Western Wednesdays: Winnetou (1963)

     Originally released in West Germany on December 11th, 1963 Winnetou was released in the U.S. on May 1st, 1965 under the title Apache Gold. Based on the novel by Karl May, the film is directed by Harald Reinl and stars Pierre Brice and Lex Barker. Though the second film in the series to be released (after The Treasure of Silver Lake) Winnetou is the first, chronologically, and chronicles the first meeting of the titular Apache (played by Brice) and his soon-to-be blood brother, Old Shatterhand (Barker).

     The plot involves the construction of the Great Western Railroad which is causing conflict between the Apache and the white settlers. Old Shatterhand is sent by the railway officials to discover why the railroad is not being diverted around the Indian land, as planned. He soon discovers that a man named Santer (Mario Adorf) is behind the trouble. Santer is after a goldmine hidden on Apache land, and will stop at nothing to get it. When a white missionary who has been adapted by the Apache is killed by Santer's gang, it is up to Old Shatterhand to rescue a captured Winnetou and stop Santer before a war breaks out.

     The Winnetou series is notable for featuring a protagonist who is an Apache (though he is played by Frenchman Pierre Brice) and the films are generally more sympathetic to Indians then their American counterparts. Unscrupulous white men are invariably the villains. In this film Santer bribes the railway official to build the line through Apache land, and he stirs up the Kiowa against the Apache to further his own ends. Winnetou is much more headstrong then usual in this movie. He is justly angered by the incursions onto Apache land but this leads him to an irrational hatred and mistrust for all the whites. Its only when Old Shatterhand saves his life that he begins to see things differently. 

     There is a rather contrived the conflict between Winnetou and Old Shatterhand. Winnetou blames Old Shatterhand for not preventing Santer's injustices and is not aware that it was he who saved him (somehow he didn't see Old Shatterhand untie him!). Set to be burned at stake, Old Shatterhand claims an ordeal by battle and is able to triumph without loss of life. It is later proved that he freed Winnetou when Winnetou's sister Nsho-tshi (Marie Versini) produces his necklace, which Old Shatterhand retrieved after saving Winnetou, in the white man's jacket. 

     Sadly, before this can occur, there is much needless bloodshed, as Winnetou attacks the town of Roswell where Santer is holed up and many innocent settlers and Apache are killed. The film has a tragic tone in general. Shatterhand falls in love with Nsho-tshi, only to loose her during the climax. Santer's girl, who tries to rebel against him, is also tragically killed during the Apache attack. This clashes greatly with the films often obnoxious comic relief leading to some egregious tonal inconsistency. Interestingly much of this comic material was cut from the original U.S. release, with Chris Howland's English news photographer removed completely (conveniently he shares no screen time with Winnetou or Old Shatterhand). This may be one of the few times where the shortened U.S. version is actually superior!

     Despite these flaws, Winnetou is still an exciting and well made film. It features one of Lex Barker's better performances in the series as a younger, less experienced Shatterhand. His reaction to Nsho-tshi's death is actually pretty effective. Pierre Brice plays a much more hotheaded Winnetou then usual here, which is an interesting change of pace even if it makes him unlikable at times. Like the other films in the series, it has much more production value then most European westerns made in this period. Harald Reinl's direction is solid and he shows a real command of the action scenes in particular. Ernst W. Kalinke provides some gorgeous cinematography and the film is accompanied by a pleasent, if occasionally ill fitting, score from Martin Böttcher.

Score: 7/10

Star Trek: The Next Generation 30th Anniversary Retrospective Part 3

So I finally got back to this project after two years with no progress. Hopefully I'll finish it before the 35th anniversary 😁.

Here are the first two parts if anyone missed them (which would not be surprising):

Western Wednesdays: Frontier Pony Express (1939)

     Frontier Pony Express was released on April 12th, 1939. Distributed by Republic Pictures it is produced and directed by Joseph Kane and written by Norman S. Hall. It stars Roy Rogers as a Pony Express Rider who must thwart a Confederate plot to bring California out of the Union. 

