Götz George

German actor Götz George (1938-2016) was a popular film and theatre star for five decades. He gained international stardom on television in the Krimi TV series Tatort as the maverick police detective Horst Schimanski.


Promotion card for 'Pioneer, Die jeans mit der nummer'.


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, no. 23/6/3264, 1957. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: DEFA / Wenzel. Publicity still for Alter Kahn und Junge Liebe/Old Barge, Young Love (Hans Heinrich, 1957).


German postcard by Rüdel Verlag, no. C 16. Photo: Rialto / Constantin / Vogelmann. Still for Der Schatz im Silbersee/The Treasure of Silver Lake (Harald Reinl, 1962).


German collectors card. Photo: Constantin / Rialto. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964).

Ufa-Nachwuchsstudio

Götz George was born as Götz Schulz into an actor family in Berlin in 1938. His father Heinrich George was a famous film and theatre star of his era. His mother Berta Drews was a well-known character actress. George was named after his father's favourite character, the Imperial knight Götz von Berlichingen, immortalised by Goethe. After the war, his father was imprisoned in the former Concentration Camp Sachsenhausen by the Soviets and died, exhausted and starving, in 1946, after a botched appendix operation at the Soviet concentration camp Speziallager Nr. 7 Sachsenhausen.

George grew up in Berlin with his elder brother Jan and his mother. He went to school in Berlin-Lichterfelde and later attended the Lyzeum Alpinum in Zuoz. In 1950 George made his stage debut at the Hebbel-Theater in Berlin, performing a role in William Saroyan's 'Mein Herz ist im Hochland'.

In 1953 he was able to get a small film role next to Romy Schneider in Wenn der weiße Flieder wieder blüht/When the White Lilacs Bloom Again (Hans Deppe, 1953). In the same year, he played, as he would often do from then on, next to his mother in William Shakespeare's 'Richard III' on stage.

From 1955 to 1958 he studied at the Berlin Ufa-Nachwuchsstudio (the Ufa drama school). During that period, he starred in the DEFA comedy Alter Kahn und Junge Liebe/Old Barge, Young Love (Hans Heinrich, 1957).

The crucial part of his acting education, he received between 1958 and 1963. Following his mother's advice he occasionally played at the Deutsches Theater in Göttingen under the direction of Heinz Hilpert. After Hilpert's death, George would never join a fixed theatre company again, although he did regularly perform on tours and as a guest performer.


German postcard by Stöckel & Co., Hannover.


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, no. 2.002, 1964. Retail price: 0,20 DM.


German postcard, no. ED 54. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Schatz in Silbersee (Harald Reinl, 1962).


German postcard, no. E 58. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Schatz im Silbersee (Harald Reinl, 1962).

Karl May Westerns

After some supporting parts during the 1950s, Götz George broke through with film audiences and critics in the romance Jacqueline (Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1959) with Johanna von Koczian. George was awarded the Bundesfilmpreis (the Gold Ribbon – a major German Film Award) for Best Newcomer and the Preis der Filmkritik (the German Critics Award).

Between 1959 and 1969 he appeared in 26 feature films. First, roles followed in Kirmes/The Fair (Wolfgang Staudte, 1960) playing a desperate Wehrmacht deserter, the thriller Die Fastnachtsbeichte/The Carnival Confession (William Dieterle, 1960), Der Teufel spielt Balaleika/Until Hell Is Frozen (Leopold Lahola, 1961), Mörderspiel/Murder Party (Helmut Ashley, 1961) with Magali Noël, Unser Haus in Kamerun/Our House in Cameroon (Alfred Vohrer, 1961) and the drama Das Mädchen und der Staatsanwalt/The Girl and the Prosecutor (Jürgen Goslar, 1962) with Elke Sommer.

He became well-known to a broad audience when, during his theatre tour in Göttingen, producer Horst Wendlandt persuaded him to play in a Karl May Western. The successful Der Schatz im Silbersee/Treasure of Silver Lake (Harald Reinl, 1962) was originally planned to give George the lead role of the farmer's son Fred Engel, but this plan was abandoned when Lex Barker was engaged to play the role of Old Shatterhand.

