Der Schatz im Silbersee

First entry of a string based on the famous saga about Karl May novel inspired by Fenimore Cooper with the ordinary Pierre Brice as Apache leader and the serious Lex Barker as a German adventurer , being well produced by great producer Horst Wendlandt . This was the first shooting of a novel by author Karl May set in the American West and his earlier movies after his novels were all set in the Near East . Glimmer and exciting Western that contains adventures , action , crossfire and gorgeous Yugoslavian exteriors magnificently photographed and in which take place the emotive meeting between Winnetou (Pierre Brice) and a bearded Old Shatterhand (Lex Barker) , being subsequently replaced by Old Surehand (Stewart Granger) . This is a thrilling and stirring adventure based on Karl May novel with two agreeable characters as Old Shatterhand and Winnetou , being stunningly played by Lex Barker as an expert scout and Pierre Brice as an Apache chief respectively . Old Shatterhand and Winnetou investigate the murder of a man at a stagecoach , being committed by a greedy outlaw named The Colonel (Herbert Lom) supported by his hoodlums . The stagecoach's passenger had a map that describes the treasure of Silver Lake and his son named Fred Engel (Gotz George) sets out in pursuit the murderers . Fred befriends Old Shatterland and Winnetou who along with the usual , the butterfly hunter named Lord Castlepool (Eddi Aren't) and Sam Hawkens (Ralf Wolter) set off in seek for treasure and chase the killers . Meanwhile , Fred saves and falls in love with Ellen Patterson (a gorgeous Karin Dor , director's wife who will follow playing other characters in various episodes) . Later on , there takes place a spectacular assault on a fort, a fighting between Shatterland and an Indian chief and a spectacular climax at Silver Lake.

This is an acceptable episode about one of the series of popular German made Western , featuring the intimate duo formed by valiant ¨Old Shatterhand¨ who agrees to guide the revolt against outlaws located at Indian territory and immortal ¨Winnetou¨ , both of them will repeat their same notorious roles as dignified as always . There appears Pierre Brice as noble Apache chief , he was hired in 1962 when the German producer Horst Wendlandt searched for an actor who should play the Native American chief Winnetou and got to know Brice at the Berlin Film Festival , as 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 . Although appearing on countless other movies and TV shows, he will always be best remembered as "Winnetou", whom he also played at theater. Highlights of the movie are the spectacular attack at a fort and the final scene in Silver Lake . This enjoyable saga benefits from sensational adventures , shootouts , action , emotion , larger-than-life characters and spectacular scenarios ; set-location was in former Yugoslavia , as Grobnicko Polje, Croatia , Paklenica National Park, Plitvice, Croatia and Hamburg, Germany . The immutable and incombustible Winnetou-Pierre Brice plays , as usual, his excellent and unforgettable role to be continued in a TV series . Lex Barker scored especially high marks , though he played as a serious and intelligent man who joins forces with Winnetou , while Stewart Granger as Old Surehand performs with humor and joy , he's the perfect counterpoint to Winnetou . Enjoyable relationship between Old Shatterhand/Lex Barker and Old Surehand/Stewart Granger along with Winnetou/Pierre Brice is quite match . The highbrow Lex Barker played most part of series : ¨Apache gold (1963)¨ by Harald Reinl , ¨Apaches last Battle(1964)¨ by Hugo Fregonese , ¨Last of renegades(1964)¨ , ¨The desperate trail¨, being succeeded by Stewart Granger : ¨Old Surehand¨ (1965) directed by Alfred Vohrer, ¨Rampage at Apache Wells or ¨Der Olprinz¨ by Harald Philipp . Stewart Granger as Old Surehand took the role in three occasions , he starred a diverse character but the role is pretty similar to Old Shatterland , he plays with mirth and liking manner but in ironic tone , almost parody style , 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 .

