Karl May

Karl May

Birth : 1842-02-25, Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Germany

Death : 1912-03-30

History

Karl Friedrich May was a German writer best known for his adventure novels set in the American Old West. His main protagonists are Winnetou and Old Shatterhand. May set similar books in the Orient and Middle East (in which the main protagonists were Kara Ben Nemsi and Hadschi Halef Omar), Latin America and Germany. May also wrote poetry, a play, and composed music; he was a proficient player of several musical instruments. Many of his works were adapted for film, stage, audio dramas and comics. Later in his career, May turned to philosophical and spiritual genres. He is one of the best-selling German writers of all time, with about 200 million copies worldwide. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Profile

Karl May

Movies

The Young Chief Winnetou
Characters
Winnetou's tribe is in dire straits. There is a threat of famine as the all-important buffalo herds are now failing. As the headman's son, young Winnetou wants to prove to his father Intschu-chuna how brave he is and how great a warrior he can be, because he thinks his son still has a lot to learn. To save his tribe, he goes on a dangerous adventure.
Winnetou - The Last Fight
Novel
In Part Three, entitled "The Last Fight," gangster Santer Jr. attempts to seize an oil well on Indian territory. To prevent this, Winnetou and Old Shatterhand must reconcile the warring Indian tribes so that they can take up the fight against the henchmen of the criminal.
Winnetou: The Secret of the Silver Lake
Novel
In the second part of the German remake of the Winnetou films, Winnetou's sister Nscho Tschi is kidnapped by a brutal crook who wants to find a mythical Apache treasure. Old Shatterhead and Winnetou get forced to search for the precious in the silver sea by their evil opponent El Mas Loco.
Winnetou - A New World
Novel
The first part, "A New World", tells how the young German engineer Karl May comes to America and starts to work for a railway company in the Wild West. Under dramatic circumstances, he meets Apache chief Winnetou and becomes friends with him and his tribe. The Apaches give it the name Old Shatterhand. Together they fight now against the unscrupulous henchmen of the railway company, who wants to lay a route through the Indian area.
Das Buschgespenst
Novel
The Valley of Death
Novel
An army gold shipment and its escort vanish in the Ozarks, prompting accusations of theft and desertion but frontiersman Old Shatterhand and Apache chief Winnetou help solve the mystery of the missing army gold.
Thunder at the Border
Novel
Firehand and his Apache friend Winnetou are determined to get justice for the murder of four young braves. They set off to track down the gang responsible for the horrendous act.
Winnetou and the Crossbreed
Novel
On her b-day, settler's daughter Apanatschi receives her father's secret gold mine but greedy neighboring prospectors resort to murder and kidnapping in order to get the gold, forcing the girl and her brother to seek Winnetou's protection.
Kingdom of the Silver Lion
Novel
Kara Ben-Nemsi, friends and rescuers set out to free a young relative of the guardian of the treasure of the Chaldaeans (Christian sect), who is captured for that fabulous ransom.
Flaming Frontier
Novel
Old Surehand and his faithful old friend Old Wabble are on the trail of a cold-blooded killer with the nickname 'The General'. The brother of Old Surehand was murdered by him. On the way Old Surehand and Old Wabble are involved in the running conflict between settlers and Comanches who are likely to go on the war path. Old Surehand can count on the support of his friend and blood brother Winnetou, the amiable chief of the Apaches. Written by Robert
The Desperado Trail
Novel
Rollins' gang wants to grab land by inciting the settlers in a war against the Indians but Winnetou and Old Shatterhand try to keep the peace, until Rollins frames Winnetou up for the murder of Jicarilla Chief's son.
The Wild Men of Kurdistan
Novel
After dealing with the Shut in the Balkans, Kara Ben-Nemsi ('Karl the German') receives a firman (precious passport) from the padishah (Ottoman sultan) before he continues his travels through Kurdistan. Achmed El Corda, the son of Halef's Hadedhin Beduin tribe's sheik Mohammed Emin, has been captured by the machredsh (Turkish governor) of Mossul for resisting water seizure by his Turkish troops. Kara takes charge of the rescue.
Legacy of the Incas
Novel
During the 1800s, Peru's government sends 2 envoys to negotiate peace with the rebellious Incas but a treasure-hunter bandit shoots the Inca ruler and his son, leaving the 2 envoys to take the blame for it.
Rampage at Apache Wells
Novel
