''The Pyramid of the Sun God'' (German: ''Die Pyramide des Sonnengottes'' is a 1965 West German and Italian

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 ...

adventure directed by

Robert Siodmak Robert Siodmak (; 8 August 1900 – 10 March 1973) was a German film director who also worked in the United States. He is best remembered as a thriller specialist and for a series of films noirs he made in the 1940s, such as ''The Killers'' (194 ...

and starring

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 a ...

Gérard Barray Gérard Barray (born 2 November 1931 in Toulouse) is a French actor. Early life and education Barray's parents split up quickly and his mother, who came from Montauban decided to return to her hometown with her little boy. Around the age of 15, h ...

and

Michèle Girardon Michèle Girardon (9 August 1938 – 25 March 1975), sometimes credited as Michele Girardon, was a French actress. Career Born in Lyon, France, Girardon began acting as early as 1956, and had a small but noticeable role as a deaf-mute bea ...

. It is based on a book by

Karl May Karl Friedrich May ( , ; 25 February 1842 – 30 March 1912) was a German author. He is best known for his 19th century novels of fictitious travels and adventures, set in the American Old West with Winnetou and Old Shatterhand as main pro ...

, and was part of a boom of Karl May adaptations during the decade.Bergfelder p.188 It follows on from ''

The Treasure of the Aztecs ''The Treasure of the Aztecs'' (German: ''Der Schatz der Azteken'') is a 1965 western adventure film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Lex Barker, Gérard Barray and Michèle Girardon. It was made as a co-production between France, Italy ...

'' (1965), also directed by Siodmak and featuring the same cast. 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 controller of CCC Films, on the site of a form ...

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 it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. The film's sets were designed by the art directors

Veljko Despotovic Veljko (Cyrillic script: Вељко) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin. It may refer to: *FK Hajduk Veljko, Serbian football club based in Negotin, Serbia * Hajduk Veljko Petrović (1780–1813), Vojvoda of the First Serbian Uprising rebel ...

and

Hertha Hareiter Hertha Hareiter (1923 - 2015) was an Austrian art director.Bolam & Bolam p.158 She designed the sets for a number of films in the postwar years. She was married to the fellow set designer Otto Pischinger and often collaborated with him. Selected ...

and

Otto Pischinger Otto Pischinger (1919–1976) was an Austrian art director who designed the sets for a large number of films during his career. In 1955 he worked on '' The Last Ten Days''.Silberman p.243 He was married to Hertha Hareiter, also an art director, un ...

. Rio Grande

Cast

as Dr. Karl Sternau *

as Josefa Cortejo *

as Count Alfonso di Rodriganda y Sevilla * Hans Nielsen as Don Pedro Arbellez * Rik Battaglia as Captain Lazaro Verdoja *

Gustavo Rojo Gustavo Rojo Pinto (5 September 1923 – 22 April 2017) was a Uruguayan-Mexican actor. Life and career Gustavo Rojo was born on 5 September 1923 on a German ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. His mother was the prominent Spanish auth ...

as Lieutenant Potoca *

Theresa Lorca Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or rea ...

as Karja *

Ralf Wolter Ralf Wolter (26 November 1926 – 14 October 2022) was a German stage and screen actor. Wolter appeared in nearly 220 films and television series in his over 60 years as a character actor. Life and career Wolter began his long career on the B ...

as Andreas Hasenpfeffer *

Kelo Henderson Paul Lars Henderson, Jr. (August 8, 1923 – December 10, 2019) was an American film and television actor. He was known for playing Clint Travis in the American western television series ''26 Men''. Henderson was born and raised on a ranch in P ...

as Frank Wilson *

Alessandra Panaro Alessandra Panaro (14 December 1939 – 1 May 2019) was an Italian film actress of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Panaro is best known for her films in the early 1960s, notably Luchino Visconti's crime drama '' Rocco e i suoi fratelli'' in 19 ...

as Rosita Arbellez *

Jean-Roger Caussimon Jean-Roger Caussimon (24 July 1918 – 19 October 1985) was a French singer-songwriter and film actor. He appeared in 90 films between 1945 and 1985 but is better known for having worked with poet-singer Léo Ferré. Discography Studio albu ...

as Marshall Bazaine *

Antun Nalis Antun Nalis (9 February 1911 – 14 February 2000), a.k.a. Tonči Nalis, was a Croatian actor. Antun Nalis was born in Zadar, which was part of Austria-Hungary at the time. After World War I Zadar became part of Italy, which later helped Nalis to ...

as Pablo Cortejo * Vladimir Popovic as Black Deer * Branimir Tori Jankovic as Panteo * Nada Radovic as Big India '' Rio Grande film''

References

Bibliography

* Bergfelder, Tim. ''International Adventures: German Popular Cinema and European Co-Productions in the 1960s''. Berghahn Books, 2005.

External links

* 1965 films 1965 Western (genre) films German Western (genre) films West German films Films based on works by Karl May Films directed by Robert Siodmak Second French intervention in Mexico films 1960s historical adventure films German historical adventure films French historical adventure films Italian historical adventure films Gloria Film films Films set in 1864 Films set in Mexico Films shot at Spandau Studios 1960s German-language films 1960s Italian films 1960s French films 1960s German films {{1960s-Western-film-stub

Cast

See also

References

Bibliography

External links