Pierre Brice

The French actor Pierre Brice (1929-2015) fascinated millions of European film fans in his role as Apache chief Winnetou. The handsome Brice was the hero of 11 films based on German author Karl May's tales of America's colonization. During the 1960s, Winnetou - a long-haired saint with a gun - was a superstar among European kids.


German autograph card. Photo: Lothar Winkler.


German postcard by Schorsch und Söhne, Kulmbach.


German promotion card by Herz Klang for the record Gefühle. Photo: Frank Wunderlich.

Paratrooper in Indochina

Pierre Brice was born into nobility as Baron Pierre Louis de Bris in Brest, France, in 1929. He was 11 years old when the Nazis invaded France. Since he was brought up as a patriot, he joined his father in the Résistance at age 15. When he was 19, he enlisted as a volunteer in the French Army and fought for four years as a paratrooper in Indochina.

In 1951, Brice returned from the war. He turned his life around and became an actor. He took acting classes from the Russian actor Gregori Chmara. He became a model for advertisements and photo novels, acted as a door-to-door salesman and travelled with a circus.

He got his first small film role in the Eddie Constantine thriller Ça va barder/Give 'em Hell (John Berry, Jacques Lamare, 1955). Bigger roles followed in French productions like Les Tricheurs/Youthful Sinners (Marcel Carné, 1958), but his career in France wasn't likely to take off.

He simply did not have the same kind of talents and charisma as Alain Delon (to whom he was sometimes compared), nor did his good looks go down too well with the (then booming) Nouvelle Vague.

Brice was more a typical matinée idol, he was well-built and very handsome. He could easily pull off any kind of adventurer and he looked convincingly in period costume. Brice went to Italy, to appear in the Peplums, the Sword and Sandal films and similar adventure films like the Gothic horror shocker Il Mulino delle donne di pietra/Mill of the Stone Women (Giorgio Ferroni, 1960), and the modern-day crime film Il Rossetto/Red Lips (Damiano Damiani, 1960).


German postcard, no. E 74. Photo: Constantin. Publicity Still for Der Schatz im Silbersee/Treasure of Silver Lake (1962).


Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam/Edition Facet Publishers. Photo: Rank Film Publishers (Holland) N.V. Publicity Still for Der Schatz im Silbersee/Treasure of Silver Lake (1962) with Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand.


German postcard, no. ED 52. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Schatz im Silbersee/Treasure of Silver Lake (1962).

Winnetou

In 1962 at the Berlin Film Festival, Pierre Brice met the German producer Horst Wendlandt, head of Rialto Film. Wendlandt searched for an actor to play a Native American chief in Der Schatz im Silbersee/Treasure of Silver Lake (Harald Reinl, 1962).

Blogger Mike Haberfelner wonders why Wendlandt thought that Pierre Brice would be right for the role: "Sure, Brice was a suitably handsome actor for such a role and he had proven himself as a heroic lead time and again, but he was also almost unknown in Germany and he looked nothing like a Native American."

Brice gave a passionate interpretation of Winnetou, and according to Haberfelner his impact easily overshadowed his co-star, Hollywood veteran Lex Barker, who as Old Shatterhand was first-billed in the credits.

Der Schatz im Silbersee was the first filmisation of a novel by Karl May (1842-1912) set in the American West. Earlier films after his novels, like Die Teufelsanbeter/The Devil Worshippers (Marie Luise Droop, 1920) and Die Sklavenkarawane/The Caravan of Slaves (Georg Marischka, Ramón Torrado, 1958), were all set in the Near East.

Der Schatz im Silbersee was a co-production of Germany, Yugoslavia and France. The principal shooting took place in the national park Paklenica Karst River Canyon, Yugoslavia now Croatia. Marianne Hoppe had her first international film role, and for the laughs Eddi Arent (Lord Castlepool) and Ralf Wolter (Trapper Sam Hawkins) appeared. British actor Herbert Lom was cast as a bad colonel, but his performance was restricted by the script.


German postcard, no. ED 51. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Schatz im Silbersee (1962).


German postcard, no. ED 62. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Schatz im Silbersee (1962).


Karin Dor, Lex Barker and Pierre Brice in Der Schatz im Silbersee. German postcard, no. ED 64. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Schatz im Silbersee (1962).


