Amongst Vultures

Thought I might be interested in this film because I like the acting of Stewart Granger over the years and in this so called film he plays the role of a so called superman named "Old Surehand" which is a big joke. The acting is horrible and you will be completely confused as to what is really going on between Indians and white people. This film should be called a comedy film because the entire film goes around in circle after circle and makes absolutely no sense at all. Elke Sommer, (Annie Dillman) was added to the film to give some romantic charm to the film but her acting and performance was a big waste of time. I wish I had never seen this film, it is a HORRIBLE FILM!

Continuing in the tradition of previous German-made westerns based on the books of Karl May, this later entry can't hold a candle to earlier films such as "The Treasure of Silver Lake". This one has Granger as leading man and, though he has occasional moments of wit and presence, for the most part he isn't interesting enough to carry the film. He is joined (as in most all of these films) by Brice as Apache Chief Winnetou. The chemistry between the two doesn't quite match that of Brice and Granger's predecessor Lex Barker (who played a different character, but the roles are very similar.) The plot involves Granger and Brice setting out to discover who murdered a frontier mother and daughter. The surviving father blames the Indians while Brice feels that it was a gang of thieves called The Vultures (they certainly don't SOUND like a very friendly band of men!) In the mix is Sommer who is en route to see her father and is wearing a belt filled with gold. The son of the murdered family (George) finds himself falling for her as he investigates the murders along with Granger and Brice. Their adventures take them across various terrain and eventually alongside a wagon train which is beset by infiltrating bandits. This film lacks the grandeur and the production values of earlier films in the series. The lighting is about the worst that can be without having everyone completely in the dark. There is some unintentional humor as in seeing Sommer's extreme bubble bouffant hair-do in an old west setting and the usual hilarity that results from the awful dubbing (Why do these old-fashioned vocal dubbers always sound like they smoke 4 packs of cigarettes a day?) Most fun is seeing George bounce all over the place as if he has springs in his boots. No American western ever had anyone quite so gymnastic in his approach to action scenes. (Also note that, perhaps due to a European sensibility, the men in these films seem to touch each other so much more often than in American westerns. Look for it, it's really unusual.) The film just seems to have a deadening pall over it for some reason. It does not have the style, energy or vividness of the earlier works. It comes to life briefly during a pretty rousing "circle the wagons" stand off and an interlude at an Indian camp at which Granger has to prove his word to a disbelieving (and hilariously bulked up) chief. It's an okay movie to see once, but has no real lasting impact.

As another commenter said, this is pure fantasy in a Western setting. If you're looking for the gritty realism of a Spaghetti Western or an American Western from the Peckinpah era, this is definitely not your cup of tea.

For one thing, everyone is so clean -- even the Vulture Gang, whom you'd naturally expect to have less exacting standards of personal hygiene.

In many ways, these "Bratwurst Westerns" seem like throwbacks to an earlier style, namely, the 1930s brand of American horse opera. Except that in the Old Surehand series, the Native Americans are portrayed to an almost ridiculous degree as misunderstood Noble Savages. (Which is somewhat of an improvement over depicting them as mindless, bloodthirsty savages, but neither approach corresponds very closely to the reality.)

What's really disconcerting about the English language dub of the film is that someone else does Stewart Granger's voice. Which is a pity, because much of Granger's charm and presence as an actor resided in that inimitable bass growl. I wonder why they couldn't get him to do his own dubbing -- I'd have given this one an extra star just for that.

But it doesn't look as though the production values were skimped when it came to the costuming and props, and the 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.

Overall, I can think of many worse ways to spend an hour-and-a-half.

This film begins with a settler named "Martin Bauman Sr." (Walter Barnes) and his son, "Martin Bauman Jr." (Gotz George), joining Apache Chief "Winnetou" (Pierre Brice) on a hunt for a grizzly bear that has been attacking livestock. While they are away from the ranch, bandits arrive, murder his wife and daughter, and leave evidence suggesting that the perpetrators come from a nearby Shoshone tribe. Consumed by rage against the Shoshone, the father cries out for revenge and lashes out at Winnetou when he disagrees with his conclusions about the identity of the perpetrators. His anger is further stoked when a preacher named "Reverend Weller" (Miha Beloe) arrives and swears he witnessed the Shoshone kill his family. Yet, despite this eyewitness account, a famous frontiersman known as "Old Surehand" (Stewart Granger) remains unconvinced and, with the help of Winnetou, decides to uncover the real identity of the perpetrators before the situation escalates. Now, instead of revealing more, I'll simply say that this fifth film in the series wasn't nearly as good as any of its predecessors, largely due to the rambling plot and some absurd action scenes. Likewise, while I have a certain fondness for her, Elke Summer (as "Annie Dillman") could have significantly improved her performance as well. That said, while this film wasn't entirely bad, it definitely wasn't as good as any of the other films in the series, and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

The Karl May wave had already been going on for two years (since THE TREASURE OF SILVER LAKE) when AMONG VULTURES came to West German cinemas shortly before Christmas 1964. Packed with film stars and, thanks to the direction of Alfred VOHRER, also one of the most action-packed parts of the series! The fight against the vulture gang is always worth seeing.

Winnetou (Pierre BRICE) and Old Surehand (first appearance of Hollywood star Stewart GRANGER in the role) have their hands full trying to pacify a conflict between the rancher Baumann (Walter BARNES) and the Shoshone chief (muscle-bound as usual: Gojko MITIC). Behind the conflict are the brutal murders of the vulture gang of the unscrupulous leader Preston (Sieghardt RUPP). It's good that the powerful Martin Baumann (Götz GEORGE) and the stunning blonde Annie (Elke SOMMER, recently awarded the GOLDEN GLOBE for THE PRIZE) are also involved!

Fights, shootings, explosions: Alfred VOHRER puts on a great action show. There are also beautiful shots of the Krka waterfalls. A Karl May fan couldn't ask for more. 5.6 million viewers wanted to see the film in West German cinemas. The enchanting Dunja RAJTER (as a barmaid, of course) and Mario GIROTTI, who grew up in Dresden for a few years (not yet as powerful as he later became as Terence HILL), also appear in smaller roles.

Well worth seeing!