{"id":33464,"date":"2026-05-01T15:36:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T22:36:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=33464"},"modified":"2026-05-01T15:36:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T22:36:37","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-adventure-calls-karl-may-at-ccc-1964-1968","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=33464","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: ADVENTURE CALLS! KARL MAY AT CCC (1964 – 1968)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4-disc Blu-ray box set from Eureka\nEntertainment is currently available for purchase.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you\u2019ve been living in the English-speaking western world,\nthen the name Karl May may not ring a bell. While I read my fair share of\nwesterns growing up, I\u2019d certainly never heard of the figure. But as it turns\nout this author, whose work was released primarily in the late 1800s, is iconic\nin his native Germany and many parts of Europe, selling over 200 million copies\nto readers across the globe. Curiously, English-translations of his works have\nonly been made available in the last 30 years, but his impact is huge. May\u2019s\nworks influenced and inspired many since their publication (in mostly positive\nways, although with one horrific exception). Long after his passing, the figure\nalso played a part in reinvigorating the popularity of westerns in the 1960s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray set Adventure Calls! Kasl May\nat CCC consists of seven movies produced by CCC Film that are based on either\nthe author\u2019s works, or his characters. These German-European co-productions\nwere lavishly produced, massive successes in their homeland as in other nations\nacross the pond. In fact, the first film was among the biggest German\nproductions ever, and one that was, and remains, one of the country\u2019s most\npopular titles. The story of May and how these features were produced is fascinating\nand set not only includes 4K restorations of all the titles taken from the\noriginal camera negatives, but informative extras that will wow\nnewcomers.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s hard to detail these pictures without going into\nbackground information about May, so I\u2019ll present details from a couple of\nbonus features on the disc. May was an adventure writer who specialized in\nwesterns. The author was a shameless self-promoter, even back 150 years ago,\nclaiming to have based his tales on real experiences he had exploring the old\nwest and other foreign lands. As it turns out, he was completely lying about\nhis past. May was a con man who had spent much of his 20s in prison for theft\nand fraud. He had spent a great deal of his sentence in a prison library, and\nafter reading and developing writing skills, began to create compelling\nfictional tales and fashion a new image of himself. His works met with\nimmediate success, and it seems that most children in this part of the world\ngrew up reading his works. This was all well and good, but one disturbing\naspect was that Adolf Hitler was one of those kids, even insisting that his\narmies read his novels and took inspiration from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you might expect, his work fell out of favor for that\nreason. But a decade or more after the end of World War II, a renewed interest\nin the author began to rise. Children started reading his works again, and\nadults who had grown up with the writer were already familiar with the\nmaterial. So, West German studio Rialto teamed with Constantin Films and\nYugoslavian outfit Jadran Studios to produce an adaptation of Treasure of\nSilver Lake<\/em>, starring Lex Barker as the heroic German Charlie \u201cOld\nShatterhand\u201d and Pierre Brice as Winnetou, his Native American\/Apache friend.\nThe film was a huge success and inspired sequels for the studios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curiously enough, German production house CCC Films wanted to get in on the action. Alas, they didn\u2019t own the rights to the Shatterhand and Winnetou novels. However, the characters were in the public domain, so producer Artur Brauner decided to use them in original western stories, and also buy rights to other books that hadn\u2019t been acquired by Rialto. CCC Films began their own series of movies, even hiring the same actors from the Rialto projects in the same roles. This included Lex Barker, perhaps most famous at the time for having portrayed Tarzan in various US productions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The first film on the set is Old Shatterhand<\/em> (1964),\na French-Italian-Yugoslavian production that was shot in 70mm. The plot is\nfairly simple and straightforward. Ranchers and Apache are nearing an all-out\nconflict after many members of both groups are murdered. German \u2018Old\nShatterhand\u2019 (Lex Barker) and his Apache compatriot Winnetou (Pierre Brice)\nquickly realize that bandits following the orders of sinister US general (Guy\nMadison) are responsible. The villains are attempting to start a brutal\nconflict and personally profit from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is almost no background information on the title\ncharacter, you\u2019re simply supposed to be familiar with the figure. But, \u2018Old\nShatterhand\u2019 is called that because he generally doesn\u2019t murder his foes,\ninstead shooting them in the hand to disarm them. Despite all the action and\ndanger around him, the lead comes across as amusingly invincible and doesn\u2019t\nappear to ever sweat. Winnetou is equally honorable and poised, avoiding\nkilling whenever possible and rarely getting ruffled by all the commotion. The\ntwo also talk about the importance of maintaining peace and beauty in the land.\nWhile this is a western of its era and certain elements don\u2019t play as well\ntoday as they once did, the message and attitudes are more altruistic than most\npictures of their era. And when the major villains do meet their ends, their\nend is often accidentally self-inflicted.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The scope of the film is really impressive and the movie\ncontains wonderfully lavish settings and production design seeking to emulate\nthe look and feel of American westerns. This film was largely shot in former\nYugoslavia (now Croatia and Serbia) and the country\u2019s mountains, valleys (and a\nwaterfall) on display are unique and awe-inspiring. When the action comes,\nincluding a major battle between the Apache and US cavalry at a giant fort, the\nspectacle does match any American western. While the characters on display can\ncome across as a bit corny, this is a very entertaining fun western, and one\nthat possesses a slightly different and far more sympathetic take on Native\nAmericans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturally, the picture looks wonderful (it was, after all,\nshot with 70mm) and consistently impresses with its epic landscapes and big\naction towards the close. It features both the German audio and an English dub.\nThe film was dubbed in all languages in post-production and made with an\ninternational cast for mass export with both tracks in mind, so both languages\nlook equally solid. Another plus is a lengthy 30-minute introduction to the\nmovie with cinema expert Sir Christopher Frayling, who gives a lot of\ninteresting background information. He notes that while the characters in the\nstory were progressive for their day, Hitler might have seen the unstoppable\n\u2018Old Shatterhand\u2019 as something of an ideal physical model to aspire to, hence\nhis attraction to the character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also an informative commentary track by film\nhistorian David Kalat who also goes into May, the popularity of these stories,\nthe many troubled attempts, including the hiring and firing of several writers,\nto get a proper screenplay for the film right up to the start of the shoot.\nYou\u2019ll also learn how everyone was cast, shooting in Yugoslavia, and more. He\nalso notes how these pictures and their success influences co-financiers from\nItaly, who would note the series success and try their hand at westerns soon\nafter with Sergio Leone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An archival documentary that covers this title and the\nfollowing feature includes discussions with the producers and some of the cast\nmembers on the picture. There are some wild stories included in this feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Near the end of the CCC Films spell making westerns, they\nbrought the favorite characters back for a big finale with Winnetou and\nShatterhand in the Valley of Death<\/em> (1968) aka The Valley of Death<\/em>.\nThe two stars return in this tale about an army gold shipment that mysteriously\nvanishes. The valuable loot is well hidden, leaving all sorts of bandits, a\nSioux chief, as well as other villains all trying to find it. Mabel Kingsley\n(Karin Dor), daughter of the army man wrongly accused of taking it, asks \u2018Old\nShatterhand\u2019 (Lex Barker) and Winnetou (Pierre Brice) to help her locate the\ngold and prove her dad\u2019s innocence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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They may not have had quite as large a budget for this\neffort, but it is fast-paced and features nothing but action for 90 minutes as\nall but the heroes succumb to greed and try to murder their way to riches. The\nheroes fend off attackers, most of whom end up killing each other as they\ndesperately hunt for gold. Overall, this is a fun picture that features many of\nthe same plusses (fantastic Yugoslavia locales, as well as some footage taken\nin the US at the Grand Canyon, every second of which appears to have been is\nused), impressive action and offers a nice send-off for the characters. As\nbefore, the image quality is very nice and clear. As with every title, there is\na shorter, but no-less informative intro from Sir Christopher Frayling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the following discs contains a movie actually based\non a proper May novel. It stands with the previous two pictures as the best of\nthe set. The Shoot<\/em> (1964) aka The Yellow One<\/em> is an adventure tale\nset in the Balkans (actually not too far from the former Yugoslavia where the\nmovie was shot). The area was controlled by the Ottoman Empire and the story\ninvolves another of May\u2019s iconic heroes (at least, in Europe), German adventurer\nKara Ben Nemsi (also played by Lex Barker). He arrives, meets up with Arabian\npal Hadschi Halef Omar (Ralf Volter) and learns of a deadly figure known as\n\u2018The Shoot\u2019 who is terrorizing the area with bandits, kidnapping, raiding and\nmurdering locals. Nemsi and his friend decide to identify \u2018The Shoot\u2019 and help\nthe locals fight back against the Ottomans. During their travels they keep\nmeeting with carpet dealer Nirwan (Rik Battaglia) who ends up being the deadly\nkiller (guess the carpet industry simply wasn\u2019t lucrative enough).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Shockingly, noted director Robert Siodmak (The Killers,\nThe Spiral Staircase<\/em> and several famous film noir titles) was lured from\nHollywood back to Europe to make this picture, and it certainly shows here.\nYou\u2019ll have to forgive the less-than-ideal portrayal of Omar and some silly\njokes, but there is plenty of impressive photography. Additionally, when the\naction starts, you\u2019ll see some truly dazzling moments: bandits raiding with\nfire, a dangerous-looking scene with horses on a rickety suspension bridge,\nchase with the hero hanging off of a horse-drawn carriage, and more. And the film\nalso shows an interesting, softer side to the hero than you might see in an\nAmerican production. When his trusty horse sacrifices itself to save the\nprotagonist, the character openly grieves over the loss of his animal\npartner\/friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s certainly dated in regards to some character\ndepictions, but is an impressive watch and is well-made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This film was also a big hit, and a sequel called Through\nWild Kurdistan<\/em> (1965) is also included on the disc. The follow-up wasn\u2019t\ndirected by Siodmak and isn\u2019t as elaborate or impressive, but does provide some\nentertaining thrills, while also further developing the lead character and the\nsupporting cast members from the previous instalment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time out, Kara Ben Nemsi (Lex Barker) is traveling\nthrough Turkey with Hadschi Halef Omar (Ralf Voter), where he befriends a\nsheik, as well as a lovely local Tschita (Marie Versini). Ottoman forces again\npose a threat to citizens, with the corrupt governor Machredsch of Mosul\n(Djordje Nenadovic) posing life-threatening problems for the leads. There are\nsome impressive battles between the two, with the finale climaxing as the hero\nand villain face off on the edge of large cliff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This effort features Spain subbing for Turkey, but the\ndesert-locales still look reasonably convincing and there is enough going on to\nmake it an entertaining follow-up. The picture is a little dirtier than some of\nthe previous features, but looks perfectly fine with a light amount of natural\ngrain here and there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the disc contains Sir Christopher Frayling\nintroductions, a making and history of the Kara Ben Nemsi series of titles, and\narchival newsreel footage of German awards being bestowed on the production of The\nShoot<\/em> and promo materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next disc contains one title, a rather unexpected and,\nwell, perhaps unnecessary follow-up to this title called In the Kingdom of\nthe Silver Lion <\/em>(1965) aka Kingdom of the Silver Lion<\/em>. It might have\nbeen shot immediately after the previous chapter, and some of the extras\nsuggest that the cast may not have realized they were in two pictures (they\nbelieved this was part of the first film).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After taking a huge plunge off of a cliff, viewers learn\nthat Machredsch of Mosul (Djordje Nenadovic) actually survived his fall.\nWounded, he escapes, recovers and plots revenge against Kara Ben Nemsi (Lex\nBarker), Hadschi Halef Omar (Ralf Voter) and Tschita (Marie Versini).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The film repeats many beats of the previous instalment and\nis a weaker effort, but does include an impressive finale in which Nemsi and\nthe antagonist battle over a salt canyon. The extras on this disc include a\nfeaturette on the restoration work done on all the titles, as well as a\nfeaturette on the career of Robert Siodmak. As expected, it does deal with his\nreturn to Germany after spending two decades in Hollywood, chronicling his\nsuccesses back in Europe, as well as a couple of his lesser titles. And, as\npreviously noted, Sir Christopher Frayling provides introductions to both\ntitles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of lesser efforts, the final disc contains two more May adaptations directed by Siodmak. The Treasure of the Aztecs<\/em> (1965) aka Treasure of the Aztecs<\/em>, which follows the adventures of German Dr. Karl Sternau (Lex Barker). Due to a previous association with the Bismarck family, the physician has become pals with President Abraham Lincoln (Jeff Corey), who asks him to stop by for a chat. When Lincoln learns that Sternau is on his way to Mexico, he asks him to deliver a letter to Benito Juarez (Fausto Tozzi) showing his support for the Mexican nationalist effort (the citizens are fighting off French and Austrian occupation). Lincoln doesn\u2019t want to offend the French and only send an inspirational message south. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The hero agrees, but because of his heroic nature, ultimately gets involved in the fight. Along the way, it is revealed that the villainous Captain Lazoro Verdoja (Rik Battaglia) and members of his group are obsessed with finding a lost Aztec tomb filled with gold. A fetching descendent knows the location and so, in addition to trying to help the Mexican cause, Sternau also tries to save her as well as help her protect the treasure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This German-Yugoslavia-Spain production is a bit odd in that\nit\u2019s actually only half of an intended epic. The film was cut in half, with the\nsecond part, The Pyramid of the Sun God<\/em> (1965) finishing up the story.\nUltimately, the choice to release both pictures as two separate movies wasn\u2019t a\ngreat one. The first title features a great deal of characters. It\u2019s 90 minutes\nof set-up with little along the way to excite. There are definitely pacing\nissues in the first film and it really only perks up during its final act when\nthe hidden Aztec gold temple is finally revealed. It\u2019s a great set with\nimpressive production design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After a nearly 10-minute recap at the beginning of The\nPyramid of the Sun God<\/em>, the story eventually kicks into gear with\ncharacters getting in conflict, as well as being lost in the tomb. Naturally,\nthe greedy ones pay the ultimate price for trying to steal an Aztec treasure,\nwith an eruption occurring and one of the primary baddies falling into lava. At\nleast the second chapter features some silly fun and is an amusing ride.\nAdmittedly, these two pictures clearly aren\u2019t among Siodmak\u2019s best works, and\nsit well below The Shoot<\/em> in terms of quality.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir Christopher Frayling again gives introductions to the\ntitles. The first movie contains a commentary from film historian David Kalat.\nHe repeats a lot of history about May from the previous track, but there are\nsome interesting comments along the way. While the producer considered shooting\nin Mexico, the distance was too far from production headquarters in Germany and\nso Spain substitutes for the country (some exteriors were also shot in former\nYugoslavia. All and all, it\u2019s another track with plenty of good trivia.\nAdditionally, there is a lengthy talk with an expert on all things Karl May,\nwho notes the many changes between the films and the original text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The package also contains a 60-page book with essays on\nauthor Karl May, and the films, as well as a profile on Lex Barker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019ll admit to having known very little about these Karl May\nadaptations, but they are incredibly important films in the western genre that\nmay have, in part, inspired the Spaghetti Western trend that followed shortly\nthereafter. A few of the titles are really good as well. As always, picture\nquality is generally excellent… and certainly better than any previous\nrelease, if there actually were any on DVD (which I doubt). The extras are\nnotable as well, as they give a lot of important history about the writer, his\nfilms, and their influence on the genre. For western enthusiasts, Adventure\nCalls! Karl May at CCC<\/em> is a Blu-ray set worth your while.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4-disc Blu-ray box set from Eureka Entertainment is currently available for purchase. If you\u2019ve been living in the English-speaking western world, then the name Karl May may not ring a bell. While I read my fair share of westerns growing up, I\u2019d certainly never heard of the figure. But as it turns […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":33483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[94,95,98,787,2933,2939,3068,3365,5744,7100,7536,11456,11795,12313,15315,16941,17189,21967,22191,22445,22685,22830,23662,24358],"class_list":["post-33464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-94","tag-95","tag-98","tag-adventure-calls-karl-may-at-ccc","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-2","tag-blu-ray-box-set","tag-box-set","tag-der-schut","tag-eureka-entertainment","tag-film-reviews","tag-karl-may","tag-kingdom-of-the-silver-lion","tag-lex-barker","tag-old-shatterhand","tag-review","tag-robert-siodmak","tag-the-pyramid-of-the-sun-god","tag-the-shoot","tag-the-treasure-of-the-aztecs","tag-the-yellow-one","tag-through-wild-kurdistan","tag-valley-of-the-death","tag-winnetou-and-shatterhand-in-the-valley-of-death"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33464\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}