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

. 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 ...

, a fictional

Native-American Native Americans, also known as American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Americans, and other terms, are the Indigenous peoples of the mainland United States (Indigenous peoples of Hawaii, Alaska and territories of the United States are ...

Apache 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 controller of CCC Films, on the site of a former ...

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

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 ...

. The film's sets were designed by the art director Vladimir Tadej.

Plot

Santer ( Mario Adorf) 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 Charlie aka „Old Shatterhand“ ( Lex Barker) 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) 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 will come and drive the people off their land, hereby making way for his personal ambitions. Santer persuades the chief of a Kiowa 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) 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 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 ("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 Sal ...

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, 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 List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, 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 multi ...

, 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. It is named after the Rialto in Venice, and used as its production logo an image of a gondola in front of the Rialto Bridge. History The original Danish Rialto Fi ...

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