Dutch postcard by Facet Publishers, Lunteren, no. 4. Photo: Rank Film Distributors (Holland) N.V. Publicity still from Der Schatz im Silbersee (1962).

A superstar in West Germany

Der Schatz im Silbersee has a larger-than-life, fairytale-like atmosphere that attracted a huge audience. It was the very first German film to receive the Goldene Leinwand (Golden Screen), for having over 3 million visitors within 12 months.

The film also received the Bambi-award 1963 as best box-office production. It received furthermore a sum of 200.000 DM from the government as a film prize.

The Old Shatterhand-Melodie, the title melody played on the harmonica by René Giessen and composed by Martin Böttcher, was the most successful track in the German hit parade during the 1960s. It stayed there for several months and over 100,000 copies were sold.

At that time this was very unusual, especially for a film music track without any singers. The music was accompanied by members of the symphony orchestra of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk. Later the theme was recorded as a vocal track by several singers, including a version by Pierre Brice.

Suddenly, Pierre Brice, who was virtually unknown in his home country and was barely holding his own in Italy, was a superstar in West Germany.


German postcard, no. E 32. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice in Winnetou - 1. Teil/Apache Gold (Harald Reinl, 1963). Caption: According to the old Apache custom, only the chief and his children are allowed to enter the treasury. Winnetou takes the rear guard with watchful eyes.


Pierre Brice and Hrvoje Svob. German postcard, no. E 14. Photo: Constantin. Still from Winnetou I/Winnetou (1963).


German postcard, no. E 5. Photo: Constantin. Still from Winnetou I/Winnetou (1963).

Blood brothers

Der Schatz im Silbersee was the first Winnetou Western, but it is set in time after the next film in the Winnetou series, Winnetou – 1. TeilApache Gold (Harald Reinl, 1963), again with a music score by Martin Böttcher.

Winnetou – 1. Teil also starred Marie Versini as Winnetou's sister, Mario Adorf as the main villain and Croatian beauty Dunja Rajter.

The film depicts the first meeting of Winnetou and Old Shatterhand, but initially, they find themselves fighting on opposite sides, and it takes the whole film (and a love story between Old Shatterhand and Winnetou's sister) until they realize each other's righteousness and become friends and blood brothers.

Pierre Brice would go on to portray Winnetou in a total of eleven films, alongside alternatively Lex Barker (Old Shatterhand in 7 films), Stewart Granger (Old Surehand in 3 films), and Rod Cameron (1 film) as the white heroes.

All these Westerns were based on the Karl May books and were produced between 1962 and 1968.


Pierre Brice, Stewart Granger and Gojko Mitic. German postcard, no. 10. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (1964).


German postcard, no. 35. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (1964).


German postcard, no. 40. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (1964).

Peplum spectacle

Pierre Brice appeared also in several other European films like Zorro contro Maciste/Samson and the Slave Queen (Umberto Lenzi, 1963).

He played with Lex Barker in the non-Karl May film Die Hölle von Manitoba/A Place Called Glory (Sheldon Reynolds, 1965) and the James Bond rip-off Schüsse im Dreivierteltakt/Operation Solo (Alfred Weidenmann, 1965).

They also co-starred in the Peplum spectacle Dacii/The Dacians (Sergiu Nicolaescu, 1967) with Marie-José Nat.

In the anthology film Gern hab' ich die Frauen gekillt/Le Carnaval des barbouzes/Killer's Carnival (Sheldon Reynolds a.o., 1966) Stewart Granger.

Lex Barker and Pierre Brice finally worked together - but for some reason, the three actors did not share a single scene in the film.


German postcard, no R 8. Photo: publicity still for Winnetou 2. Teil/Last of the Renegades (Harald Reinl, 1964) with Karin Dor.


German postcard by ISV, no. R 14. Photo: publicity still for Winnetou 2. Teil/Last of the Renegades (1964).


Karin Dor and Pierre Brice. German postcard, no. R 24. Photo: still from Winnetou - 2. Teil/Last of the Renegades (1964).


German postcard by Krüger. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood / CCC Produktion. Publicity still for Old Shattterhand (1964). Sent by mail in Luxemburg in 1966.


Lex Barker. German postcard by Kruger. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood (Bruno Bernard) / CCC-Produktion. Publicity still for Old Shatterhand (1964).