In 1962 George received the public Bambi Award as the most popular German actor. In the following years he often performed in comedies like Liebe will gelernt sein/Love Has To Be Learned (Kurt Hoffmann, 1963) and action-oriented films such as the war film Herrenpartie/Destination Death (Wolfgang Staudte, 1964) which benefitted from his physical presence.

George performed all the stunts himself like in his lead role as a sheriff in the Euro-western Sie nannten ihn Gringo/Man Called Gringo (Roy Rowland, 1965). Later he appeared in such films as the horror film The Blood of Fu Manchu (Jesus Franco, 1968) with Christopher Lee, and the war film Commandos (Armando Crispino, 1968) with Lee Van Cleef. He also appeared in the experiment Le vent d'est/East Wind (Groupe Dziga Vertov – a.o Jean Luc Godard, 1970) with Gian Maria Volonté. Filmportal.de: "Although he enjoyed great popularity, George always looked for new challenges as an actor."


German postcard, no. E 61. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Schatz im Silbersee (Harald Reinl, 1962).


German postcard, no. ED 62. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Schatz in Silbersee (Harald Reinl, 1962).


German postcard, no. ED 65. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Schatz in Silbersee (Harald Reinl, 1962).


German postcard, no. E 76. Photo: Constantin. Still from Der Schatz im Silbersee (Harald Reinl, 1962).

Auschwitz commander

In the 1970s, Götz George turned primarily to stage roles and to television, including many episodes of Krimis such as Der Komissar (1970-1973), Derrick (1978), and Der Alte/The Old Fox (1978-1979). Hansgünther Heyme signed him in 1972 to the Kölner Schauspielhaus, where George played Martin Luther in Dieter Forte's 'Martin Luther und Thomas Münzer'.

It was not until 1977 that he was cast in a prominent film role again. He gave a highly praised performance in Aus einem Deutschen Leben/Death Is My Trade (Theodor Kotulla, 1977) as Franz Lang, a character modelled after Auschwitz commander Rudolf Höss.

Notable stage appearances were in 'Troilus and Cressida', and in 'Endstation Sehnsucht' (A Streetcar Named Desire), as Stanley Kowalski. His most important stage achievement, in his own opinion, was the lead role in Georg Büchner's 'Dantons Tod' during the Salzburger Festspiele (Salzburg Festival) in 1981.

In 1986 and 1987 George stage-managed Gogol's 'Revisor', together with Eberhard Feik and Helmut Stauss. Performing in Anton Tschechow's 'Platonov' (1990), George went on his last theatre tour. He later admitted in an interview he feared the glances of the audience on stage.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 11. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Stewart Granger.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 13. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (1964, Alfred Vohrer) with Elke Sommer.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 16. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964).


German postcard by ISV, no. C 20. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964).

Schimanski

Götz George had his greatest popular success in the 1980s on television. In several Tatort TV films broadcast from 1981 to 1991 by the WDR, he portrayed police officer Horst Schimanski. This rough-hewed, working-class cop from Duisburg eventually became a cult figure.

Later, George kept returning to the role, playing Schimanski in 48 episodes of Tatort over 32 years. Aside from their success in Germany, the Schimanski films have introduced George to TV audiences worldwide: 427 million people have watched so far.

The series Schulz & Schulz (1989-1993), dealing with the issue of German reunification, allowed him to show his talents as a comedian in a double role, as did the role of an industry consultant in the series Morlock (1993-1994), which was very far away from the roughneck charm of Schimanski.

The films Abwärts/Out of Order (Carl Schenkel, 1984) with Renee Soutendijk, and Zahn um Zahn/A Tooth for a Tooth (Hajo Gies, 1985) which was based on the TV series Tatort, were both successful at the box office and among critics. In 1985, George received the Charlie-Chaplin-Schuh (German Cinema Award) and the Bundesfilmpreis (Gold Ribbon) as Best German Film Actor.

After starring in another Schimanski-adaption for the cinema, Zabou/The Crack Connection (Hajo Gies, 1987) and the action thriller Die Katze/The Cat (Dominik Graf, 1988) opposite Gudrun Landgrebe, George appeared in the film Der Bruch/The Breach (Frank Beyer, 1988), the first East-West-German co-production. The location of his next film was Argentina, where he starred in Blauäugig/Blue-Eyed (Reinhard Hauff, 1989).


