''Kara Ben Nemsi Effendi'' is a German television series broadcast from 1973 through 1975 in 26 parts and two seasons. It featured an adventurer probably inspired by British explorers Richard Francis Burton (1821–1890)Karl May had Burton's books in his library.
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T. E. Lawrence Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...

. The scripts were faithful to Karl May's Orient

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

s, and the score is from Martin Böttcher who previously had composed the music for ten very successful

Karl May films Karl May film adaptations are films based on stories and characters by German author Karl May (1842–1912). The characters Old Shatterhand, Winnetou, and Kara Ben Nemsi are very famous in Central Europe. In most of the film versions the novels we ...

in cinema, and also for the two parts of '' Winnetous Rückkehr'' in 1998, also being aired by the German station ZDF.

Protagonist

Kara Ben Nemsi (

Karl Michael Vogler Karl Michael Vogler (28 August 1928 – 9 June 2009) was a German actor, probably best known for his appearances in several big-budget English language films. In ''The Blue Max'' (1966), he co-starred with George Peppard and Ursula Andress as the ...

) has traveled the Wild West as '' Old Shatterhand'' and is now about to explore the

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

. His traditional German first name Karl is difficult for many non-Germans to pronounce, so his oriental sidekick ''

Hadschi Halef Omar Hadschi Halef Omar Ben Hadschi Abul Abbas Ibn Hadschi Dawud al Gossarah, literally ''hajji'' Halef Omar, son of ''hajji'' father-of-Abbas, son of ''hajji'' David al Gossarah, is one of Karl May's literary characters. ''Hajji'' means "one who has p ...

'' prefers to call him "Kara". Kara Ben Nemsi, a German hero-adventurer of the 1880s, is actually a kind of

superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

(as was '' Doc Savage'' later), not only speaking dozens of foreign tongues fluently but also being able to knock out everybody with just one blow to the temple. He rides his famous black stallion ''Rih'' as well as Frank Hopkins could, and is such an excellent marksman he could work in

Wild West shows Wild West shows were traveling vaudeville performances in the United States and Europe that existed around 1870–1920. The shows began as theatrical stage productions and evolved into open-air shows that depicted romanticized stereotypes of co ...

. Hadschi Halef Omar (played by Heinz Schubert, best known from the German version of the British television series ''

Till Death Us Do Part ''Till Death Us Do Part'' is a British television sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1965 to 1975. The show was first broadcast in 1965 as a ''Comedy Playhouse'' pilot, then as seven series between 1966 and 1975. In 1981, ITV continued the sitcom ...

'', is the hero's scout and his teacher when it comes to oriental

conventions Convention may refer to: * Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct ** Treaty, an agreement in international law * Convention (meeting), meeting of a (usually large) group of individuals and/or companies in a ...

. He always shows solidarity although the very self-confident Kara Ben Nemsi is always prone to take risks.

Production

The 13 parts of the first season were filmed from August to September 1972 in the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

and Bulgaria and from October to November 1972 in the deserts of Tunisia. The 13 parts of the second season were filmed from June to August 1974 in Spain around Almeria, mainly for financial reasons. The director engaged many popular guest stars, including Ferdy Mayne, Heinz Baumann, Dieter Hallervorden and

Willy Semmelrogge Willy Semmelrogge (15 March 1923 – 10 April 1984) was a German actor. He appeared in 65 films and television shows between 1957 and 1984. Partial filmography * ''People in the Net'' (1959) as Lauer * ''Manhattan Night of Murder'' (1965) a ...

Other films

Kara Ben Nemsi not only was to be seen in this TV series, but also in the films: * '' Auf den Trümmern des Paradieses'' (1920) with Carl de Vogt * ''

Die Todeskarawane ''Caravan of Death'' (german: Die Todeskarawane) is a 1920 silent German film directed by Josef Stein and featuring Carl de Vogt as Kara Ben Nemsi. The film was an adaptation of the latter half of the Karl May novel ''From Baghdad to Stamboul'' ...

'' (1920) with Carl de Vogt * ''

Die Teufelsanbeter ''The Devil Worshippers'' (german: Die Teufelsanbeter) is a six-chapter 1921 silent German film written by Marie Luise Droop, directed by Muhsin Ertuğrul and featuring Carl de Vogt in the title-role of Kara Ben Nemsi. De Vogt's career as an ac ...

'' (1921) with Carl de Vogt * ''

Durch die Wüste ''Durch die Wüste'' is the first full-length solo album by German keyboardist Hans-Joachim Roedelius, best known for his work with Cluster, Harmonia, and Aquarello. The title is German for "Through the Desert." The music on ''Durch Die Wüste ...

'' (1936) with * ' (1958) with

Viktor Staal Viktor Staal (17 February 1909 – 4 June 1982) was an Austrian film actor. Selected filmography * '' Everything for the Company'' (1935) * '' Eva, the Factory Girl'' (1935) * ''Das Einmaleins der Liebe'' (1935) * '' The World's in Love'' (1935) ...

* ' (1959) with

Helmuth Schneider Helmuth Schneider (18 December 1920 – 17 March 1972) was a German actor. Schneider portrayed the role of Uncle Dimitri in ''The White Horses''. He died in a traffic accident in Rio de Janeiro in 1972. Selected filmography *1944: '' Dr ...

* ' (1964) with Lex Barker * ' (1965) with Lex Barker * ' (1965) with Lex Barker

DVD release

The complete series was released on DVD in 2006/2007. In the second DVD box a soundtrack CD with the music of Martin Böttcher is included.

References

External links

{{IMDb title, id=0221316 German drama television series Television shows based on German novels 1973 German television series debuts 1975 German television series endings Television series set in the 19th century German-language television shows ZDF original programming Films shot in Bulgaria 1970s adventure films Television shows based on works by Karl May Films shot in Almería