German postcard by Kruger. Photo: Bruno Bernard / CCC Produktion. Publicity Still for Old Shatterhand (1964).

Karl May shows

During the 1970s, Pierre Brice played supporting parts in films like the crime comedy La Pupa del Gangster/Get Rita (Giorgio Capitani, 1975), starring Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren.

He also appeared in several TV shows like the Sci-Fi series Star Maidens (1976). But he will always be best remembered as Winnetou, whom he also played at the Karl May Festspiele in Elspe (1977-1986) and at the Bad Segeberg open-air theatre, dedicated only to productions of Karl May shows (1988-1991).

In 1979 he played Winnetou - with Siegfried Rauch as Old Shatterhand - in the TV series Winnetou le mescalero/My Friend Winnetou (Marcel Camus, 1980), which did not originate from Karl May material.

At age 69, he again acted in – and co-scripted - a TV mini-series Winnetous Rückkehr/Winnetou's Return (Marijan David Vajda, 1998), which met devastating criticism.

In 2015, the 86-year-old Brice was admitted to a hospital with a high fever from a lung infection and he died there in the arms of his wife, Hella Krekel. The pair, who lived for three decades in a country house 60 kilometres from Paris, had long been planning a return to her home state of Bavaria.


German postcard by Rüdel-Verlag. Photo: CCC / Constantin / Bruno Bernard. Publicity Still for Old Shatterhand (1964).


With Klaus Kinski. German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen. Photo: Lothar Winkler.


Vintage Dutch postcard. With Lex Barker.


US trailer for Il mulino delle donne di pietra/Mill of the Stone Women (1963). Source: CG Entertainment (YouTube).


Trailer for Winnetou - 2. Teil/Last of the Renegades (1964). Source: RialtoFilm (YouTube).

Sources: Mike Haberfelner ((Re)search My Trash), Deutsche Welle, Wikipedia and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 10 August 2023.

Der Ölprinz (1965)

In the Karl May adaptation Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965), Apache Chief Winnetou (Pierre Brice) and scout Old Surehand (Stewart Granger) team up to assist a wagon-train of settlers who are threatened by the machinations of an unscrupulous crook known as 'the Oil Prince' (Harald Leipnitz). The West German-Yugoslav Western was also known as Rampage at Apache Wells. The film was one of a series of Karl May films made by Rialto Film.


German postcard, no. 1 (of 32). Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Harald Leipnitz in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: This is the oil prince, a ruthless adventurer who will do anything to get his hands on land and oil wells. His helpers are members of the Finders Gang. He has now commissioned them to intercept and kill the scout Bill Forner, who is to lead a trek of settlers to Lake Shelly. A member of the Finders Gang is to take his place and lead the trek astray because he needs the area around Lake Shelly for his machinations.


German postcard, no. 5 (of 32). Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Mario Girotti (Terence Hill) as Richard Forsythe in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: A commotion ensues in the hotel, which ends in a brawl. Members of the Finders gang, who have been playing poker with young Forsythe, have discovered that Forsythe is a cardsharp. The oil prince rescues the young man from this situation. In return, he is supposed to join the trek and serve as a spy for the oil prince.


German postcard, no. 8. Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Mario Girotti (Terence Hill) in Der Ölprinz/Rampage at Apache Wells (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: The trek reaches according to appointment to the first stage near the river. The young Forsyth secretly sneaks out of the camp and meets with members of the Finders gang in the blockhouse. Here he receives his instructions, for the Finders gang will in the discharge of the Oil prince attack the wagons during the night.

Bandits, Indians, and Settlers

The bandit the Oil Prince (Harald Leipnitz) wants to sell the banker Duncan (Vladimir Leib) a fake oil well. However, a trek of settlers who want to settle in the area, of all places, stands in his way. The Oil Prince has the settlers' scout replaced by a member of the Finders Gang. Old Surehand (Stewart Granger) and Winnetou (Pierre Brice) track him down and are able to warn the trek.

Winnetou convinces the Navajo chief Nitsas-ini (Petar Dobric) of the peaceful nature of the settlers, and he lets them pass through his territory unhindered with Old Wabble (Milan Srdoc) as their guide to a stopover at the Chinla River. On the way to Utah, Old Surehand is lured into a trap by the Finders bandits, but Winnetou is able to rescue him.