'The Oilprince' is an unscrupulous businessman. He looks forward to a lucrative deal with the "Western Arizona Bank'. He sells the bank oil wells at Shelly Lake that do actually not exist. The Oilprince learns that the colonists would like to settle at Shelly Lake. So The Oilprince exchanges the scout of the settlers by one of his minions to give them another route. But soon The Oilprince has to recognize that he has not counted on Winnetou, the righteous leader of the Apaches, and his blood brother Old Surehand.
Pyramid of the Sun God
Novel
Mexico, 1864. The country is divided by the struggle against the French occupation and emperor Maximilian. The German doctor Karl Sternau and his friend Andreas Hasenpfeffer come to love the country and support the cause of the proud Mexicans.
Mercenaries of the Rio Grande
Novel
Dr. Karl Sternau, the personal physician of the count Bismarck, who spent much of his youth in Mexico, is sent back to that country during the occupation by French troops in the service of the Austrian 'Emperor' Maximilian, to carry an encouraging letter from U.S. President Lincoln to the nationalist Mexican president Benito Juarez.
Frontier Hellcat
Novel
Outlaws disguised as Indians commit crimes against settlers but Winnetou and Old Surehand are determined to unmask the bandits and keep the peace.
Winnetou: The Red Gentleman
Novel
Forester, a ruthless oil baron, wants to create a war between the native American tribes and the white men. Old Shatterhand, Winnetou and their sidekick Castlepool try to prevent this.
Yellow Devil
Novel
When a villain named "the Shoot" terrorizes the constituents of Albanian country, which he rules. Heroic Kara Ben Nemsi (Lex Barker), and his sidekick are the only ones who can stop him
Old Shatterhand
Novel
Renegades trying to get the army to abandon their fort get the Indians addicted to whiskey, then convince them to attack and drive out the soldiers.
Winnetou 1: Apache Gold
Novel
The construction of the Great Western Railroad creates heavy conflict between the railway company and neighboring Indian tribes. Worse, criminal gang leader Santer sets his eyes on a gold mine located on holy Indian land and influences the construction supervisor to re-rout the planned railroad straight through Apache land. Old Shatterhand, who works as a measurement technician, discovers the evil plan and searches contact with the Apaches in an effort to avert war.
The Treasure of the Silver Lake
Novel
Fred Engel's father is murdered by Colonel Brinkley in order to acquire a treasure map, however the Colonel only acquires half of it, the other half as held by Mrs. Butler. Discovering the scene of the crime, Old Shatterhand and Winnetou help Fred bring his father's murderer to justice and locate the treasure of Silver Lake.
The lion from Babylon
Novel
In the ruins of Nim Bis Rub, in Babylon, is a band of smugglers den. There goes Nemsi Kara Ben and his faithful friend. One night, while camping, they surprise three smugglers and, after a hard-fought struggle, manage to reduce them and take possession of the rings that are their trademark. Then they go to Baghdad and there, a character who wears a ring of smugglers, which has seen Kara's, confuses him with one of the band.
Die Sklavenkarawane
Novel
Heiß brennt die Sonne. Eine Karawane schleppt sich durch die trostlose Wüste am oberen Nil. Nicht nur die Hitze macht den erschöpften Reisenden zu schaffen. Der gefürchtete Sklavenjäger Abu el Mot überfällt den Troß und verschleppt die Reisenden, darunter Kara Ben Nemsi, seinen treuen Begleiter Hadschi Halef Omar, den schrulligen Gelehrten Ignaz Pfotenhauer und den englischen Forscher Sir David Lindsay. Kara Ben Nemsi kann mit Hadschi Halef fliehen. Um Hilfe zu holen, machen sie sich auf einen langen Weg voller unwegsamer Abenteuer…
Across the Desert
Novel
Set in the Ottoman Empire during the Nineteenth century, the film portrays a series of oriental adventures of the two travellers Kara Ben Nemsi and Hadschi Halef Omar.
Die Teufelsanbeter
Novel
In the wild, hardly explored mountains of Kurdish country lives the mysterious society of the Jesidi , who are called the devil worshipers by their opponents. In these mountains, shaded by dark fir trees, revenge and hatred reign and constant struggle between the countless races and sects. Strange festivals unite the fervor of thousands, crowned by the dramatic sacrificial death of one of their holy men. And yet, even in these pictures, which are filled with tremendous passion, there is no lack of warm humor and a cheerful, strong forgiving nature that leads everything to a liberating end. The film is believed to be lost.
Caravan of Death
Novel
Caravan of Death (German: Die Todeskarawane) is a 1920 silent German film, it was an adaptation of the latter half of the Karl May novel From Baghdad to Stamboul, and is now considered to be lost. The film featured Bela Lugosi playing an Arab Sheik pitted against European travellers in an adventure story set in the Sahara. It was the second of three films released by Ustad based on desert adventure novels by Karl May. Although Karl May’s widow praised the film, critics were unimpressed and it was a commercial failure.
Auf den Trümmern des Paradieses
Novel