German postcard, no. 1 (of 32). Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Harald Leipnitz in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: This is the oil prince, a ruthless adventurer who will do anything to get his hands on land and oil wells. His helpers are members of the Finders Gang. He has now commissioned them to intercept and kill the scout Bill Forner, who is to lead a trek of settlers to Lake Shelly. A member of the Finders Gang is to take his place and lead the trek astray because he needs the area around Lake Shelly for his machinations.
German postcard, no. 5 (of 32). Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Mario Girotti (Terence Hill) as Richard Forsythe in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: A commotion ensues in the hotel, which ends in a brawl. Members of the Finders gang, who have been playing poker with young Forsythe, have discovered that Forsythe is a cardsharp. The oil prince rescues the young man from this situation. In return, he is supposed to join the trek and serve as a spy for the oil prince.
German postcard, no. 8. Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Mario Girotti (Terence Hill) in Der Ölprinz/Rampage at Apache Wells (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: The trek reaches according to appointment to the first stage near the river. The young Forsyth secretly sneaks out of the camp and meets with members of the Finders gang in the blockhouse. Here he receives his instructions, for the Finders gang will in the discharge of the Oil prince attack the wagons during the night.
Bandits, Indians, and Settlers
The bandit the Oil Prince (Harald Leipnitz) wants to sell the banker Duncan (Vladimir Leib) a fake oil well. However, a trek of settlers who want to settle in the area, of all places, stands in his way. The Oil Prince has the settlers' scout replaced by a member of the Finders Gang. Old Surehand (Stewart Granger) and Winnetou (Pierre Brice) track him down and are able to warn the trek.
Winnetou convinces the Navajo chief Nitsas-ini (Petar Dobric) of the peaceful nature of the settlers, and he lets them pass through his territory unhindered with Old Wabble (Milan Srdoc) as their guide to a stopover at the Chinla River. On the way to Utah, Old Surehand is lured into a trap by the Finders bandits, but Winnetou is able to rescue him.
At the Chinla River, the settlers, among them the widow Ebersbach (Antje Weisgerber), the cantor Hampel (Heinz Erhardt), the cardsharp Richard Forsythe (Mario Girotti a.k.a. Terence Hill), and the shady businessman Bergmann (Veljko Maricic), are getting ready to spend the night when the Finders bandits attack. However, the attack can be repelled by Winnetou and Old Surehand, who arrive in time.
After the attack fails, the Oil Prince comes up with something new. He murders the son of the chief Mokaschi (Milivoje Popovic-Mavid) and blames the Indians for it on the settlers. The Indians surround the settlers at the river but are persuaded to wait with their attack if Old Surehand delivers the real murderer to them within a day.
Winnetou tries to bring the women and children to safety on the raging river with a raft. However, they fall into the water and are only saved when Old Surehand arrives. Old Surehand sets off in pursuit of the Oil Prince, who in the meantime has taken the money for the fake oil well from the banker Duncan and has trapped him in the oil cave with an avalanche of rubble.
Old Surehand is able to capture and tie up the Oil Prince after a short chase and a fight. The Indians have become impatient in the meantime and begin their attack on the settlers. The first wagons are already in flames when Old Surehand returns. The Oil Prince, who has been brought along, is handed over to the Indians and receives his just punishment from them.
German postcard, no. 10 (of 32). Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Harald Leipnitz and Pierre Brice in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: In the Comanche camp he tells the chief that one of the settlers is in possession of a silver dollar sack. This must be the only survivor of the stagecoach robbery.
German postcard, no. 12. Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Pierre Brice, Stewart Granger, and Walter Barnes in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: When he arrives in the camp of the settlers, chief Mokaschi reports what has been told to him by the Oil Prince. Winnetou, Old Surehand, and Campbell reaffirm that they have no money. The Chief is welcome to search their wagon.
German postcard, no. 15 (of 32). Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Harald Leipnitz in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: The Oil Prince has arrived at Lake Shelly with his servant Knife. There he meets the chief executive of the Arizona Commercial Bank and his secretary. After demonstrating fake oil chains to the director, he sells them to him for 75,000 dollars. But that is not enough. After issuing the cheque, he has them both killed by the Finders Gang.
German postcard. Photo: Rialto / Constantin, no. 20. Stewart Granger as Old Surehand in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: Bravely, young Forsythe holds his own on the raft. Old Surehand has reached a jutting cliff. In time he can throw his lasso to young Forsythe and pull him ashore. The empty raft crashes down the waterfall.
Old Surehand instead of Old Shatterhand
Apart from Der Schut, Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965) is the only Karl May film in which the title character is a villain.
For the second time, Stewart Granger plays Old Surehand, deviating from the Karl May novel in which Old Shatterhand takes the main role. Producer Horst Wendlandt was unable to cast Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand because of Artur Brauner's production Through Wild Kurdistan.
The part of Lizzy (Macha Méril) was originally supposed to be played by Marie Versini, but she was also already under contract with Brauner at the time of filming. Fred Denger wrote the script, which was subsequently revised by Harald Philipp.
As Harald Reinl and Alfred Vohrer were busy, Wendlandt originally wanted Paul Martin as director. When the collaboration did not materialise, he called Harald Philipp in Berlin at Christmas 1964, who immediately agreed. Martin Böttcher once again composed an atmospheric score.
Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince was shot at the Spandau Studios in Berlin and on location in Yugoslavia. The film's sets were designed by the art director Dusan Jericevic. Jericević had transformed the Western town of "Golden Hill" from Old Shatterhand into "Tucson".
Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince recorded admissions of 409,817 in France, 1,449,558 in Spain, and over 3 million in Germany.
German postcard, no. 21. Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Stewart Granger as Old Surehand and Harald Leipnitz in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: The oil prince in possession of the cheque is in a hurry to get back to town. Accompanied by Knife, he chooses a suspension bridge as a shortcut. Old Surehand surprises them. He forces them both to return by shooting the rungs.
German postcard, no. 25. Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Stewart Granger as Old Surehand and Slobodan Dimitrijevic as Knife in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: The battle swings back and forth. Then Old Surehand manages to wrest the knife from Knife and knocks him down with a punch. Now they have to get to the settlers' camp as quickly as possible in order to save them.
German postcard, no. 29. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice, Milivoje Popovic-Msvid, Stewart Granger and Harald Leipnitz in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: Old Surehand has kept his promise. With the dead Knife, he brings the murderer of his son to the chief. Fearing revenge, the cowardly Oil Prince claims to have known nothing about all this.
German postcard, no. 30. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice, Milivoje Popovic-Msvid and Stewart Granger in Der Ölprinz/The Oil Prince (Harald Philipp, 1965). Caption: The proof that Knife can be the murderer is the knife that the chief picked up. It fits exactly into the scabbard that Knife wore on his arm.
Sources: Wikipedia (English and German), and IMDb.
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