50th Anniversary of the premier of “Fatal Error”

Today marks the 50^th anniversary of the premier of the DEFA western “Fatal Error” in East Berlin, Germany. The film starred Gojko Mitic as Shaved Head and Armin Mueller-Stahl as Chris Howard. Directed by Konrad Petzold the film begins at the end of the 19th century, the Wyoming Oil Company has established a location in the vicinity of Wind River City at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, where they have been illegally pumping oil from Indian territory. One of the company's greedy agents, Mike Allison, kicks out both his white partners and the Indians. He has his some of his associates secretly murdered and blames it on the Indians, who are then killed when they get in the way of his plans. Five chiefs with lifelong shares in the Oil Company die mysteriously as a result. The young chief Shave Head asks his a half-blood brother Chris Howard for help. Chris assumes the post of deputy sheriff and tries to expose Allison and the murderers. When a representative of the Oil Company turns up in Wind River City and exposes Allison's plot, the white inhabitants begin to take sides. Allison does his utmost to defend himself and finally has the oil camp set on fire, passing it off as an act of revenge perpetrated by the Indians. The Indians are helpless against this accusation and Howard must pay for it with his life.

Tödlicher Irrtum - German title

Halálos tévedés - Hungarian title

Blago Indiajanskog Reservata - Yugoslavian title

Fatal Error - English title

A 1969 East German production [DEFA (Potsdam-Babelsburg)]

Producer: Bernd Gerwin

Director: Konrad Petzold

Story: Hans Joachim Wallstein

Screenplay: Günter Karl, Rolf Römer

Cinematography: Eberhard Borkmann [Orwocolor, Totalvision]

Music: Wilhelm Neef

Running time: 103 minutes

Cast:

Shaved Head - Gojko Mitic

Chris Howard - Armin Mueller-Stahl

Caroline - Annekathrin Bürger (Annekathrin Rammelt)

Jessebee - Krystyna Mikolajewska

White Leaf - Kati Bus

Allison - Rolf Hoppe

Lee Garrett - Hannjo Hasse

Hank Jackson - Bruno O’Ya (Bruno Oja)

Ben - Gerry Wolff (Gerald Wolff)

McLaurin - Bruno Carstens

Ten Eyck - Stefan Lisewski

Kid Kearny - Rolf Erik Ludwig (Alfred Hoffmann)

Mitch Chandler - Hans Klering

Parker - Hartmut Beer

Bull Head - Mario Marathon

Reynolds - Wilhelm Koch-Hooge

Clifford - Horst Kube

Elmer Guinnes - Werner Röwekamp

Small Eagle - Ricardo Blanco

Scott - Sepp Klose (Josef Klose)

Bill Kane - Bodo Schmidt

Carriage dealer - Nico Turoff (Nikoal Turow)

Townsmen - Günter Berger, Harald Moszdorf, Konrad Petzold

Saloon girl - Ingrid Föhr

Frau - Hildegard Friese

Doctor - Marquard Grundig

Schreiber - Alfred Lux

Burness - Rudolf Napp

Schwarzfels - Djordje Popovic

Black Tomahawk - Slobodan Velimirovic

Hawk-Man - Ferdynand Wójcik