The Treasure of the Silver Lake

The Treasure of the Silver Lake (Der Schatz Im Silbersee) (1962)

Runtime: 111 minutes

Directed by: Harald Reinl

Starring: Lex Barker, Pierre Brice, Gotz George, Herbert Lom, Karin Dor

From: A few European companies

How could I not watch a movie starring a character known as OLD SHATTERHAND?

This wasn't originally what I was going to watch; instead it was a popular 90's movie on Prime that was leaving the free tier the end of July and was advertised as being 4K w/ HDR but instead when I hit play it was tagged as just being HD (this isn't the first time this has happened but this is a rant I'll have to write in another review) so in the future I'll just borrow the Blu-ray from someone I know. Another topic is how because I've reviewed a staggering variety of different movies, all sorts of people follow me that see all sorts of motion pictures no matter how niche their favorite genres be. Consequently, I always feel obliged to keep up the rather eclectic mix of pictures.

One mutual in particular has an interest in old West German genre flicks, including the Westerns they made. Yes, West Germans made more than a few cowboys & Indian films and they were shot in locations like what is now known as Croatia. As they did w/ their krimi movies that were based on old stories from the likes of Edgar Wallace, the Westerns were typically based on the works of 19th century German author Karl May... someone who had never been in America at all (let alone the Wild West but managed to fake it well enough to fool people. He wrote a number of novels featuring a white cowboy nicknamed Old Shatterhand-which to me sounds like the name of a Jaeger in Pacific Rim!-who teamed up with an Apache chief named Winnetou. 

It is a standard tale revolving around a treasure map and some dastardly heels-it starts off as a group of a few dozen-lead by Herbert Lom. Shatterhand & Winnetou end up working with quite the motley crew: a young man who is looking for revenge as Lom killed his dad for his half of the map, Karin Dor who unfortunately isn't given much to do, someone who always speaks in rhyme, and an eccentric who wears a bad wig as he was scalped at an earlier time. It has a different flavor due to its origins yet in essence it is a typical Western: shootouts, brawls, whooping Indians, a rousing score, etc. It was filmed in Croatia and believe it or not was a reasonable facsimile of the West. There are plenty of rocky mountains & often provided gorgeous vistas.

I've heard this was the most popular movie in West German the year it came out (no mean feat considering that the likes of Lawrence of Arabia was competition) and it was a fun yarn which I understand hardly has anything to do w/ the book it is based on. Those that are genre fans would be well served to at least give this sauerkraut version a shot.