At the Chinla River, the settlers, among them the widow Ebersbach (Antje Weisgerber), the cantor Hampel (Heinz Erhardt), the cardsharp Richard Forsythe (Mario Girotti a.k.a. Terence Hill), and the shady businessman Bergmann (Veljko Maricic), are getting ready to spend the night when the Finders bandits attack. However, the attack can be repelled by Winnetou and Old Surehand, who arrive in time.

After the attack fails, the Oil Prince comes up with something new. He murders the son of the chief Mokaschi (Milivoje Popovic-Mavid) and blames the Indians for it on the settlers. The Indians surround the settlers at the river but are persuaded to wait with their attack if Old Surehand delivers the real murderer to them within a day.

Winnetou tries to bring the women and children to safety on the raging river with a raft. However, they fall into the water and are only saved when Old Surehand arrives. Old Surehand sets off in pursuit of the Oil Prince, who in the meantime has taken the money for the fake oil well from the banker Duncan and has trapped him in the oil cave with an avalanche of rubble.

Old Surehand is able to capture and tie up the Oil Prince after a short chase and a fight. The Indians have become impatient in the meantime and begin their attack on the settlers. The first wagons are already in flames when Old Surehand returns. The Oil Prince, who has been brought along, is handed over to the Indians and receives his just punishment from them.


German postcard, no. 10 (of 32). Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Harald Leipnitz and Pierre Brice in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: In the Comanche camp he tells the chief that one of the settlers is in possession of a silver dollar sack. This must be the only survivor of the stagecoach robbery.


German postcard, no. 12. Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Pierre Brice, Stewart Granger, and Walter Barnes in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: When he arrives in the camp of the settlers, chief Mokaschi reports what has been told to him by the Oil Prince. Winnetou, Old Surehand, and Campbell reaffirm that they have no money. The Chief is welcome to search their wagon.


German postcard, no. 15 (of 32). Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Harald Leipnitz in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: The Oil Prince has arrived at Lake Shelly with his servant Knife. There he meets the chief executive of the Arizona Commercial Bank and his secretary. After demonstrating fake oil chains to the director, he sells them to him for 75,000 dollars. But that is not enough. After issuing the cheque, he has them both killed by the Finders Gang.


German postcard. Photo: Rialto / Constantin, no. 20. Stewart Granger as Old Surehand in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: Bravely, young Forsythe holds his own on the raft. Old Surehand has reached a jutting cliff. In time he can throw his lasso to young Forsythe and pull him ashore. The empty raft crashes down the waterfall.

Old Surehand instead of Old Shatterhand

Apart from Der Schut, Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965) is the only Karl May film in which the title character is a villain.

For the second time, Stewart Granger plays Old Surehand, deviating from the Karl May novel in which Old Shatterhand takes the main role. Producer Horst Wendlandt was unable to cast Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand because of Artur Brauner's production Through Wild Kurdistan.

The part of Lizzy (Macha Méril) was originally supposed to be played by Marie Versini, but she was also already under contract with Brauner at the time of filming. Fred Denger wrote the script, which was subsequently revised by Harald Philipp.

As Harald Reinl and Alfred Vohrer were busy, Wendlandt originally wanted Paul Martin as director. When the collaboration did not materialise, he called Harald Philipp in Berlin at Christmas 1964, who immediately agreed. Martin Böttcher once again composed an atmospheric score.

Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince was shot at the Spandau Studios in Berlin and on location in Yugoslavia. The film's sets were designed by the art director Dusan Jericevic. Jericević had transformed the Western town of "Golden Hill" from Old Shatterhand into "Tucson".

Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince recorded admissions of 409,817 in France, 1,449,558 in Spain, and over 3 million in Germany.


German postcard, no. 21. Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Stewart Granger as Old Surehand and Harald Leipnitz in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: The oil prince in possession of the cheque is in a hurry to get back to town. Accompanied by Knife, he chooses a suspension bridge as a shortcut. Old Surehand surprises them. He forces them both to return by shooting the rungs.


German postcard, no. 25. Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Stewart Granger as Old Surehand and Slobodan Dimitrijevic as Knife in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: The battle swings back and forth. Then Old Surehand manages to wrest the knife from Knife and knocks him down with a punch. Now they have to get to the settlers' camp as quickly as possible in order to save them.