German postcard, no. 15 (1-64). Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Götz George (left) and Miha Baloh (right). Caption: It does not escape Annie's eyes, that the officer hands a note to the 'preacher'. Old Surehand recognises a vulture member in him. In the resulting fight, the fake soldier is killed, but the preacher can escape unnoticed.


German postcard, no. 24 (of 64). Photo: Constantin. Götz George as Martin in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: In the meantime, Martin has also reached the vulture's quarters. To gain their trust, he pretends to be a horse thief. Unfortunately, this ruse fails and he is overpowered by the vultures.


German postcard, no. 43. Photo: Constantin / Rialto. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: All too glad, the vultures are ready to hang Martin (Götz George).


German postcard by WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Köln). Photo: WDR / Michael Böhme. Publicity still for Tatort (1981-1991).

The Death Angel of Auschwitz

In 1991, Götz George played a lead role in the social satire Schtonk (Helmut Dietl, 1991) about the forged Hitler diaries. It was a big success in Germany among audiences and critics, and the official German nomination for the Oscar. For this performance, George again received the Bundesfilmpreis (Gold Ribbon) as Best Actor. An impressive role was his TV appearance in Der Sandmann/The Sandman (Nico Hofmann, 1995) in which he portrayed the alleged serial killer and writer Henry Kupfer as a cold, calculating and manipulative intellectual. Another remarkable TV performance was the title role in Die Bubi-Scholz-Story/The Bubi Scholz Story (Roland Suso Richter, 1997), the trauma of an aged, broken boxer.

Always seeking great diversity in his choices and not afraid of taking risks, he played the serial killer Fritz Haarmann in Der Totmacher/Deathmaker (Romuald Karmakar, 1995). For this film he received the Coppa Volpi, the actor's award of the Venice Film Festival in 1995 and, once more, the Bundesfilmpreis (Gold Ribbon) in 1996. In the same year, he again appeared in another highly successful comedy Rossini (Helmut Dietl, 1996) with Mario Adorf.

George then starred in the gay comedy Das Trio/The Trio (Hermine Huntgeburth, 1997), and the thriller Solo für Klarinette/Solo for Clarinet (Nico Hofmann, 1998), a film adaption of the successful novel by Elsa Lewin. Next Götz George starred as Nazi Doctor Dr. Josef Mengele - the 'Death Angel of Auschwitz', who killed more than 300.000 people, in Nichts als die Wahrheit/After the Truth (Roland Suso Richter, 1999). In 2000 he played the advertiser Eddie Kaminski in Viktor Vogel - Commercial Man/Advertising Rules! (Lars Kraume, 2001), he was the strange bird Heinrich in the drama Gott ist tot/God is Dead (Kadir Sözen, 2003) and designer Jost in Maria an Callas/Maria on Callas (Petra K. Wagner, 2005).

After a six-year-intermission, Götz George returned to German TV screens as Schimanski in 1997. Schimanski and George's other roles in numerous successful TV features have made him the most well-known and most decorated German actor of his time. In 2002 Götz George played one of the leads in the TV film Mein Vater/Coming Home (Andreas Kleinert, 2002) which won the Emmy Award for Best Foreign Feature Film in 2003. The Schimanski episodes Das Geheimnis des Golem/The Secret of the Golem (2004) and Asyl/Asylum (2002) were nominated for the Emmy in 2004.

In 2007, Götz George received the Founders' Honorary Award of the German Television Award for his career achievement as an actor. In 2013, he starred in a very personal project: the biopic George (Joachim Lang, 2013). In this TV film, he portrayed his father, Heinrich George, whose legacy is overshadowed by his appearance in Nazi propaganda films. In 2014 George was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz, Germany's Federal Cross of Merit. Götz George was married to Loni von Friedl from 1966 to 1976. She gave birth to their daughter Tanja-Nicole in 1967. From 1997 he lived together with Hamburg journalist Marika Ullrich. The couple married in 2014. After a short illness, George died in Hamburg in 2016, but his death was kept secret until he was buried.


Trailer for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (1964). Source: RialtoFilm (YouTube).


German trailer for Wartezimmer zum Jenseits (1964). Source: RialtoFilm (YouTube).


