Treasure of the Silver Lake


The Treasure of the Silver Lake is a 1962 German western film directed by Harald Reinl. It is very loosely based on Karl May's novel of the same name. It was shot in Yugoslavia and was the first in the highly successful Winnetou film series by Rialto Film.

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 as 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

It was the highest-grossing film of 1962 in West Germany, selling tickets and grossing. In France, it was the 29th top-grossing film of 1963, selling 1,656,736 tickets. In the Soviet Union, the film sold tickets. This adds up to a total of 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.