This time the support cast is top-notch such as Götz George (The Deathmaker) , the gorgeous Karin Dor (Topaz) and special mention to excellent villain Herbert Lom (Inspector Clouseau) . The film displays a colorful and rousing cinematography by Kalinke . Catching , sensitive musical score by Martin Bottcher , series' ordinary , and achieved super-retails , being eventually replaced in some episode by Peter Thomas . The "Old Shatterhand-Melodie" was the most successful track in German hit parades in the 1960s ; the theme later also was recorded as vocal track by several singers, including a version by the movie's actor Pierre Brice . The film achieved a successful box office and was the very first movie to receive the "Golden Screen" for having over 3 million visitors within 12 months . The motion picture produced by Rialto Productions (by producer Wendlandt who was subsequently succeeded by Arthur Brauner) was professionally directed Harald Reinl who directed various Karl May episodes and was a German thriller expert called Krimi - Edward Wallace adaptation . Rating : 6'5/10 , acceptable and passable first installment . Worthwhile seeing for marvelous scenarios and breathtaking outdoors from Yugoslavia including breathtaking falls , canyon , rivers , lake and mountains; all of them as spectacular as Almeria- Spain- outdoors where at the same time were shot numerous European Western .

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?

First off, I usually avoid commenting on the thoughts of other contributors to the IMDb, but since when does anyone evaluate a Western strictly on the basis of it's historical accuracy? Sounds about as logical as noting that Wile E. Coyote was working with materials purchased out of the ACME catalog that were not available in 1967 when a given cartoon was made. Like, whatever: Cowboys wear six-guns, ride horses, have mountains in the background of their locations, and don't look twice at supporting characters who are wearing baseball caps ... even though baseball had not yet been invented whenever TREASURE OF SILVER LAKE is supposed to be set.

Back to matters at hand, this was the first of a string of German made "Schnitzel Westerns" based on the books of Karl May, sort of a Teutonic version of Zane Gray who probably never got out to Dodge City either -- proof positive that anyone can write convincing fiction on any subject they choose so long as they are properly inspired & enthusiastic about it. As one other contributor notes this film is actually more progressive than American made productions of the time in it's respectful (if somewhat childish) portrayal of Native American culture. The Germans may not have gotten the war paint right but they were in awe of the Indians and don't just regard them as pop-up targets to be shot at -- though the idea of having the good guys shoot only their horses as a way to show that they were "friends" is questionable & unfortunate due to the wire tripped horse falls used to simulate it. But that's 1962 for you, and to impose modern day standards on the film is to condemn it to obscurity, which is sadly what has happened. It was wrong to trip the horsies in 1962 but even more wrong to condemn the film for being what it is, and it deserves to be seen.

Now with that said this is one of the most endearingly stupid Westerns I have ever encountered, infectiously likable from beginning to end. Euro Manbeef hero actor Lex Barker plays "Old Shatterhand", Mr. May's version of Daniel Boone and Davey Crockett combined into one character. He wears a buckskin suit, fights Injun style and at the beginning of the film is wearing a beard for the sole purpose of shaving it off to look more "civilized". Popular film villain Herbert Lom is on-hand to play the scheming, scowling, always cheezed-off villain, who wants to find a treasure of Injun gold and keep it all to himself. Villains are always more believable when they keep their motivations close to the wallet.

We also get the fetching 007 Bond Babe to be Karin Dor as the fresh-faced white woman who gets tied up to various posts no less than three times during the course of the movie and is not once felt-up by any of the bad guys. This was a more noble time in the west before Peckinpah when cowboys did each other the courtesy of fighting fair, washing regularly and wearing color coordinated costumes. There are mass horseback charges, duels to the death, a stockaded settlement to be defended, honor to be upheld, friends to be saved from doom, wise-spoken blue eyed Indian braves and doting womenfolk who dutifully stand by their men through thick & thin.

The movie has a cast of hundreds, it's Yugoslavian location work is impressively authentic if yet refreshingly unfamiliar, and the good old poetic justice ending for the greedy villains straight out of TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE get the heroes out of having to actually kill anyone. It's sweeping theme music is quite enjoyable, the camera-work arty without being bogged down by distracting flourishes, and only some unnecessary comic relief in the form of a wayward butterfly collector come between the film and a masterpiece status. It is enjoyable if somewhat socially naive, wholesome and visually compelling entertainment that the whole family can enjoy together. A testimony to modern day man's unquenchable desire to play cowboys & Indians, with even the Indians coming off as the good guys. It's stupid for sure, but aside from some wire-tripped tumbling horsies (and I pray that none were hurt), what about this movie isn't there to like?

7/10

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.

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.