German trailer for Abwärts/Out of Order (1984). Source: disc-planet.ch (YouTube).


German trailer for Das Trio/The Trio (1997). Source: Salzgeber (YouTube).

Sources: Scott Roxborough (The Hollywood Reporter), Filmportal, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 12 May 2024.

Unter Geiern (1964)

The Euro-Western Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) is based on one of the Winnetou novels by Karl May. It starred Stewart Granger as Old Surehand, Elke Sommer, Götz George and Pierre Brice as Winnetou. Unter Geiern, released in the US as Frontier Hellcat, was a co-production between West Germany, France, Italy, and Yugoslavia, and was shot in Germany and Yugoslavia.


German postcard, no. 1 (of 64). Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: After a warm farewell of his wife and daughter, farmer Baumann (Walter Barnes), called 'the bear hunter', rides with his son Martin (Götz George) to the bear hunt.


German postcard, no. 2. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice as Winnetou in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Traces of torn lambs lead Baumann and his friend Winnetou, who has joined the hunt, directly to the cave of the bear. In a bold fight, the monster is killed.


German postcard, no. 3. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice as Winnetou in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Shots rip the silence of the valley. Five white riders are pursued by Indians. One of them falls off his horse, but Winnetou does not know the dead.


German postcard, no. 4. Photo: Constantin. Götz George and Walter Barnes Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Clouds of smoke in the direction of the Baumann Ranch herald disaster. From a horrible foreboding seized, the three hunters ride at a furious gallop back to the farm.


German postcard, no. 6. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer as Annie Dillman and Milan Srdoc (a.k.a. Paddy Fox) as Old Wabble in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: At the same time, Annie, the daughter of a wealthy diamond merchant, is on the way to Arizona with a money-load. She is accompanied through the by the Vultures dominated ravine by the droll Old Wabble.


German postcard, no. 10. Photo: Constantin. Gojko Mitic, Stewart Granger and Pierre Brice in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Winnetou has watched the raid from a hill. Everyone agrees that it can only be the infamous Vultures gang. Wokadeh should also be eliminated because he knew too much of the bandit raid on Baumann's Ranch.


German postcard, no. 11. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer as Annie Dillman in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: When she arrives at Baumann's farm, Annie, who can ride and shoot like a sheriff, becomes a young girl again. In her room, she hides the money she carried on her body during the journey under the mattress.


German postcard, no. 13. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: The watchful Annie secretly observes the vulture Weller, who has crept as a Mormon preacher on Baumann's farm. Allegedly, he is supposed to look after the diamond trek to Arizona. By a flippant remark from Old Wabble, he learns of Annie's treasure.


German postcard, no. 14. Photo: Constantin. Stewart Granger in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: When an officer soon appears and reports that the governor has decided to escort the settlers' trek through the vulture territory with a squadron, Old Surehand also becomes alert.


German postcard, no. 15. Photo: Constantin. Götz George (left) and Miha Baloh (right) in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: It does not escape Annie's eyes, that the officer hands a note to the 'preacher'. Old Surehand recognizes a Vulture member in him. In the resulting fight, the fake soldier is killed, but the preacher can escape unnoticed.

Old Surehand

Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) was the fourth in the series of 1960s European Westerns based on Karl May's Winnetou character.

For the first time, Stewart Granger stars as Old Surehand, although in Karl May's novel Old Shatterhand occurs as the main character. As 'Surehand', his hand is so sure that he can split an arrow aimed at him with a bullet in mid-air! Even Robin Hood would have been flabbergasted.

So Granger took over from Lex Barker as Winnetou's white 'blood brother', although his age and stature did not resemble those of Karl May's character. In the books, Surehand is a man with a troubled past, a tormented soul seeking redemption. But the Old Surehand played by Granger is, on the contrary, quite a jolly good fellow, who’s wearing Sunday trousers under buckskin.

The female lead role was played by Elke Sommer, and co-producer Artur Brauner asked Pierre Brice to return as Apache Chief Winnetou.

The young Mario Girotti, now better known as Terence Hill, played a supporting part as Baker Jr and the Romanian Gojko Mitic played the Indian Wokadeh. In the following years, Mitic became one of the most beloved film stars of Eastern Europe as an Indian rebel in several Defa Westerns.

