¨ and a epic rendition , ¨Nibelungen ¨ also with Terence Hill and his wife Karin Dor ; unfortunately Harald Reinl died a few years ago , he committed suicide in Santa Cruz De Tenerife , Islas Canarias . Rating : 6 , acceptable and passable . Worthwhile seeing for marvelous landscapes and breathtaking outdoors from Yugoslavia and Croatia.

This second picture of Karl May's Winnetou trilogy has everything required on a western movie, the upcoming war over White men and Indians, peace agreement, a white soldier marrying a native girl, ambush, a cruel gang extracting oils, a Fort's soldiers, settlers have been slaughtered by outlaws, for Indians be blamed, the casting are absolutely stellar, Lex Barker, Pierre Brice, Terence Hill, Klaus Kinski, Anthony Steel and Renato Baldini, although the high point is the marvelous breathtaking Yuguslavian landscape, calm clean rivers, blue lagoon, green forests, rocky peaks and a fabulous wide natural cave, like a greatest cathedral, where the showdown took place, apart some contrived scenes the picture allowed us see this amazing place, no blue screen or studio's sets, just shot on the wildest Yuguslavia countryside, not bad at all!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

This film essentially starts with Apache chief "Winnetou" (Pierre Brice) riding on horseback to meet a Native American tribal chief of the Assiniboine about joining comprehensive peace talks with America. Along the way, he encounters a young Assiniboine maiden named "Ribanna" (Karin Dor) being attacked by a bear and rushes in to save her. Grateful for his help, she introduces herself and reveals that she is the daughter of the Assiniboine chief. His bravery strengthens his cause, and he convinces the Assiniboine chief to collaborate with several rival Native American tribes to negotiate peace with the American government. Additionally, while he's there, he frees three American soldiers held captive by the Assiniboine, including one named "Lieutenant Robert Merrill" (Terence Hill), who just so happens to be the son of the officer in charge of a nearby Army garrison. However, there is a wealthy oil baron named "Bud Forrester" (Anthony Steel) who has been causing chaos among the Native Americans to claim their lands--and he'll stop at nothing to sabotage all peace efforts. Rather than reveal more, I'll just say that I enjoyed this particular installment of the Winnetou series a bit more than the three films that came before it, especially due to the romantic drama involving Winnetou, Ribanna, and Lieutenant Merrill. Additionally, just like its three predecessors, it also features beautiful scenery and background music. In any case, I enjoyed this film for the most part, and I've rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Apache chief Pierre Brice saves Assiniboine princess Karin Dor from a guy in a bear suit. He takes her back to her village and discovers that the Assiniboines have captured cavalry officer Terence Hill and two of his men. Brice has a plan to meet with colonel Renato Baldini and make peace, so he convinces Assiniboine chief Rikard Brzeska to let Hill go with a message for the colonel, who happens to be his father. Brice and all the chiefs will come to the fort and they'll all talk peace.

On the way home, Hill sees a brutal attack on a native village by a group of men lead by Klaus Kinski. He fights them off with the help of Lex Barker, who was conveniently passing by and also happens to be pals with Brice. Kinski is working for Anthony Steel, an oil baron who wants no peace because he can use conflict with the natives as an excuse to steal their land.

Baldini and the native chiefs reach a peace agreement, mostly because Hill agrees to marry Dor (who's in love with Brice, but both of them agree to take one for the team). Steel attacks a group of settlers and blames it on the natives. It's up to Barker, Brice, Hill and comedic sidekick Eddi Arent (who I didn't mention previously because he annoys me) to stop Kinski and Steel and save the day.

One of a series of West German westerns based on the books of Karl May that have Native American heroes even though they are all played by white Europeans. This is fairly typical Euro-genre fare, not all that coherent in the plot department, but a hell of a lot of fun. It's pretty much worth seeing just to see Barker, Hill and Kinski together, but it's also just chock full of great little action set pieces.