Lex Barker – Western Hero and Playboy

 

Lex Barker - Westernheld und Playboy – German title

Lex Barker – Western Hero and Playboy – English title

 

A 2023 French documentary film [Arte France Cinéma (Paris)]

Producers: Hannah Altschuck, Wolf von Truchsess, Lisa-Marie Voß

Director: Andreas G. Wagner

Story: Andreas G. Wagner

Photography: Ion Casado, Carlos Fuchs, Matthias Günther, Peter Reuther [color]

Music: Krystian Migotz

Running time: 53 minutes

 

Cast:

Narrator - Gergana Muskalla

 Lex Barker (Alexander Barker Jr.) [archive footage], Christopher Barker, Elisabeth Bronfen, Carmen Cervera, Joachim Gitt, Brett Halsey (Charles Oliver Hand), Jan-Christopher Horak, Karen Kondazian, Clemens Meyer, Kendall Old Elk, Karl Schloemer, Wolfgang M. Schmitt, Horst Wendland Matthias Wendland (Horst Otto Grigori Gubanov), Pierre Brice (Pierre Louis Baron de Bris) [archive footage]

He is the most sought-after man in Europe in the 1960s: Lex Barker. A flawless hero in his films and, as Old Shatterhand, a role model for generations of fans. Revered in Europe, misunderstood and almost forgotten in his homeland America. But who was this American who rides through Yugoslavia in a leather costume for the European audience?

In 1973, Lex Barker's life ends: a heart attack on the streets of Manhattan falls on the giants with the dazzling appearance in his hometown, of all places, a few days after his birthday. But no one recognizes the man who had been Tarzan in Hollywood. The fact that he was an icon in Europe as Winnetou's friend, Old Shatterhand, is not known or interested in anyone in New York. For the film history of the country of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, Lex Barker's European Western adventures are only a footnote.

"Lex Barker – Western Hero and Playboy" tells the story of perhaps the most beautiful man who ever flickered across Europe's cinema screens. The story of a man who is led by a failed Hollywood career via Italy to Germany. And who proves to be a stroke of luck for European cinema there. For children and adults alike, Lex Barker is the larger-than-life American friend in the 1960s. Today, Lex Barker's cinematic legacy is controversial. Is it still allowed to watch the Winnetou films? However, his films and his life are undisputed.