     Like many films made around this time, Frontier Pony Express takes a somewhat neutral stance on the Union/Confederate conflict. Though the main villain, Edward Keane's Senator Calhoun Lassiter, is working for the Confederacy, it is later revealed that he has his own agenda and wants to make California an independent republic with himself in control. Don Dillaway plays his ally Brett Langhorne, a loyal Confederate agent who is unaware of Lassiter's treachery but nonetheless uncomfortable with his morally ambiguous methods. Lynne Roberts, who appeared with Roy in many of his early pictures (billed as Mary Hart), plays Brett's sister Ann who is torn between her loyalty to her brother the the Confederacy and her feelings for Roy. Roy himself is similarly conflicted as he has fallen for Ann but doesn't trust her brother. In the end, Brett redeems himself when he is killed standing up to Lassiter, who tries to persuade the young patriot to go along with his schemes.

 

     As usual, Joseph Kane keeps the film moving. There's plenty of action throughout including a really well done shootout when Luke Johnson and his gang (secretly working for Lassiter) rob the Express Office dressed as Confederate raiders. It also features a cracker-jack climax where the bad guys try to intercept an important gold shipment which Roy is carrying. Trigger saves the day by arriving in the nick-of-time to relieve Roger's tiring mount and even takes center stage when Roy dismounts to draw the gang away and Trigger is chased to the edge of a cliff and jumps down into the river below!

     Roy and Lynne Roberts have good chemistry, even if their relationship in this film is a little more stormy then usual. On the other hand, Roy's lack of discretion in telling her about the important dispatches he is going to carry (a source of division after Johnson's gang tries to steal them) comes across as a bit contrived. Meanwhile Raymond Hatton doubles as Roy's partner and his comic relief in a somewhat tiresome subplot where he tries to escape the wrath of Ethel Wales's Mrs. Murphy, who he cheated out of an expensive broach. Don Dillaway does a decent job in a somewhat stiff role as the loyal-to-a-fault Brett Langhorne. The always intimidating Noble Johnson is perfectly cast as the unscrupulous outlaw leader Luke Johnson, who Lassiter enlists in his schemes despite Langhorne's protests. In many ways he overshadows Edward Keane's main villain.

     Though uneven at times, Frontier Pony Express has more then enough outstanding qualities for me to recommend it.

Score: 8/10

Western Wednesdays: Wild and Woolly (1917)

     Wild and Woolly is a Douglas Fairbanks western comedy released on June 24th, 1917 and directed by John Emerson. In it Fairbanks plays Jeff Hillington, the son of a wealthy eastern railroad magnate, who dreams of going out west. 

     Wild and Woolly has a brilliant set-up. The film opens with juxtaposing shots of the west of old with its wild untamed prairies and the modern west with its railways and city streets. It queries: "Has this march of progress killed all the romance, all the thrills?" Then we're introduced to Jeff. We first see him wearing a stetson and chaps, sitting in front of a tepee and reading a western dime novel. The camera then pulls back to reveal that he's inside his room in the city, which has been decorated with western paraphernalia. Jeff, we learn, is obsessed with the west. He spends his spare time reading dime novels, riding around New York city on a horse dressed in western regalia, and, of course, going to the nickelodeon to watch the latest western pictures. Alas, most of the time he is stuck in the office, doing paperwork for his father. 

     Jeff gets his big chance when a delegation from Bitter Creek, Arizona comes to New York City to ask Jeff's father Collis (Walter Bytell) for financial backing for the construction of a spur line to connect some rich mining claims. Collis, hoping to cure his son of his western mania, decides to send Jeff to investigate. When the delegates meet Jeff and discover his enthusiasm for the west of legend, they decide to dress up Bitter Creek to fit his idea of a western town and plan to stage a barroom dance, a hold-up and an Indian uprising. Steve Shelby (Sam De Grasse), the corrupt local Indian agent who has been selling the Indian's government supplies, decides to use the situation to his advantage, turning the train robbery into a real one and absconding with the money while using the Indian uprising he instigates as cover.

