Die Reiter von Deutsch-Ostafrika

Sepp Rist plays the role of Hellhoff, a German farmer in German East Africa, who is conscripted into the Schutztruppe (German armed colonial force) at the beginning of the First World War. His wife Gerda and the young volunteer Klix manage the plantation while he is away. In 1916, the plantation is occupied by a British unit. The commander, Major Cresswell, knows Gerda is secretly supplying Hellhoff and his comrades who are concealed in the bush. He tries to use his old friendship with the Hellhoffs put a stop to her activities. In order to carry out his duty as a British officer, he has his troops occupy the area's water supply to force the German soldiers to surrender. As Hellhoff's wife and Klix are trying to clandestinely supply water to Hellhoff, she is arrested and the boy shot. He still manages to bring the canteen to the soldiers before he dies. Hellhoff and his men liberate Gerda, who was to be taken away for trial by a British military court, and make off with water and horses. On their way to join up with Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck's East African Schutztruppe command, they stop at Klix's grave. Hellhoff promises the dead boy he will come back sooner or later — an allusion to the recovery of the lost colony through German victory in the First World War.

• Sepp Rist as German farmer Peter Hellhoff, Captain of the reserve
• Ilse Stobrawa as Gerda Helhoff, his wife
• Rudolf Klicks as Hellhoff's student apprentice Wilm Klix
• Ludwig Gerner as Hellhoff's assistant Lossow
• Lewis Brody as Hellhoff's foreman Hamissi
• Gregor Kotto as Hellhof's boy Selemani
• Peter Voß as English farmer Robert Cresswell
• Georg H. Schnell as Colonel Black, English general staff officer
• Vivigenz Eickstedt as English officer
• Mohamed Husen as signal student Mustapha
• Arthur Reinhardt as safari guide Charles Rallis
• Emine Zehra Zinser as servant Milini

• Die Reiter von Deutsch-Ostafrika at IMDb
• Die Reiter von Deutsch-Ostafrika is available for free download at the Internet Archive