This is a 50-year old western movie starring Lex Barker and in the later years of his career, he actually starred in quite a few German films. There is lots of cowboy and Indian action in here, but that is a bit of a given looking at how this is adapted from a Karl May novel. It took no less than 4 writers to adapt this piece and for that, the outcome is a bit weak. The director is Robert Siodmak, actually one of Germany's more known directors in Hollywood. He also has a nomination for directing and also scored a nomination in the Foreign Language Film category. He worked with Lancaster, Gardner, de Havilland, Peck, Stanwyck and Lollobrigida to name only a few.
I thought this film didn't start too bad, but I have to say the action wasn't good enough to keep me interested for 100 minutes, or even for 50 minutes. The drama is fine occasionally, but the storyline from very early with the girl and her mentor telling her who to marry completely disappears until near the end. There's a Swiss guy in here obviously for comedy reasons, but his shtick got old so quickly and soon stopped being funny. Also the way he was such a brave fighter at the end was truly unrealistic. The thing I was most disappointed with was probably the way the characters were written. There is really only good and evil, black and white, nothing in-between. No shades at all. This is really only a film for hardcore western film lovers. Everybody else should give it a pass. But if you enjoyed it, take a look at its sequel which came out only roughly 50 days after this film here.
I thought this film didn't start too bad, but I have to say the action wasn't good enough to keep me interested for 100 minutes, or even for 50 minutes. The drama is fine occasionally, but the storyline from very early with the girl and her mentor telling her who to marry completely disappears until near the end. There's a Swiss guy in here obviously for comedy reasons, but his shtick got old so quickly and soon stopped being funny. Also the way he was such a brave fighter at the end was truly unrealistic. The thing I was most disappointed with was probably the way the characters were written. There is really only good and evil, black and white, nothing in-between. No shades at all. This is really only a film for hardcore western film lovers. Everybody else should give it a pass. But if you enjoyed it, take a look at its sequel which came out only roughly 50 days after this film here.