     To further complicate matters, Shelby has long had his eye on Nell Larabee (Eileen Percy) who Jeff falls for after arriving in town. Shelby has his fence man kidnap Nell, tipping off the people of Bitter Creek to his plans and tipping off Jeff to their deception, and its up to him to save the day, especially since he's the only one in town with real bullets. The film does sag a little in the second act as we watch the people of Bitter Creek go through the motions of their plan and wait for Shelby to enact his schemes but it really picks up during this climax.

      Fairbanks is great in the lead, his manic energy and naivete charm making him perfect for the role of Jeff Hillington. Though the film doesn't make as impressive use of his athleticism as his later swashbucklers, there are still some thrilling scenes, particularly the one where he swings on the joist to break through the floorboard into his hotel room and the climatic chase with Shelby.

     This film is one of several early Fairbanks pictures written by Anita Loos and directed her future husband John Emerson. These films helped Fairbanks to attain stardom. Loos is often credited with inventing the idea of a more witty inter-titles, and her script for Wild and Woolly is full of subtle humor. Just one example will suffice: at the end of the film, when Jeff goes back east after foiling Shelby's schemes and winning Nell's heart, there is a fade to black. "But wait a minute," intervenes Loo's subtitles, "this will never do! We can't end a western romance without a wedding." And so we get a brief scene where a newly wedded Jeff and Nell ride off into the sunset.

     Wild and Woolly is a solid western comedy bolstered by a witty script from Anita Loos and an (as always) energetic performance from Douglas Fairbanks. It's no wonder this is one of the actor's personal favorites.

Score: 8/10

Western Wednesdays: Heart of the West (1936)

     Released on July 24th, 1936,  Heart of the West is the 6th Hopalong Cassidy film. Produced by Harry Sherman and directed by Howard Bretherton from a script by Doris Schroeder, it is an adaptation of Mesquite Jenkins, Tumbleweed by Clarence E. Mulford. In this film, Hoppy and Johnny Nelson (played, as usual, by William Boyd and James Ellison) are hired by a rancher named John Trumbull (Sidney Blackmer), only to find that he is harassing local rancher Jim Jordan (Charles Martin), who wants to keep Trumbull from trespassing on his land. 

     Of course, once they find this out, Hoppy and Johnny turn down Trumbull's job offer and go to work for Jordan instead. Johnny, predictably, falls for Jim's sister Sally Jordan (Lynn Gabriel) on whom Trumbull has designs of his own. Meanwhile, Jordan's foreman Windy Halliday (Gabby Hayes) is resentful of the newcomers, feeling that he can handle things himself. Things are brought to a head when Trumbull's cohort Barton (Fred Kohler) arrives with a herd of cattle he intends to drive through Jordan's range. 

     Heart of the West is fairly light on action until the climax, involving a shootout and a stampede which Hoppy and the boys turn around using some dynamite. Other then that we get Hoppy wrestling a runaway bull (mostly off-screen) and a rather limp fight between Johnny and some of Trumbull's goons. The pacing is a little erratic as well, with the conflict between Jordan and Trumbull progressing in fits and starts. The film is almost half over before Hoppy finally decides to throw in with Jordan.

      The regular cast members are all in fine form, though Boyd doesn't have much to do and Ellison is reduced to being the butt of the joke more-often-then-not in this installment. Interestingly, Gabby once again plays a character named Windy but this time it's Windy Jenkins instead of Windy Halliday. Sidney Blackmer, best known for playing Theodore Roosevelt both on stage and in Hollywood movies, is a little lacking as the heavy this time around (he would do a much better job in the later entry Law of the Pampas (1939)). Charles Martin is just fine as Jim Jordan, who in many ways is the film's real protagonist. Lynn Gabriel isn't much more then a pretty face but she has good enough chemistry with Ellison to carry their few scenes together. 

     In the end, Heart of the West is a middling Hopalong Cassidy movie. It delivers the goods, but with less finesse then normal, and it lacks any really stand-out scenes or characters to distinguish it from a myriad of other B-westerns. 

 

Score: 7/10