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Apache Gold

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Apache Gold
Directed byHarald Reinl
Written byHarald G. Petersson
Based onWinnetou novels
by Karl May
Produced byHorst Wendlandt
Starring
CinematographyErnst W. Kalinke
Edited byHermann Haller
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release date
  • 11 December 1963 (1963-12-11)
Running time
101 minutes
Countries
LanguageGerman
Budget4 million DM[2]
Box office$36.7 million (est.)

Apache Gold (German: Winnetou, later retitled to Winnetou – 1. Teil), also known as Winnetou the Warrior,[3] is a 1963 Western film directed by Harald Reinl. It is based on the story of Winnetou, a fictional Native-American Apache hero from the Winnetou series of German novels. It was a major commercial success, selling about 77 million tickets at the worldwide box office.

It was shot at the Spandau Studios in Berlin and on location in Croatia, then part of Yugoslavia, near the city of Zadar. The film's sets were designed by art director Vladimir Tadej.

Plot

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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 as the outlaws attempt to extract 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.

Winnetou (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 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 narrowly wins.

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

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Awards

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Background

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The English version is shorter than the original German one. Many of Ralf Wolter's scenes are shorter. Moreover, Chris Howland's appearances as a preposterous and naive English photojournalist have been dropped completely.

Box office

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It was the highest-grossing film of 1963 in West Germany, selling 10 million tickets and grossing €10 million[4] ($10 million).

In France, it sold 1,126,887 tickets in 1964,[5] equivalent to an estimated $700,000 in gross revenue.[a] In Poland, it sold about 11 million tickets in 1968, breaking the all-time record for the highest-grossing foreign film in Poland.[6]

It was later released in the Soviet Union, 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.[1] This was equivalent to an estimated $26 million in gross revenue.[7]

In total, the film sold 78,126,887 tickets at the worldwide box office, including an estimated gross revenue of $36.7 million in Germany, France and the Soviet Union.

United States

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Released on a limited basis in the United States by Columbia Pictures, the film was aired on television in several cities.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ See Box office § Average ticket price.

References

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  1. ^ a b Sergey Kudryavtsev (4 July 2006). "Зарубежные фильмы в советском кинопрокате". LiveJournal. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  2. ^ ""Золото Апачей" (Winnetou - 1. Teil, 1963)". KinoPoisk (in Russian). Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  3. ^ "AKA: Winnetou the Warrior (UK)". Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  4. ^ "Die erfolgreichsten Filme in Deutschland 1963" [The Most Successful Films in Germany in 1963]. Inside Kino (in German). 1963. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  5. ^ "Winnetou I (1964)". JP Box-Office (in French). Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  6. ^ Ford, Charles; Hammond, Robert (2015). Polish Film: A Twentieth Century History. McFarland & Company. p. 107. ISBN 978-1-4766-0803-7.
  7. ^ "Cinema Going". The Asian Messenger. 1–4. Center for Communication Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong: 2. 1975. Archived from the original on 18 January 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2020. More Russians (4.5 billion) go to the movies more times (an average of 17.7 times per person) each year than people in any other country, according to UNESCO statistics for 1973, the last year for which figures are available. Tailing the Russians are Singaporeans, 17.1 times a year, and Hong Kong people, 15.1 times a year. Italians go 10 times, Britons 2.4 times and Frenchmen 3.5 times a year. The high frequency of movie going in Russia is attributed to the low price of movie admission, the drab quality of Soviet TV and the difficulty in getting seats at a restaurant or other places of entertainment. In Russia, where a movie ticket costs about 47 US cents, there are 154,200 cinemas.
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