German postcard, no. 29. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice, Milivoje Popovic-Msvid, Stewart Granger and Harald Leipnitz in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: Old Surehand has kept his promise. With the dead Knife, he brings the murderer of his son to the chief. Fearing revenge, the cowardly Oil Prince claims to have known nothing about all this.


German postcard, no. 30. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice, Milivoje Popovic-Msvid and Stewart Granger in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: The proof that Knife can be the murderer is the knife that the chief picked up. It fits exactly into the scabbard that Knife wore on his arm.

Sources: Wikipedia (English and German), and IMDb.

Unter Geiern (1964)

The Euro-Western Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) is based on one of the Winnetou novels by Karl May. It starred Stewart Granger as Old Surehand, Elke Sommer, Götz George and Pierre Brice as Winnetou. Unter Geiern, released in the US as Frontier Hellcat, was a co-production between West Germany, France, Italy, and Yugoslavia, and was shot in Germany and Yugoslavia.


German postcard, no. 1 (of 64). Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: After a warm farewell from his wife and daughter, farmer Baumann (Walter Barnes), called 'the bear hunter', rides with his son Martin (Götz George) to the bear hunt.


German postcard, no. 2. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice as Winnetou in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Traces of torn lambs lead Baumann and his friend Winnetou, who has joined the hunt, directly to the cave of the bear. In a bold fight, the monster is killed.


German postcard, no. 3. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice as Winnetou in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Shots rip the silence of the valley. Five white riders are pursued by Indians. One of them falls off his horse, but Winnetou does not know the dead.


German postcard, no. 4. Photo: Constantin. Götz George and Walter Barnes in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Clouds of smoke in the direction of the Baumann Ranch herald disaster. From a horrible foreboding seized, the three hunters ride at a furious gallop back to the farm.


German postcard, no. 6. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer as Annie Dillman and Milan Srdoc (a.k.a. Paddy Fox) as Old Wabble in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: At the same time, Annie, the daughter of a wealthy diamond merchant, is on the way to Arizona with a money-load. She is accompanied through the Vultures-dominated ravine by the droll Old Wabble.


German postcard, no. 10. Photo: Constantin. Gojko Mitic, Stewart Granger and Pierre Brice in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Winnetou has watched the raid from a hill. Everyone agrees that it can only be the infamous Vultures gang. Wokadeh should also be eliminated because he knew too much about the bandit raid on Baumann's Ranch.


German postcard, no. 11. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer as Annie Dillman in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: When she arrives at Baumann's farm, Annie, who can ride and shoot like a sheriff, becomes a young girl again. In her room, she hides the money she carried on her body during the journey under the mattress.


German postcard, no. 13. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: The watchful Annie secretly observes the vulture Weller, who has crept as a Mormon preacher on Baumann's farm. Allegedly, he is supposed to look after the diamond trek to Arizona. By a flippant remark from Old Wabble, he learns of Annie's treasure.


German postcard, no. 14. Photo: Constantin. Stewart Granger in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: When an officer soon appears and reports that the governor has decided to escort the settlers' trek through the vulture territory with a squadron, Old Surehand also becomes alert.


German postcard, no. 15. Photo: Constantin. Götz George (left) and Miha Baloh (right) in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: It does not escape Annie's eyes that the officer hands a note to the 'preacher'. Old Surehand recognises a Vulture member in him. In the resulting fight, the fake soldier is killed, but the preacher can escape unnoticed.

Old Surehand

Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) was the fourth in the series of 1960s European Westerns based on Karl May's Winnetou character. For the first time, Stewart Granger stars as Old Surehand, although in Karl May's novel, Old Shatterhand occurs as the main character. As 'Surehand', his hand is so sure that he can split an arrow aimed at him with a bullet in mid-air! Even Robin Hood would have been flabbergasted.

So Granger took over from Lex Barker as Winnetou's white 'blood brother', although his age and stature did not resemble those of Karl May's character. In the books, Surehand is a man with a troubled past, a tormented soul seeking redemption. But the Old Surehand played by Granger is, on the contrary, quite a jolly good fellow, who’s wearing Sunday trousers under buckskin.

The female lead role was played by Elke Sommer, and co-producer Artur Brauner asked Pierre Brice to return as Apache Chief Winnetou. The young Mario Girotti, now better known as Terence Hill, played a supporting part as Baker Jr and the Romanian Gojko Mitic played the Indian Wokadeh. In the following years, Mitic became one of the most beloved film stars of Eastern Europe as an Indian rebel in several Defa Westerns.