In Unter Geiern/Among Vultures, the experienced trapper Old Surehand and Winnetou investigate the murders of a frontier mother and daughter in Llano Estacado, a border area to New Mexico and Texas. The surviving husband, farmer Baumann, believes that his wife and daughter were murdered by Indians of the Shoshone tribe, but Old Surehand suspects that it is the work of a gang of bandits known as 'The Vultures' (in German Die Geier), who disguise themselves as Indians while committing their crimes.

When attractive Annie (Elke Sommer), who was to deliver precious diamonds to Baumann, is kidnapped by the Vultures, Winnetou, Old Surehand and their friend Old Wabble pursue the gang. Meanwhile, the young Martin Baumann (Götz George) tries to free Annie.


German postcard, no. 16. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer as Annie Dillman, Götz George as Martin Bauman Jr., Milan Srdoc as Old Wabble, Stewart Granger as Old Surehand, and Walter Barnes as Martin Bauman Sr. in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: On the note that the 'preacher' has forgotten in a hurry, is written that the Vultures are planning another robbery. Baumann, shaken out of his grief by these incidents, sets off with Old Surerhand, Old Wabble, and his servants to warn the trek.


German postcard, no. 17. Photo: Constantin. Dunja Rajter as Betsy and Sieghardt Rupp as Preston (second from right) in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: In an abandoned gold-mining town lies the headquarters of the Vulture gang. Their boss is called Preston. The individual gang members have just received their orders on how to sneak into the trek in order to lure it into an ambush.


German postcard, no. 18. Photo: Constantin. Renato Baldini in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Judge Leader and his companions fall for the hypocritical suggestion of some gang members to confide in their leadership. This is how Leader gets into the vultures' quarters.


German postcard, no. 20. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: The adventurous Annie would have liked to be there. While Martin is at work, two vultures are chasing in a wild gallop. Annie still does not know what will be imminent in the next few minutes.


German postcard, no. 23. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer as Annie Dillman in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Bravely, Annie defends herself against the bandits who surround her on all sides. She is locked up in a room on the first floor. In vain she tries to explain to the vultures that she does not carry the money at all.


German postcard, no. 24. Photo: Constantin. Götz George as Martin in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: In the meantime, Martin has also reached the vulture's quarters. To gain their trust, he pretends to be a horse thief. Unfortunately, this ruse fails and he is overpowered by the vultures.


German postcard, no. 26. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: At the last moment Winnetou, who has observed the incident, intervenes. His shot into a powder box causes a violent explosion, which creates the intended chaos among the vultures.


German postcard, no. 27. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer as Annie Dillman and Götz George as Martin Bauman Jr. in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Martin and Annie can escape. Winnetou advises Martin to seek his father and warn him against the Shoshone, as Wokadeh has sworn revenge.


German postcard, no. 28. Photo: Constantin. Stewart Granger in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Old Surehand and his companion are followed on the way to the trek by Shoshone. With his famous 'safe hands' Old Surehand makes an Indian incapacitating. But Baumann is kidnapped and taken to the camp of Shoshone.


German postcard, no. 29. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Old Surehand does everything in his power to free Baumann from his dangerous situation. To his delight, he also discovers his friend Winnetou in the camp of the Shoshone, who has tried in vain to dissuade Wakadeh from his act of revenge.


German postcard, no. 30. Photo: Constantin. Stewart Granger in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Old Surehand, who has communicated with Winnetou by sign, waits for midnight under the shelter of the rock. Then Wokadeh takes over the wake in the tent - that is the moment when Old Surehand must act.


German postcard, no. 31. Photo: Constantin. Stewart Granger as Old Surehand and Gojko Mitic as Wokadeh in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: The bound Baumann sits opposite the dead chief as Wokadeh takes over the guard. Old Surehand silently approaches the tent, overpowers the sentry, binds Wokadeh, and kidnaps him.


German postcard, no. 32. Photo: Constantin. Walter Barnes as Baumann in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: In a panic, Baumann tugs at his shackles. When he recognises Old Surehand, he gains new hope.


German postcard, no. 34. Photo: Constantin. Scene from Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Unlucky Old Wabble, believing Old Surehand to be in danger, sneaks into the Indian camp with two servants and is overpowered.


