The Winnetou films were loved and ridiculed, admired and despised. In the German-speaking countries almost everyone in the generations born between 1950 and 1980 grew up with these films. Whether one wanted to or not, one could practically not escape them – first they were shown and re-shown in the cinema and then constantly on television. The most interesting English-language Winnetou films study that I have read is by Lee Broughton and can be found in his excellent Euro-Western book. And one thing can be said with certainty about these Karl May film adaptations from the 1960s: they are unique.
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