In Unter Geiern/Among Vultures, the experienced trapper Old Surehand and Winnetou investigate the murders of a frontier mother and daughter in Llano Estacado, a border area between New Mexico and Texas. The surviving husband, farmer Baumann, believes that his wife and daughter were murdered by Indians of the Shoshone tribe, but Old Surehand suspects that it is the work of a gang of bandits known as 'The Vultures' (in German Die Geier), who disguise themselves as Indians while committing their crimes.

When attractive Annie (Elke Sommer), who was to deliver precious diamonds to Baumann, is kidnapped by the Vultures, Winnetou, Old Surehand, and their friend Old Wabble pursue the gang. Meanwhile, the young Martin Baumann (Götz George) tries to free Annie.


German postcard, no. 16. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer as Annie Dillman, Götz George as Martin Bauman Jr., Milan Srdoc as Old Wabble, Stewart Granger as Old Surehand, and Walter Barnes as Martin Bauman Sr. in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: On the note that the 'preacher' has forgotten in a hurry, it is written that the Vultures are planning another robbery. Baumann, shaken out of his grief by these incidents, sets off with Old Surerhand, Old Wabble, and his servants to warn the trek.


German postcard, no. 17. Photo: Constantin. Dunja Rajter as Betsy and Sieghardt Rupp as Preston (second from right) in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: In an abandoned gold-mining town lies the headquarters of the Vulture gang. Their boss is called Preston. The individual gang members have just received their orders on how to sneak into the trek in order to lure it into an ambush.


German postcard, no. 18. Photo: Constantin. Renato Baldini in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Judge Leader and his companions fall for the hypocritical suggestion of some gang members to confide in their leadership. This is how Judge Leader gets into the vultures' quarters.


German postcard, no. 20. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: The adventurous Annie would have liked to be there. While Martin is at work, two vultures are chasing in a wild gallop. Annie still does not know what will be imminent in the next few minutes.


German postcard, no. 23. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer as Annie Dillman in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Bravely, Annie defends herself against the bandits who surround her on all sides. She is locked up in a room on the first floor. In vain, she tries to explain to the vultures that she does not carry the money at all.


German postcard, no. 24. Photo: Constantin. Götz George as Martin in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: In the meantime, Martin has also reached the vulture's quarters. To gain their trust, he pretends to be a horse thief. Unfortunately, this ruse fails, and he is overpowered by the vultures.


German postcard, no. 26. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: At the last moment, Winnetou, who has observed the incident, intervenes. His shot into a powder box causes a violent explosion, which creates the intended chaos among the vultures.


German postcard, no. 27. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer as Annie Dillman and Götz George as Martin Bauman Jr. in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Martin and Annie can escape. Winnetou advises Martin to seek his father and warn him against the Shoshone, as Wokadeh has sworn revenge.


German postcard, no. 28. Photo: Constantin. Stewart Granger in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Old Surehand and his companion are followed on the way to the trek by Shoshone. With his famous 'safe hands', Old Surehand incapacitates an Indian. But Baumann is kidnapped and taken to the camp of the Shoshone.


German postcard, no. 29. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Old Surehand does everything in his power to free Baumann from his dangerous situation. To his delight, he also discovers his friend Winnetou in the camp of the Shoshone, who has tried in vain to dissuade Wakadeh from his act of revenge.


German postcard, no. 30. Photo: Constantin. Stewart Granger in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Old Surehand, who has communicated with Winnetou by sign, waits for midnight under the shelter of the rock. Then Wokadeh takes over the wake in the tent - that is the moment when Old Surehand must act.


German postcard, no. 31. Photo: Constantin. Stewart Granger as Old Surehand and Gojko Mitic as Wokadeh in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: The bound Baumann sits opposite the dead chief as Wokadeh takes over the guard. Old Surehand silently approaches the tent, overpowers the sentry, binds Wokadeh, and kidnaps him.


German postcard, no. 32. Photo: Constantin. Walter Barnes as Baumann in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: In a panic, Baumann tugs at his shackles. When he recognises Old Surehand, he gains new hope.