German postcard, no. 37. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Stewart Granger. Caption: Only Old Surehand's arms are free for his rifle that he can use to ward off the arrows, but may not use for shooting. With cunning and great skill, Old Surehand defends his skin. None of the arrows hits.


German postcard, no. 38. Photo: Constantin. Stewart Granger as Old Surehand and Gojko Mitic in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: God's judgment has spoken: Old Surehand is free and hurries to the trek.


German postcard, no. 39. Photo: Constantin. Scene from Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: To shorten the way to the trek, the vultures ride through the 'Valley of Death', where the chiefs of the Shoshone are laid out. They destroy everything in their path.

German postcard, no. 40. Photo: Constantin. Gojko Mitic and Pierre Brice in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Wokadeh and his warriors, the chief at Winnetou's side, ride into the 'valley of death' to bury Oitka-Peteh. The valley is a place of Desolation. Wokadeh now recognizes the true bandits, he lets Baumann free and promises Winnetou to help in the hunt for the Vultures.


German postcard, no. 41. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer as Annie Dillman and Götz George as Martin Bauman Jr. in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: From a hill, Annie and Martin watch the settlers' camp. They do not know yet that several members of the vulture gang have crept unnoticed in the trek.


German postcard, no. 42. Photo: Constantin. Renato Baldini, Götz George, and Miha Baloh in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: When Martin wants to warn the trek about the vultures, the fake priest also shows up and accuses Martin of stealing horses. Judge Leader pronounces sentence on Martin.


German postcard, no. 43 (of 64). Photo: Constantin / Rialto. Götz George as Martin in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: All too glad, the vultures are ready to hang Martin.


German postcard, no. 44. Photo: Constantin. Elke Sommer and Miha Baloh in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: At the last moment Annie intervenes. In front of everyone, she reports that the "preacher" is really the vulture Weller and a murderer. Her firm and determined manner makes even Judge Leader doubt Martin's guilt.


German postcard, no. 45. Photo: Rialto. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures(Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Some settlers, who have also become suspicious, hold Weller in check. They decide to keep an eye on both Martin and the Vulture.


German postcard, no. 46. Photo: Constantin. Götz George as Martin Bauman Jr., Stewart Granger as Old Surehand, and Mario Girotti in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Old Surehand reaches the trek in time to warn them of the ambush by the band of vultures. The trek elder agrees to overpower the vulture members who have smuggled themselves into the trek.


German postcard, no. 48. Photo: Constantin. Götz George as Martin Bauman Jr. and Stewart Granger as Old Surehand in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: At this moment Old Surehand grabs hold: with cunning and hard fists the three vultures are overpowered. They are tied up and taken along in the wagon train.


German postcard, no. 49. Photo: Constantin. Götz George, Walter Barnes, Renato Baldini and Stewart Granger in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Father Baumann has also joined the trek in the meantime. Together with Old Surehand, he is finally able to convince Judge Leader that Martin is innocent. A ruse is used to postpone the vulture attack until the next day when Winnetou comes to the rescue with the Shosones.


German postcard, no. 50. Photo: Constantin. Mila Baloh and Stewart Granger in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Old Surehand forces Weller to tell the gang that, due to military reinforcements, the vultures are not to attack the trek at night but only at dawn.


German postcard, no. 52. Photo: Constantin. Scene from Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: At dawn, the vultures attack with torches and in great numbers. Although the trek was well prepared, there are many dead and wounded. Soon the settlers run out of ammunition. The situation becomes threatening.


German postcard, no. 53. Photo: Constantin. Scene from Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: The trek can hardly defend itself against the attacks of the vultures. But at the last minute, Winnetou rushes to the rescue with the Shoshones. The leader of the vultures and some bandits are put to flight.


German postcard, no. 54. Photo: Constantin. Miha Baloh in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: The false preacher Weller also flees in the general turmoil of battle and is able to save himself in the nearby mountains with the remaining vultures.


German postcard, no. 56. Photo: Constantin. Götz George as Martin in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: In a hard fight man against man, Martin is finally overpowered by the vultures and used as a hostage by them.


German postcard, no. 57. Photo: Constantin. At right, Sieghardt Rupp as Preston in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Preston, the boss of the Vultures, calls Old Surehand to come alone in Felsental (Rocky Valley) to rescue Martin.


