O Tesouro dos Renegados

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

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.

Let me put this topic on a nationalistic setting - namely, that this movie, Treasure of Silver Lake or "Der Schatz im Silbersee" (1962) is strictly German movie and that it reflects a specific historical period of that country from 19th century, the literary Romanticism and struggle for Unification of the Masses. Karl May (1842-1912) as the protagonist writer of the adventure story came from a poor background and strive hard to make for a living his whole life. He was an enigmatic author for Germany, Adolf Hitler admitted he was overwhelmed by him as a boy and Albert Einstein was also great fan of his books. This is purely German phenomenon we have here of both exasperation and charm - viz, Karl May who used to tell his stories from first person had never visited America or the Orient or China before later years when he personally was devoted to Evangelism, whatsoever.

We shouldn't regard May's literature as trivial or in that case that already during his lifetime he has been copied or parodied. He is one of the great writers of adventure literature from the period before the World Wars, together with Mayne Reid and Emilio Salgari. Their Indians are not ethnological North Americans but simply savages prone to evangelization. Their White Male characters are prototypes of the Superman from the 20th century, always justified and invincible. In the case of American Wild West stories their heroes lack historical accuracy although many of the plots develop in mid-nineteen centuries, presumably before the American Civil War 1862-1865 and with no certain American Geography. So don't look for typical Western Film and try use your imagination. I will further explicate myself.

I have numerous historical books in my library on Modern American History but not a single volume about Indian Wars in literary perspective. I have some scattered materials on Zane Gray, Louis L'Amour, etc. but they are top-listing from 20th century and have numerous film adaptations. The fellows we are talking above are firstly coming from abroad (Germany, Ireland, Italy) and secondly, have historical sense that is indifferent to Anglo-American political issues. So they come and go as foreigners, more or less, the only common ground being Christianity of the advancing trappers or sometimes the eccentricity of a visiting European scholar. Women are always beautiful and stick to family values. I will speak by my memory since I have read those books long time ago and their plot is fuzzy in my mind, but Mayne Reid's books concern the period before American-Mexican War 1846-1848 where the titular was wounded in the thigh and returned to Ireland. After that he started to write books (from Ireland) about his past adventures and mostly dealing with Texas sharp-shooters; Mayne Reid doesn't speak about the defense of Alamo or General Santa Ana - which are subject to many American Films and stories. He did write about Tecumseh the Creek and Osceola the Seminole before they were defeated and sent to Indian Reservations. There were two films based on Reid's novels about those early Indian heroes that were produced by DEFA (formerly, the GDR Film Studio) with Serbian actor Gojko Mitic as principal star. The latter participated in the 1970s at some 20 Indian Films, all based on genuine book plots from Fenimore Cooper, Mayne Reid, Liselotte Welskopf-Henrich, etc.

I will skip the material on Emilio Salgari, but he deserve special attention for his Far West Trilogy (1908) dealing with Chief Red Cloud the Sioux, his wife Yalla and daughter Minehaha, being persecuted by American trapper and agent John T. that was scalped by the Sioux. The book was exemplary 1000 pages, with some historical events and personages like Chivington Massacre and General Custer among others traversing 30 years of time. No railroads existing, which started to appear in the Wild West circa 1860s.

Now let's go to Karl May. I will try to plot the geography of his novels and leave aside the timeline which is not very clear to me. By the time Old Shatterhand arrive in Santa Fe, the Great Plains are the last abode of Native Americans. Here still roam consolidated tribes of several ethnic groups (meaning, territory west of Mississippi River and no American States charted) - Kiowa, Cheyenne, Dakota, Sioux, Arapaho, Comanche and westernmost are Apache, Navajo; still further west are Shoshone and Ute). So looking back at a political map today, these are the states that join the American Union after the mentioned war with Mexico - firstly, Texas along the Rio Grande River; then New Mexico which is undivided and later its western part become Arizona. California become a state but at first is sparsely populated before the Gold Rush in 1870s. Between the Pacific Coast and the New Mexico territories to the North lies the state of Utah and then Nevada. Here principally develop the story in "Treasure of Silver Lake" with no big cattle towns and only wooden forts available. The concept of Cowboy or "cattle-herder" is non-existent yet.

Finally, few words about the actors staff. Lex Barker and Pierre Brice (Winnetou) are excellent in their performance in all 13 movies of the Karl May franchise. Herbert Low (the Colonel Villain) is the most popular actor in this movie. He was Austro-Hungarian by birth and performed in 113 credits for Anglo-American productions. Lom died 95 years old in 2012. Thank You!

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.