German postcard, no. 34. Photo: Constantin. Scene from Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Unlucky Old Wabble, believing Old Surehand to be in danger, sneaks into the Indian camp with two servants and is overpowered.


German postcard, no. 37. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Stewart Granger. Caption: Only Old Surehand's arms are free for the rifle that he can use to ward off the arrows, but may not use for shooting. With cunning and great skill, Old Surehand defends his skin. None of the arrows hit.


German postcard, no. 38. Photo: Constantin. Stewart Granger as Old Surehand and Gojko Mitic in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: God's judgment has spoken: Old Surehand is free and hurries to the trek.


German postcard, no. 39. Photo: Constantin. Scene from Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: To shorten the way to the trek, the vultures ride through the 'Valley of Death', where the chiefs of the Shoshone are laid out. They destroy everything in their path.

German postcard, no. 40. Photo: Constantin. Gojko Mitic and Pierre Brice in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Wokadeh and his warriors, the chief at Winnetou's side, ride into the 'valley of death' to bury Oitka-Peteh. The valley is a place of Desolation. Wokadeh now recognises the true bandits, he lets Baumann free and promises Winnetou to help in the hunt for the Vultures.


German postcard, no. 41. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer as Annie Dillman and Götz George as Martin Bauman Jr. in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: From a hill, Annie and Martin watch the settlers' camp. They do not know yet that several members of the vulture gang have crept unnoticed into the trek.


German postcard, no. 42. Photo: Constantin. Renato Baldini, Götz George, and Miha Baloh in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: When Martin wants to warn the trek about the vultures, the fake priest also shows up and accuses Martin of stealing horses. Judge Leader pronounces sentence on Martin.


German postcard, no. 43 (of 64). Photo: Constantin / Rialto. Götz George as Martin in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: All too glad, the vultures are ready to hang Martin.


German postcard, no. 44. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer and Miha Baloh in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: At the last moment, Annie intervenes. In front of everyone, she reports that the "preacher" is really the vulture Weller and a murderer. Her firm and determined manner makes even Judge Leader doubt Martin's guilt.


German postcard, no. 45. Photo: Rialto. Publicity still for Unter Geiern / Among Vultures(Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Some settlers, who have also become suspicious, hold Weller in check. They decide to keep an eye on both Martin and the Vulture.


German postcard, no. 46. Photo: Constantin. Götz George as Martin Bauman Jr., Stewart Granger as Old Surehand, and Mario Girotti in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Old Surehand reaches the trek in time to warn them of the ambush by the band of vultures. The trek elder agrees to overpower the vulture members who have smuggled themselves into the trek.


German postcard, no. 48. Photo: Constantin. Götz George as Martin Bauman Jr. and Stewart Granger as Old Surehand in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: At this moment, Old Surehand grabs hold with cunning and hard fists the three vultures are overpowered. They are tied up and taken along in the wagon train.


German postcard, no. 49. Photo: Constantin. Götz George, Walter Barnes, Renato Baldini and Stewart Granger in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Father Baumann has also joined the trek in the meantime. Together with Old Surehand, he is finally able to convince Judge Leader that Martin is innocent. A ruse is used to postpone the vulture attack until the next day, when Winnetou comes to the rescue with the Shosones.


German postcard, no. 50. Photo: Constantin. Mila Baloh and Stewart Granger in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Old Surehand forces Weller to tell the gang that, due to military reinforcements, the vultures are not to attack the trek at night but only at dawn.


German postcard, no. 52. Photo: Constantin. Scene from Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: At dawn, the vultures attack with torches and in great numbers. Although the trek was well-prepared, there were many dead and wounded. Soon, the settlers ran out of ammunition. The situation becomes threatening.


German postcard, no. 53. Photo: Constantin. Scene from Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: The trek can hardly defend itself against the attacks of the vultures. But at the last minute, Winnetou rushes to the rescue with the Shoshones. The leader of the vultures and some bandits are put to flight.


German postcard, no. 54. Photo: Constantin. Miha Baloh in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: The false preacher Weller also flees in the general turmoil of battle and can save himself in the nearby mountains with the remaining vultures.


German postcard, no. 56. Photo: Constantin. Götz George as Martin in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: In a hard fight man against man, Martin is finally overpowered by the vultures and used as a hostage by them.


