The Treasure of the Silver Lake

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?

This "natural" looking and tentious Western will give pleasure to nature-bound spectators as well as to Western fans. The first Winnetou western acts after the introduction of Old-Shatterhand (Lex Barker) and Apache-chief Winnetou (Pierre Brice) in the movie "Winnetou 1". Herbert Lom had been got for playing a colonel, restricted by the script. Marianne Hoppe had her first international movie. For the laughers: Eddie Arent (Lord Castlepool) and Ralf Wolter (Trapper Sam Hawkins) can be seen.

I can only hope that the original Karl May Shatterhand/Winnetou stories were a lot more entertaining that this cinematic adaptation! To be sure, the scenery is very nice (particularly near the end at Silver Lake), and the widescreen photography really captures the feeling of the open west. (Unfortunately, the only print circulating on this side of the Atlantic is in pan-and-scan.) The large gun-battle against the ranch fortress isn't bad as well.

If only the screenplay had been much better than it was! For starters, it has a curiously childish tone for much of its running time, similar to the kiddie westerns made by B movie outfits in Hollywood in the '30s and '40s. It goes on abnormally on (almost 105 minutes long), partly because of a slow pace - see how that stagecoach at the beginning of the movie rides on... and on... and on... and on... and on! Also, the story takes a number of diversions that bring the story to a halt, like when the heroes are captured. Not to mention some really laughable turns in the script, like how the heroes decide to take a women with them into hostile territory to look for the treasure. Still, it's fun seeing Herbert Lom in western garb, and this may be one of the only chances you see the INDIANS instead of the calvary riding to the rescue!

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.

As a fan of western movies, I was astonished by this one. There was at least 300 or more extras in this film. There were bad guys, good guys, a whole lot of Indians, a secret tunnel, a cave with treasure, a beautiful girl, etc. The scenery was terrific. Apparently it was shot in southern or eastern Europe. All in all, a terrific film. I gave it a 10.