''Apache Gold'' (german: Winnetou, later retitled to ''Winnetou – 1. Teil''), also known as ''Winnetou the Warrior'', is a 1963

Western film The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...

directed by

Harald Reinl Harald Reinl (8 July 1908 in Bad Ischl, Austria – 9 October 1986 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) was an Austrian film director. He is known for the films he made based on Edgar Wallace and Karl May books (see Karl May movies and Edgar Walla ...

. It is based on the story of

Winnetou Winnetou is a fictional Native American hero of several novels written in German by Karl May (1842–1912), one of the best-selling German writers of all time with about 200 million copies worldwide, including the ''Winnetou'' trilogy. The cha ...

, a fictional Native-American

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

hero from the ''Winnetou'' series of German novels. It was a major commercial success, selling about tickets at the worldwide box office. It was shot at the

Spandau Studios The Spandau Studios or CCC Studios were film and television studios located in Spandau, a suburb of Berlin. They were established in 1949 following the Second World War by the producer Artur Brauner Artur "Atze" Brauner (born Abraham Brauner; ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and on location in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Vladimir Tadej Vladimir Tadej (9 May 1925 – 1 March 2017) was a Croatian production designer, screenwriter and film director. He contributed to more than forty films from 1949 to 1998. Selected filmography References External links * 1925 births ...

Plot

Santer (

Mario Adorf Mario Adorf (; born 8 September 1930) is a German actor, considered to be one of the great veteran character actors of European cinema. Since 1954, he has played both leading and supporting roles in over 200 film and television productions, am ...

) and his gang are after the Apache Gold. They intrude Apache land and intercept a courier named Black Eagle. The young warrior is killed while the gangsters attempt to retrieve information from him. Meanwhile the young

chartered surveyor Chartered Surveyor is the description (protected by law in many countries) of Professional ''Members'' and ''Fellows'' of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) entitled to use the designation (and a number of variations such as "Charte ...

Charlie aka „Old Shatterhand“ (

Lex Barker Alexander Crichlow Barker Jr. (May 8, 1919 – May 11, 1973), known as Lex Barker, was an American actor. He was known for playing Tarzan for RKO Pictures between 1949 and 1953, and portraying leading characters from Karl May's novels, notably as ...

) discovers that the „Great Western Railway“ commits a breach of valid contracts by taking a shortcut through Apache land. He is told that certain geological complications would leave the company no other choice but he can refute these allegations as a pretext to save money even at the costs of lives.

(

Pierre Brice Pierre-Louis Le Bris (6 February 1929 – 6 June 2015), known as Pierre Brice, was a French actor, best known as portraying fictional Apache-chief Winnetou in German films based on Karl May novels. Life and films Brice was born in Brest, Brit ...

) observes how the railway is built right into the land of his tribe. On his way back to his village he comes across the corpse of Black Eagle. He brings Black Eagle to his family and reports to his father Intschu-tschuna. Chief Intshu-tshuna is deeply worried that even more villains like Santer will get to the Apache land and consequently kill his people if the „Great Western Railway“ can carry on. A

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

called „Klekih-petra“ beseeches him not to start a war. He talks the aristocratic chief and his son Winnetou into setting up a meeting with a deputation of the Great Western Railway. Proceedings are prepared and Old Shatterhand is chosen to convince the Indians that the company will respect the contracts after all. But Santer doesn't let go of his ambitions. He strives to give Winnetou's people a bad name, so that the

U.S.Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

will come and drive the people off their land, hereby making way for his personal ambitions. Santer persuades the chief of a

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and eve ...

tribe to attack the meeting. Klekih-petra is hereby killed and Winnetou is captured by his arch enemies who plan to torture him. Old Shatterhand risks his life in order to save Winnetou. At night he sneaks into the Kiowa's camp and cuts the chief's son's fetters. Winnetou can escape but doesn't see his saviour. Now Old Shatterhand and his supporters commence a crusade against Santer and his henchmen. They go to Santers strongpoint, a town called Roswell. There a tremendous fight takes place. But Winnetou also has unfinished business with Santer and goes there too. As an outsider he cannot tell the good men from the bad ones. He and his warriors attack the whole town. Old Shatterhand gets wounded and is captured. Winnetou has him brought to the Apache village. Thanks to the dedication of Intschu-tschuna's daughter Nsho-tshi (

Marie Versini Marie Versini (10 August 1940 – 22 November 2021) was a French film and television actress. Career Versini appeared in several international cinema productions. After playing in Karl May film adaptations she received a number of German popula ...

) he survives. But once he has recovered he must stand trial. He claims an ordeal by battle. Chief Intshu-tshuna himself takes him on and Old Shatterhand can scarcely win. After Old Shatterhand has spared the chief and Nsho-tshi has discovered proof that Shatterhand did free her brother, Shatterhand and Winnetou become officially friends. Although this tribe is at the brink of civilisation and the leading family does already build houses, Nsho-tshi wants to attend a school in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

before she marries Old Shatterhand. In order to cover the looming expenses her family goes to their source of gold. But Santer is still alive and hasn't ceased to pursue his evil plans. He follows and ambushes them. Winnetou's father dies during the fight and Nsho-tshi dies only little later in the arms of Old Shatterhand.

Cast

Awards

Goldene Leinwand The Goldene Leinwand (Golden Screen) is an award created in 1964 by the HDF ("Hauptverband Deutscher Filmtheater e.V.", literally translated "Federal Association For Movie Theatres") and the journal ''Filmecho/Filmwoche''. Like a Golden Record, it ...

("Golden Screen") *

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten. ...

Background

The English version is shorter than the original German one. Many of Ralf Wolter's scenes, in which he acts in the manner of

Benny Hill Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 20 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor, singer and writer. He is remembered for his television programme ''The Benny Hill Show'', an amalgam of slapstick, burlesque and double ente ...

, are shorter. Moreover Chris Howland's appearances as a preposterous self-declared scholar have been dropped completely.

Box office

It was the highest-grossing film of 1963 in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, selling tickets and grossing . In Poland, it sold about tickets, breaking the all-time record for the highest-grossing foreign film in Poland. It was later released in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, where it sold 56 million tickets in 1975, becoming the third highest-grossing foreign film of the year and the 12th highest-grossing foreign film ever in the Soviet Union. In total, the film sold about tickets at the worldwide box office.

United States

Released on a limited basis in the United States by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

, the film was aired on television in several cities.

References

External links

* *
''Apache Gold'' (as ''Winnetou I'')
at

Rialto Film Rialto Film is a German motion-picture production company headquartered in Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make ...

In-depth review by Timothy Young
{{Authority control 1963 films 1963 Western (genre) films Winnetou films Films directed by Harald Reinl 1960s German-language films German Western (genre) films 1960s Italian-language films Italian Western (genre) films Spaghetti Western films West German films Films shot in Croatia Films shot in Yugoslavia Films produced by Horst Wendlandt 1960s buddy films Columbia Pictures films Constantin Film films Films set in the 19th century Films set in New Mexico 1960s historical films German historical films Italian historical films Yugoslav historical films Films shot at Spandau Studios 1960s Italian films 1960s German films Foreign films set in the United States Yugoslav Western (genre) films