German postcard, no. 57. Photo: Constantin. At right, Sieghardt Rupp as Preston in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Preston, the boss of the Vultures, calls Old Surehand to come alone in Felsental (Rocky Valley) to rescue Martin.


German postcard, no. 60. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice as Winnetou and Miha Baloh as Weller in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Weller cannot escape his fate either. He is recognised as a long-sought thief and murderer. When the jewellery of the murdered Mrs. Baumann is found in his possession, Father Baumann is shocked to realise that Winnetou was right.


German postcard, no. 61. Photo: Constantin. Stewart Granger and Pierre Brice in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: The battle, which has claimed many victims on the side of the settlers and traders, is over. Old Surehand says goodbye to his friend Winnetou, who has helped him more than once.


German postcard, no. 62 (of 64). Photo: Constantin. Scene from Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Old Surehand keeps the promise he made to Judge Leader, who was mortally wounded in the fight: He will bring the trek safely through the rocky mountains to Arizona.

Breathtaking cinematography

The first Karl May Western, Der Schatz im Silbersee/Treasure of Silver Lake (Harald Reinl, 1962), had been the most successful German film of the 1962/1963 season. Director Harald Reinl and producer Horst Wendlandt then created a series of Euro-Westerns, all based on the novels by Karl May. Their next film, Winnetou - 1. Teil/Apache Gold (Harald Reinl, 1963) was, in fact, a prequel to Der Schatz im Silbersee, which introduced Apache chief Winnetou and told how he met Old Shatterhand.

The script of Unter Geiern combines elements from two different Karl May novels, but Old Surehand appears in neither of them. The reason for this is quite prosaic: originally, Lex Barker, who had played Old Shatterhand in the first two films, would appear once again as Old Shatterhand alongside Pierre Brice, in a film called Winnetou und der Bärenjäger/Winnetou and the Bear Hunter, but Wendlandt thought Stewart Granger was a big catch and asked his screenwriters to rework the entire script and write Granger/Old Surehand into it.

Most critics decided that Unter Geiern could not hold a candle to the earlier Karl May films. The chemistry between Pierre Brice and Stewart Granger did not quite match that of Brice and Lex Barker. At IMDb, reviewer Henri Sauvage writes: "Cinematography is occasionally breathtaking. (If possible, you should try to catch this in letterbox format, just for the gorgeous scenery.) The action sequences come off fairly well, too, and the bad guys are appropriately villainous."

Scherpschutter in his review at the Spaghetti Western Database: "Loyal fans of the series often call this one of the better entries. I can only partially agree. The film was aimed at a slightly more mature audience than the previous movies. The slaughter of the Baumann family (although not shown) is quite shocking, and the shootout near the end between the Vultures and the settlers is remarkably violent. But the bulk of the movie is the usual heroic Karl May stuff, with Old Surehand put to a survival test by the Shoshones, and Winnetou leading the Indian braves in true cavalry style to the aid of the settlers when all seems lost. And then there’s Stewart Granger … Reportedly, Granger was paid $ 75.000 for the part, which makes him the best-paid actor of the series, and he virtually directed his own scenes. He had completely different ideas about the movie than most other people on the set, and his approach led to a rather incongruous movie, with a dramatic storyline of a young man, Martin Baumann, seeking the murderers of his family members, and a lot of funny and would-be funny scenes – featuring Surehand - thrown in."

Unter Geiern was a success in the German cinemas and was awarded the Goldene Leinwand (Golden Screen) for more than 3 million visitors in a year. The Karl May series was to be continued...


German postcard by ISV, no. C 3. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Stewart Granger as Old Surehand.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 4. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Stewart Granger as Old Surehand.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 5. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Gojko Mitic, Stewart Granger, and Pierre Brice.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 8. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Elke Sommer and Stewart Granger.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 9. Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Pierre Brice, Götz George and Walter Barnes in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964).

German postcard by ISV, no. C 11. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Stewart Granger and Götz George.

German postcard by ISV, no. C 13. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Elke Sommer and Götz George.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 16. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Götz George.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 20. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Götz George.


German postcard. Photo: Elke Sommer, Götz George and Stewart Granger in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964).


German collector card. Photo: Constantin / Rialto. Götz George in Unter Geiern / Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964).

Sources: Scherpschutter (Spaghettiwestern.net), Spaghettiwestern.net, Wikipedia (English and German), and IMDb.