Les cavaliers rouges

Before a peace contract with the natives will be signed, Captain Bradley and a bunch of outlaws try and sabotage it by faking Indian attacks on settlers. Old Shatterhand and Winnetou start searching for the members of this conspiracy.

It is a little bit strange that the movie doesn't really click, because it has all the ingredients of a typical Karl May western of that period, plus a perfect cast with Lex Barker, Pierre Brice, Daliah Lavi and Ralf Wolter as the good guys, facing excellent villains (Guy Madison, Rik Battaglia). It is somewhat too long with two hours for a rather straight story, and with its occasional brutality (even murder of a child) and carelessness for detail never develops the sense of magic that was typical for the best contributions to the series. Ultimately a disappointment.

This movie stresses to Lex Barker, and Winnetou degenerates as a helping rider. For those music fans, rely on Martin Boettcher, Daliah Lavi didn' t sing a typical song. Some kind of action is worth watching the non original Karl May picturization.

Born in Brest,Britanny ,and recently deceased,Pierre Brice is a French actor who is virtually unknown in his native country whereas he is considered an icon in Germany;He used to live in Garmish-Partenkirschen , a splendid town in the mountain ,where you can see his house.

Hugo Fregonese ,who worked in Argentina ,America ,England ,and here in Germany enjoyed a good reputation ;his work here is effective, notably in the attack of the farm ,treated with a remarkable economy of means (one only sees a little boy in the house), in the somber scenes :the colonel lying in a room of the fort,and the finale ,which avoids the obligatory happy end .The cinematography is luminous and attractive .

In this second part,Winnetou takes a back seat to his paleface brother Shatterhand ;apart from the single combat ,he keeps a low profile, playing the part of the wise man, the pacifist ,urging his people to smoke the pipes of peace; Shatterhand has the active part , and it's funny to see him pit against baddie officer Bradley; in "il boia di venezia " , Lex Barker (the brave good guy) already played opposite Guy Madison (the calculating villain). On the other hand, Paloma (polyglot Daliah Lavi) is a character who does not bring much to the plot .

Not a western masterpiece, but an entertaining one ,with never a dull moment.

The striking character of this film is its visual beauty and stylish quality of art. Pierre Brice as Winnetou makes an impressing character for his nobility and integrity from beginning to end, and Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand matches him well enough. All the other actors are good as well. It's a grim story, there are some atrocious incidents with bloodsheds and nasty treasons on the way, but the loveliness of the landscapes and photography make the film more than enjoyable all the way in spite of the nastiness of the foul play of the white man. Karl May the author was one of the first to side with the Indians against the white man as he wrote his great Winnetou novels in his 50s in the 1890s, and they are still unique and impressing for their moral paragon of nobility. Seldom has the desert of the Apaches been so beautifully filmed as in this classic of an odd and much underrated western film.

As other reviewers have already pointed out, this sure is not the best movie in the series. The cast is actually with the usual suspects and a refreshing Dalilah Lavi. And she is the one who gives us a first in the Karly May movies, she shows some fur and takes a nude bath ;-)