Unter Geiern (1964)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Alfred Vohrer

Writers:

Karl May (novel)
Eberhard Keindorff (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

November 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Adventure

Plot:

Old Surehand and Winnetou investigate the murders of a mother and daughter. The surviving husband believes...

Plot Keywords:

Native American | Animal In Title | Horse | Spaghetti Western | Equestrian

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Stewart Granger	...	Old Surehand
Pierre Brice	...	Winnetou
Elke Sommer	...	Annie Dillman
Götz George	...	Martin Baumann Jr.
Walter Barnes	...	Martin Baumann Sr.
Sieghardt Rupp	...	Preston
Miha Baloh	...	'Reverend' Weller (as Mihail Baloh)
Renato Baldini	...	Judge George Leader
Terence Hill	...	Baker Jr. (as Mario Girotti)
Gojko Mitic	...	Wokadeh (as Georg Mitic)
Louis Velle	...	Gordon
Voja Miric	...	Stewart
Stole Arandjelovic	...	Milton
Djordje Nenadovic	...	Miller (as George Heston)
Dunja Rajter	...	Betsy

Also Known As:

Among Vultures (International: English title) (literal English title)
Frontier Hellcat (USA)
Là dove scende il sole (Italy)
Medju jastrebovima (Yugoslavia: Serbian title)
Parmi les vautours (France)
Winnetou und der Bärenjäger (West Germany) (working title)
Los buitres (Spain: Castilian title) [es]
Winnetou ja Lännen haaskalinnut (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

Yugoslavia | Italy | West Germany | France

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:12 | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

CCC-Atelier, Spandau, Berlin, Germany

Company:

Atlantis Films

Goofs:

Factual errors: The film depicted a Shoshone encampment in which a totem pole was prominently displayed amongst the tee-pees. The Shoshone, nomadic in nature, did not have totem poles as part of their tribal culture. The totem pole was found only in cultures of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America (Washington State and British Columbia, Canada).

Movie Connections:

Followed by Winnetou und das Halbblut Apanatschi (1966)

Highly improbable, but strangely enjoyable

As another commenter said, this is pure fantasy in a Western setting. If you're looking for the gritty realism of a Spaghetti Western or an American Western from the Peckinpah era, this is definitely not your cup of tea.

For one thing, everyone is so clean -- even the Vulture Gang, whom you'd naturally expect to have less exacting standards of personal hygiene.

In many ways, these "Bratwurst Westerns" seem like throwbacks to an earlier style, namely, the 1930s brand of American horse opera. Except that in the Old Surehand series, the Indians are portrayed to an almost ridiculous degree as misunderstood Noble Savages. (Which is somewhat of an improvement over depicting them as mindless, bloodthirsty savages, but neither approach corresponds very closely to the reality.)

What's really disconcerting about the English language dub of the film is that someone else does Stewart Granger's voice. Which is a pity, because much of Granger's charm and presence as an actor resided in that inimitable bass growl. I wonder why they couldn't get him to do his own dubbing -- I'd have given this one an extra star just for that.

But it doesn't look as though the production values were skimped when it came to the costuming and props, and the cinematography is occasionally breathtaking. (If possible, you should try to catch this in letterbox format, just for the gorgeous scenery.) The action sequences come off fairly well, too, and the bad guys are appropriately villainous.

Overall, I can think of many worse ways to spend an hour-and-a-half.