Lex Barker - Westernheld und Playboy
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80% Critic Match

Lex Barker - Westernheld und Playboy

8.0 / 10 2023 53mNR German
Documentary

Storyline

He is the most sought-after man in Europe in the 1960s. Lex Barker embodies the flawless hero in his films and, as Old Shatterhand, becomes a role model for generations of fans. Revered in Europe, misunderstood and almost forgotten in his native America. But who was this American who rode through Yugoslavia in a leather costume for the European audience? In 1973, Lex Barker died of a heart attack on the streets of Manhattan in New York. But no one recognizes the man who was Tarzan in Hollywood. Nobody knows him or cares about that he, as Winnetou's friend, is revered as an icon in Europe. Lex Barker's European western adventures are just a footnote in American film history. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his death, the documentary tells the story of one of the most beautiful men who ever flickered across Europe's cinema screens, for whom European cinema proved to be a stroke of luck and for whom a failed Hollywood career took him via Italy to Germany.

Cast & Crew

Lex Barker

Lex Barker

Self - Portrait Subject (archive footage)

Lead
Carmen G. Cervera

Carmen G. Cervera

Self - Interviewee

Karen Kondazian

Karen Kondazian

Self - Interviewee

MW

Matthias Wendlandt

Self - Interviewee

Brett Halsey

Brett Halsey

Self - Interviewee

Clemens Meyer

Clemens Meyer

Self - Interviewee

Wolfgang M. Schmitt

Wolfgang M. Schmitt

Self - Interviewee

CB

Christopher Barker

Self - Interviewee

What People Are Saying

4.0
A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Andreas G. Wagner's vision lands with breathtaking precision.
Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
4.0
Every frame feels alive. Lex Barker - Westernheld und Playboy is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker