This is my second Winnetou Western and unfortunately, it doesn't whet one's appetite for more in the series. Pierre Brice seemed more authentic as an Indian in this film compared to "Winnetou and Old Firehand", but then again, we're talking about a Frenchman portraying an Apache Chief. I saw this picture under the title "Rampage at Apache Wells" and that's a bit of a misnomer as well. There was one Indian attack that caused some damage but it was over pretty quickly. Try as they might, I didn't really get a sense of the blood brother connection between Winnetou and Old Surehand, Stewart Granger. In his early fifties, Granger didn't look like the rugged Western type to be pulling off a role like this. The plot of the story seemed reasonable enough, settlers heading to Shelly Lake are encouraged by a promise of free land from the Utahs in exchange for a share of the grain and meat they intend to produce. When a slick shyster going by the name of The Oil Prince (Harald Leipnitz) instigates the Indian tribe against the settlers, the opposing sides have a falling out until Surehand can expose the outlaw and his henchman Knife (Slobodan Dimitrijevic). It all plays out in expected fashion with little in the way of suspense, in a cautionary tale that warns me to stay away from Westerns in which the principal players go by the names of Pierre, Slobodan, Harald and Milan.
Review of The Oil Prince
