These popular Karl May adaptations paved the way for the many Italian Westerns that would soon follow.

The writer Karl May is a household name in his native Germany, where he is associated with thrilling Western tales and sweeping adventure stories. Following earlier attempts to bring his novels to the screen, films adapted from May's work found their greatest success in the 1960s. Seven of them were produced by Artur Brauner at CCC Film, all starring Lex Barker and directed by veteran filmmakers Robert Siodmak, Hugo Fregonese, Franz Josef Gottlieb and Harald Reinl.

Old Shatterhand and Winnetou and Shatterhand in the Valley of Death both feature May's most beloved characters: the frontiersman Old Shatterhand and the Apache chief Winnetou, who find themselves first caught up in a plot to start a war between Native Americans and white settlers and then a scheme to steal a gold shipment from the US Army. The Shoot, Through Wild Kurdistan and In the Kingdom of the Silver Lion all follow adventurer Kara Ben Nemsi as he travels through the Balkans and the Middle East, while The Treasure of the Aztecs and The Pyramid of the Sun God chart the exploits of Dr. Karl Sternau as he seeks vast riches to fund political action in Mexico.

Wildly entertaining, shot in beautifully cinematic European locations and helmed by some of the most talented filmmakers working in Germany during the 1960s, these popular Karl May adaptations paved the way for the many Italian Westerns that would soon follow. The Masters of Cinema Series is honored to present all seven of Artur Brauner's Karl May adaptations for the first time ever on home video in North America from brand new 4K restorations by CCC Film.

Media

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Bonus Materials

• Limited Edition of 2,000 copies
• Limited Edition Hardbound Slipcase
• 1080p HD presentations of all seven features from 4K restorations of the original camera negatives undertaken by CCC Film
• Original German audio tracks
• Optional English subtitles, newly revised for this release
• New introductions to each film by Sir Christopher Frayling, author of Spaghetti Westerns: Cowboys and Europeans from Karl May to Sergio Leone
• New audio commentaries on Old Shatterhand and The Treasure of the Aztecs by film historian David Kalat
• Karl May at CCC – new interview with producer Alice Brauner, managing director of CCC Film and daughter of CCC founder Artur Brauner
• Prodigal Son – new interview with film historian Sheldon Hall on the late career of Robert Siodmak
• Archival making of documentary on Old Shatterhand and Winnetou and Shatterhand in the Valley of Death
• Archival featurette on Daliah Lavi, star of Old Shatterhand
• Archival interview with Bernhard Schmid, co-editor and contributor to Karl May Verlag
• Archival featurette on the restoration of The Shoot, Through Wild Kurdistan and In the Kingdom of the Silver Lion
• Archival news footage on The Shoot
• Original theatrical trailers
• Limited Edition 60-page collector’s book featuring new writing on Karl May on page and screen by German popular cinema experts Tim Bergfelder and Holger Haase, a profile of Lex Barker by Boris Brosowski and an essay on Old Shatterhand and Winnetou by Le
• * All extras subject to change

 

Cast & Crew

Actors:

•        Lex Barker
•       Pierre Brice
•       Daliah Lavi
•       Guy Madison
•       Ralf Wolter
•       Gustavo Rojo
•       Rik Battaglia
•       Charles Fawcett
•       Joe D'Amato
•       Mario Adorf
•       Sophie Hardy
•       Ranato Baldini
•       Gérard Barray
•       Michèle Girardon

Director: Robert Siodmak

Director: Hugo Fregonese

Director: Franz Josef Gottlieb

Director: Harald Reinl

Additional Details

Label: Eureka Entertainment

Genre: Western

Language: German

Run Time: 720 mins

Region: 1

Release Date: 04/28/26

UPC: 760137206460