Tödlicher Irrtum

Short Summary (English)

At the end of the 19th century, the Wyoming Oil Company established itself in the vicinity of Wind river City at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, where they illegally produced oil on Indian territory. In this business, their general agent, Mike Allison, kicks out both his white partners and the Indians. Unscrupulously, he has his accessories murdered and a trail marked to the Indians, who are also killed when they become an obstacle to his plans. Thus five chiefs, with lifelong shares in the Oil Company, die mysteriously. The young chief Shave Head asks his brother Chris Howard, a halfblood, for help. Chris assumes the post of deputy sheriff and tries to expose the murderers and Allison's machinations. When a representative of the Oil Company turns up in Windriver City and exposes Allison's manipulations, different positions crystallize amongst the white inhabitants. 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. Against this intrigue, they cannot come into their own and Chris pays for his commitment with his life.

Source:Progress Film-Verleih

Film Crew

Director

• Konrad Petzold

Script

• Günter Karl
• Rolf Römer (auch: Rolf Specht)

Camera

• Eberhard Borkmann

Film Editing

• Thea Richter

Cast

• Gojko Mitić (Shave Head)
• Armin Mueller-Stahl (Chris Howard)
• Annekathrin Bürger (Caroline)
• Krystyna Mikolajewska (Jessebee)
• Kati Buś (White Leaf)
• Rolf Hoppe (Allison)
• Hannjo Hasse (Lee Garrett)
• Bruno O'Ya (Hank Jackson)
• Gerry Wolff (Ben)
• Bruno Carstens (McLaurin)
• Stefan Lisewski (Ten Eyck)
• Rolf Ludwig (Kid Kearny)
• Hans Klering (Mitch Chandler)
• Ricardo Blanco (Kleiner Adler)
• Slobodan Velimirovic (Black Tomahawk)
• Mario Marathon (Bull Head)
• Bodo Schmidt (Bill Kane)
• Marquard Grundig (Doktor)
• Josef (auch: Sepp) Klose (Scott)
• Horst Kube (Clifford)
• Werner Röwekamp (Elmar Guinness)
• Rudolf Napp (Burnes)
• Wilhelm Koch-Hooge (Reynold)
• Alfred Lux (Schreiber)
• Ferdinand Wojcik (Hawk-Man)
• Dorde Popovic (Schwarzfels)
• Hartmut Beer (Parker)
• Nico Turoff (Kutschenhändler)
• Ingrid Föhr (Saloon-Mädchen)
• Hildegard Friese (Eine Frau)
• Günter Berger (Ein Mann)
• Harald Moszdorf (Ein Mann)
• Konrad Petzold (Ein Mann)

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Assistant Director

• Bodo Schmidt

Production Design

• Heinz Röske

Script Editing

• Hans-Joachim Wallstein

Music

• Wilhelm Neef

Sound

• Peter Dienst
• Georg Gutschmidt

Costume Design

• Günter Schmidt

Make-Up

• Lothar Stäglich
• Rosemarie Stäglich (geb. Wittke)

Production Management

• Bernd Gerwien

Unit Production Management

• Manfred Peetz

DEFA Photography

• Klaus Groch
• Horst Blümel

Dubbing (Dubbing Actor)

• Gerhard Paul (Shave Head)
• Gisela Büttner (Jessebee)
• Karin Reif (White Leaf)
• Eberhard Mellies (Hank Jackson)
• Ernst Meincke (Kleiner Adler)
• Helmut Schellhardt (Black Tomahawk)
• Norbert Christian (Bull Head)

Short Summary (German)

Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts bohrt die Wyoming Oil Company in einem Indianerreservat illegal nach Öl und wird fündig. Die Indianer hoffen, beteiligt zu werden. Das ist ein Irrtum. Fünf Häuptlinge werden ermordet. Der junge Häuptling Shave Head ruft seinen Bruder Chris, ein Halbblut, zu Hilfe. Chris nimmt den Posten eines Hilfssheriffs an und versucht, die Mörder und die Machenschaften der Company zu entlarven. Außerdem ist eine Untersuchungskommission auf dem Weg ins Reservat, von einem Ingenieur herbeigerufen, der seine eigenen Geschäfte machen will. Company-Chef Allison wehrt sich mit allen Mitteln, inszeniert Intrigen und lässt schließlich das Öl-Camp in Brand stecken. Den Brand schiebt er den Indianern in die Schuhe, um die Kommission davon zu überzeugen, dass die Beschwerde der "Rothäute" ein reiner Racheakt ist. Die Indianer können ihr Recht nicht durchsetzen, und Chris bezahlt seinen Einsatz wie viele andere mit dem Leben.

(Quelle: Das zweite Leben der Filmstadt Babelsberg. DEFA-Spielfilme 1946-1992)

Short Summary (Other Languages)

Alla fine del XIX secolo, trivellando nelle riserve degli indiani, la Wyoming Oli Company trova un giacimento di petrolio. Gli indiani, che sperano di ottenere parte dei ricavi, vengono esclusi e devono assistere all'uccisione di cinque loro capi. Il giovane Shave Head chiede aiuto a suo fratello Chris, un mezzosangue. Quest'ultimo accetta il posto di vicesceriffo per incastrare gli assassini e smascherare le losche trame dell'azienda petrolifera. Parallelamente sta per arrivare nella riserva una commissione d'indagine, chiamata da un ingegnere che spera di portare avanti i propri affari. Messo alle strette, il direttore dell'azienda petrolifera Allison appicca il fuoco al proprio campo petrolifero, accusando tuttavia gli indiani dell'incendio. Questi ultimi non riescono ad affermare i propri diritti e Chris, come tanti altri, pagherà il proprio intervento con la vita. (Italienisch)