Treasure of the Silver Lake
The Treasure of the Silver Lake (German: Der Schatz im Silbersee) is a 1962 western film directed by Harald Reinl and starring Lex Barker, Pierre Brice and Karin Dor. It is very loosely based on Karl May's 1891 novel of the same name. It was shot in Yugoslavia and was the first in the highly successful Winnetou film series by Rialto Film. It was made as a co-production between France, West Germany and Yugoslavia.
| The Treasure of the Silver Lake | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Harald Reinl |
| Written by | Harald G. Petersson |
| Based on | The Treasure of the Silver Lake by Karl May |
| Produced by | Horst Wendlandt Erwin Gitt Zvonko Kovacic |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Ernst W. Kalinke |
| Edited by | Hermann Haller |
| Music by | Martin Böttcher |
Production companies | |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 111 minutes |
| Countries | France West Germany Yugoslavia |
| Language | German |
| Box office | €8.6 million (West Germany) 42 million tickets (worldwide) |
The film's sets were designed by the Croatian art director Dusan Jericevic. Extensive location shooting took place across Yugoslavia, particularly around the Plitvice Lakes National Park which doubled for the American West. Post-production work was done at the Wandsbek Studios in Hamburg.
Plot
Fred Engel's father is murdered by Colonel Brinkley in order to acquire a treasure map, however the Colonel only acquires half of it, the other half is held by Mrs. Butler. Discovering the scene of the crime, Old Shatterhand and Winnetou help Fred bring his father's murderer to justice and locate the treasure of Silver Lake.
Cast
- Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand
- Pierre Brice as Winnetou
- Götz George as Fred Engel
- Herbert Lom as Colonel Brinkley
- Karin Dor as Ellen Patterson
- Eddi Arent as Lord Castlepool
- Marianne Hoppe as Mrs. Butler
- Ralf Wolter as Sam Hawkens
- Mirko Boman as Gunstick Uncle
- Sima Janicijevic as Patterson
- Ilija Ivezic as Hilton
- Branko Spoljar as Doc Jefferson Hartley
- Milivoj Stojanovic as Knox
- Slobodan Dimitrijevic as . Rollender Donner
- Jozo Kovacevic as Grosser Wolf
- Velimir Chytil as Woodward
Box office
It was the highest-grossing film of 1962 in West Germany, selling 10 million tickets and grossing €8.6 million.[1] In France, it was the 29th top-grossing film of 1963, selling 1,656,736 tickets.[2] In the Soviet Union, the film sold 39.8 million tickets.[3] This adds up to a total of 42,456,736 tickets sold worldwide.
The film was a phenomenal success, predating that of Sergio Leone's films. This helped provide a cultural and financial context for the later Spaghetti Western films.[4]
References
- "Die erfolgreichsten Filme in Deutschland 1962" [The Most Successful Films in Germany in 1962]. Inside Kino (in German). 1962. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
- "Der Schatz im Silbersee (1963) – France". JP's Box-Office (in French). Retrieved 29 June 2020.
- "Сокровище Серебряного озера (Der Schatz im Silbersee)". KinoPoisk (in Russian). Retrieved 29 June 2020.
- "Treasure of Silver Lake Review". The Spaghetti Western Database. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
Bibliography
- Bergfelder, Tim. International Adventures: German Popular Cinema and European Co-Productions in the 1960s. Berghahn Books, 2005.