"Winnetou und das Halbblut Apanatschi" or "Winnetou and the Crossbreed" is a West German 90-minute film from 1966, had its 50th anniversary this year, so this one is from the days when Germans were crazy for Indian movies and westerns. Winnetou was far from new to film at this point, so they tried to establish major supporting players next to him like Old Shatterhand in the past. The title character Apanatschi is the best example for this new trend. It was a bit of a breakthrough role for German actress Uschi Glas. But sadly, there is little to her performance in here apart from her stunning looks. And what is there to say about Winnetou himself. I can only repeat myself writing that I do not believe Pierre Brice was the right choice for the character. He definitely fits physically, but he simply does not have enough range and looks extremely pale next to Lex Barker for example, who is a good actor at best too, not a great one. The result is that you really need to try to focus on stories, landscapes and costumes in order to enjoy these Karl May movies from 1960s Germany. But this is difficult enough as the stories are also really mediocre for the most part. Is it May's fault or do you have to blame the one who adapted the material, Fred Denger in this case? I cannot be a judge on that as I have not read the novels. However, the outcome of this Harald Philipp is once again style over substance, like it is the case for many other Karl May films. Not recommended.
