Tonnerre sur la frontière

Winnetou (Pierre Brice) and his sister Nscho-tschi (Marie Versini) meet Old Firehand (Rod Cameron) and protect a Mexican town against bandits. In a time when the popularity of the series faded, even the return of Marie Versini didn't help much. Rod Cameron was the star of a Karl May western for the first and last time. He didn't appeal one tenth as much to the kids as his predecessor Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand had done. The affected manners of Viktor de Kowa as Ravenhurst did not make him another Castlepool (Eddi Aren't in „Winnetou II"). Besides, the Mexican setting took the movie one step closer to the cynical spaghetti westerns of the late 60s, far away from the myth-making „Silver Lake". Instead of Martin Böttcher, Peter Thomas of Edgar Wallace and „Raumpatrouille" fame composed the music, but this is clearly not his preferred genre. Almost nothing turns out right in this movie - mostly forgettable. Winnetou would return one more time for "Valley of Death", nevertheless.

There is no question that this film is a wreck. But, like a wreck, it is not without interest. For one thing, the pace is good, the dialogue sometimes odd and not any more clichéd than any other Western of the era, and, happily, unlike too many international Westerns, has an easy plot to follow.

And it has some interesting characters. Most unusual and self-contradictory is the English army man (played by Victor de Kowa), who acts like a highly affectatious Monty-Pythonesque old poof (and he walks really weird), but he wants to marry the boy Jace's mother; bragging like Baron Munchausen, he turns out to actually be a good shot. A difficult character to figure out.

Rod Cameron is not unappealing as the easily-smiling hero; the main attribute of the kid playing his son is that he looks like David Spade. Cameron's main side-kick is the amiably over-weight Vladimir Medov, anticipating Lee Van Cleef's amiable chubby side-kick in "Sabata" by three years.

But Pierre Brice's Winnetao, to me, seems completely out of place; I get that this actor and character starred in a series of films, but his role was a relatively unimportant one here, and it was hard for me to get over Winnatao and his sister romping through the west in leather jump suits and tennis shoes. Ridiculous, actually.

And there are too many flaws of logic to overlook as well. In the first 10 minutes, for example, we are treated to one of the worst cases of "how many bad guys do we have to kill before their number starts to decrease" that I have ever seen. Specifically, in the opening battle, I counted 13 of Silers' men attacking Cameron and the Indians. The good guys kill 9 of them off their horses. 8 of the bad guys ride up to the ledge for closer combat. Two more are shot to death, and 7 ride back after withdrawing. Yikes!

I also scratched my head in confusion in the later sequence in which Silers and Sanchez together first attack the town defended by Cameron. The defenders "trap" them in a ring of fire that looks to be no more than 8 inches high. Terrified, the bad guys retreat. Was the 8 inches of fire that great an obstacle?

On the other hand, the movie treats us to more religious imagery, treated with genuine reverence, than we are wont to see in typical spaghetti Westerns (or any Westerns, for that matter). The scene in which the priest holds up a gold crucifix in the face of the invading outlaws, momentarily stopping them in their tracks, is affecting and oddly pleasing. One image of him, shot from below and in front of him, is very well done, as his arms, holding the cross above his head, frame a perfect Byzantine-style halo around his head. A good moment for the camera-man.

A lost opportunity for a truly horrifying moment was the interesting scene in which a parade of dead peasants in their wagons slowly ride back into town. The director opted here for the suggestion of horror, when I think a more graphic display of the many murdered men sitting upright in the wagons would have been more effective.

This isn't the worst Western by any means, and is odd enough to just perhaps merit your attention for its long 98 minute run-time.

¨Winnetou und sein Freund Old Firehand ¨(original title) is a thrilling and moving story about Old Firehand and Winnetou , respectively performed by Rod Cameron and Pierre Brice. This is an entertaining but mediocre film based on Karl May trilogy novels , it starts with Old Firehand in an exciting opening sequence when he rides onto the screen and soon rescues a group led by Winnetou attacked by bandits commanded by Silers (Harald Leipnitz) . On the way Old Surehand and Old Wabble are involved in the running conflict between outlaws and Mexican villagers who have taken prisoner the Siler's brother . Old Surehand can count on the support of his new friend Winnetou, the amiable chief of the Apaches . Later on , the bandits raid the village and a Mexican old man goes out as peacemaker but he's treacherously murdered . Old Firehand, Winnetou , Tom (Todd Armstrong)and others protect the Mexican village from a gang of bandits who use dynamite , bombs and treason to defeat them . There is also an Officer (Rick Battaglia) from the Army helping the besieged village . There's an emotional love story between Tom and Winnetou's sister named Nscho-Tschi (Marie Versini) . Firehand set on pursuit of the bandits and prepares them a trap . Old Firehand and his faithful new friend Old Wabble are on the trail of the cold-blooded killer and another band of nasty Mexicans .