German postcard, no. 60. Photo: Constantin. Pierre Brice as Winnetou and Miha Baloh as Weller in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Weller cannot escape his fate either. He is recognised as a long-sought thief and murderer. When the jewellery of the murdered Mrs. Baumann is found in his possession, Father Baumann is shocked to realise that Winnetou was right.


German postcard, no. 61. Photo: Constantin. Stewart Granger and Pierre Brice in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: The battle, which has claimed many victims on the side of the settlers and traders, is over. Old Surehand says goodbye to his friend Winnetou, who has helped him more than once.


German postcard, no. 62 (of 64). Photo: Constantin. Scene from Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964). Caption: Old Surehand keeps the promise he made to Judge Leader, who was mortally wounded in the fight: He will bring the trek safely through the rocky mountains to Arizona.

Breathtaking cinematography

The first Karl May Western, Der Schatz im Silbersee/Treasure of Silver Lake (Harald Reinl, 1962) had been the most successful German film of the 1962/1963 season.

Director Harald Reinl and producer Horst Wendlandt then created a series of Euro-Westerns, all based on the novels by Karl May. Their next film, Winnetou - 1. Teil/Apache Gold (Harald Reinl, 1963) was in fact a prequel to Der Schatz im Silbersee which introduced Apache chief Winnetou and told how he met Old Shatterhand.

The script of Unter Geiern combines elements from two different Karl May novels, but Old Surehand appears in neither of them. The reason for this is quite prosaic: originally Lex Barker, who had played Old Shatterhand in the first two films, would appear once again as Old Shatterhand alongside Pierre Brice, in a film called Winnetou und der Bärenjäger/Winnetou and the Bear Hunter, but Wendlandt thought Stewart Granger was a big catch and asked his screenwriters to rework the entire script and write Granger/Old Surehand into it.

Most critics decided that Unter Geiern could not hold a candle to the earlier Karl May films. The chemistry between Pierre Brice and Stewart Granger did not quite match that of Brice and Lex Barker.

At IMDb, reviewer Henri Sauvage, writes: "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."

Scherpschutter in his review at the Spaghetti Western Database: "Loyal fans of the series often call this one of the better entries. I can only partially agree. The film was aimed at a slightly more mature audience than the previous movies. The slaughter of the Baumann family (although not shown) is quite shocking, and the shootout near the end between the Vultures and the settlers is remarkably violent. But the bulk of the movie is the usual heroic Karl May stuff, with Old Surehand put to a survival test by the Shoshones, and Winnetou leading the Indian braves in true cavalry style to the aid of the settlers when all seems lost. And then there’s Stewart Granger … Reportedly Granger was paid $ 75.000 for the part, which makes him the best-paid actor of the series, and he virtually directed his own scenes. He had completely different ideas about the movie than most other people on the set, and his approach led to a rather incongruous movie, with a dramatic storyline of a young man, Martin Baumann, seeking the murderers of his family members, and a lot of funny and would-be funny scenes – featuring Surehand - thrown in."

Unter Geiern was a success in the German cinemas and was awarded the Goldene Leinwand (Golden Screen) for more than 3 million visitors in a year. The Karl May series was to be continued...


German postcard by ISV, no. C 3. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Stewart Granger as Old Surehand.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 4. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Stewart Granger as Old Surehand.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 5. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Gojko Mitic, Stewart Granger, and Pierre Brice.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 8. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Elke Sommer and Stewart Granger.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 9. Photo: Rialto / Constantin. Pierre Brice, Götz George and Walter Barnes in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964).

German postcard by ISV, no. C 11. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Stewart Granger and Götz George.

German postcard by ISV, no. C 13. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Elke Sommer and Götz George.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 16. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Götz George.


German postcard by ISV, no. C 20. Photo: Constantin. Publicity still for Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964) with Götz George.


German postcard. Photo: Elke Sommer, Götz George and Stewart Granger in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964).


German collectors card. Photo: Constantin / Rialto. Götz George in Unter Geiern/Among Vultures (Alfred Vohrer, 1964).

Sources: Scherpschutter (Spaghettiwestern.net), Spaghettiwestern.net, Wikipedia (English and German), and IMDb.