This is a passable episode about one of the series of popular German made Western , featuring the duo formed by valiant ¨Old Firehand¨ and immortal ¨Winnetou¨ , they repeat their same noted roles as dignified as always . This enjoyable saga benefits from sensational adventures , shootouts , explosions , larger-than-life characters and spectacular scenarios shot in Atelier, Spandau, Berlin, Germany ,Solin, Split, Croatia ,Strobec, Split, Croatia ,Vrlika, Yugoslavia . Here Winnetou-Pierre Brice plays a secondary role , chemistry between stuffy Cameron and Brice is inexistent . However , in the films starred by Stewart Granger the enjoyable relationship is quite match , Granger scores especially high marks ,as he plays with mirth and liking manner . Stewart Granger took the role in two occasions , ¨Among vultures¨ and ¨Winnetou and Surehand¨ and Pierre Brice starred all the series and he went on filming television episodes .His predecessor was the serious Lex Barker who starred a diverse character but the roles are pretty similar , he 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) also directed by Alfred Vohrer ¨Old Shatterland(1966)¨ by Harald Philipp, ¨In the valley of death(1968)¨ by Harald Reinl , besides Rod Cameron starred only one : this ¨Old Firehand¨ . The film displays a colorful cinematography and a catching musical score ,though excessive synthesizer , by Peter Thomas replacing the usual series , Martin Bottcher . The motion picture produced by Rialto Productions is regularly directed by Alfred Vohrer who directed various Karl May titles , besides he was a German thriller expert called Krimi ( Edward Wallace adaptation ) . Rating : 5 , average though in some moment here and there is entertaining .

The brutal Siler gang is on Winnetou's watch list. Four Apaches have recently been killed. Ntscho-Tschi, heavily hurt, barely escaped the murderers. Legendary Old Firehand asks his friend Winnetou for help: Siler's brother is locked up in the prison of Miramonte. If he should not be free soon, Siler threatens to transform the small border town into a sea of flames. Winnetou does not hesitate for a moment to help defend Miramonte with his silver rifle...

The Winnetou westerns are great fun, vibrant, lively and imaginative and action-packed, and this 1966 entry starring Rod Cameron as Old Firehand (old Shatterhand was Lex Barker) and Pierre Brice as Winnetou ticks most of the above, though the earlier Winnetou westerns are stronger, as this one could be a bit talky at times, however it's still quite watchable and has a good cast of characters ( especially the old Englishman as played by Victor De Kova. He lends some good comic relief and he's quite funny and weird.) There's a nice balance between humour and seriousness. The main villain is one cruel dude. The action is lively and well-staged.

The Moviemaker tried to make a Combination of the Winnetou Movies and the successful Spaghetti-Western. It didn't work well and there are several reasons why. First the Story wasn't made for Winnetou. We will never find out what Winnetou and his sister are really doing in this Mexico. It's obvious that they wrote his part into the Movie. The same is with his sister Nscho-Tsi, played by the beautiful actress Marie Versini. To give her some reason to be in the movie, the scriptwriter developed a Love Story. But the Love Story also doesn't work. After Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand and Stewart Granger as Old Surehand, you find a new hero next to Winnetou: Old Firehand. Old Firehand is played by Rod Cameron. There is no good Chemistry between Winnetou and Old Firehand. Maybe his second name is Old Sweathead because he is wearing a fur cap which he never takes off in hot sunny Mexico. Some elements seem to be taken from the magnificent 7. Old Firehand, Winnetou and others protects a Mexican Village from a gang of bandits. The public never really find out why, because there is also an Officer from the Army in the town. So why they just don't ask the army for help? There are many plot holes in this movie and you'll find bad scripted characters. One guy is an Englishman (or Scottish) Gentleman, and there you can find a good example of bad overacting on a bad scripted figure.

There are many things which a viewer can complain on this movie, but the only good about it: watching Marie Versini as Winnetou's sister and Winnetou himself Pierre Price. In my opinion it is the worst Winnetou Western and maybe the worst Karl May Movie ever.