San Sebastian

The original story written by William Faherty was called " 'A wall for San Sabastian' and later under the direction of Henri Vernevil changed to " Guns For San Sabastian. " The late great Anthony Quinn plays the titled character Leon Alastray, a fugitive outlaw and bandito running from the military police. Wounded and helpless, he takes refuge in a Catholic Church under the protection of Father Joseph (Sam Jaffe) and Sanctuary. With the good priest being sent to a forgotten mission, where it's residents live in fear of the Native American, Yaki Apache, Alastray stows away and arrives at the distant mission, where Father Joseph is murdered. Due to circumstances, Leon take's the old priest's place and serves as protector and counselor to the frightened populace. Among the heavies of the film, audience members will see a very young, Charles Bronson, Jorge Martínez De Hoyos and Jaime Fernández as 'Golden Lance.' The story is slow to develop, but does rise to the occasion when expected, to such a degree it has become a Western Classic. Fine casting and good story. Recommended. ****

This is one of those films that nearly loses you, but in the end rewards you for sitting through it. It makes for a very good view, despite its leisurely pace at times.

In summary Anthony Quinn stars as a outlaw that is saved by Father John, whom he escorts to the village of San Sebastian. The village is deserted, with its cowardly residents hiding in the hills from indians, who pillage their crops and burn their buildings. When Father John is murdered, the outlaw is mistaken as the man of god by the villagers, and assists them in regaining their confidence and defending themselves.

Quinn is superb in his role, complimented by Charles Bronson, who plays the bad guy "half breed" Teclo. Sam Jaffe's Father Joseph character is also very likable.

Whilst the movie is quite slow in places, this only helps to plot out the story. Although casting the indians as the "bad guys", it does explain that the massacre of the villagers is no different than what the white man has done to their own race "in the name of god".

The soundtrack is again provided by Ennio Morricone and, whilst not his best work, does help provide the suitable atmosphere, borrowing heavily from some of his other compositions.

Definitely worth a view.

A spaghetti western surprise with Anthony Quinn as a "priest" and Charles Bronson as a Mestizo malcontent.

The movie has a theme, a developed plot, some actors with charisma and an Ennio Morricone score. That's more than most movies give you, regardless of genre.

I was pleased to find that Spaghettiville isn't a one-horse (Eastwood/Leone) town.

8 out of 10.

The movie begins bad with some bad story-flow and also the rest of the movie suffers from this, though the movie definitely gets better as the movie progresses. In the beginning it isn't too clear were the movie is heading to and the movie makes a pretty formulaic and redundant impression. However from the moment on when the main character arrives in San Sabastian, the story gets developed well and becomes interesting and original. This certainly ain't no formulaic spaghetti western. The movie gets multiple layered, when it concentrates on the divine. It helps the characters to develop well and the story to become interesting. The movie certainly shows some parallels to the movie "The Mission", even though it isn't as beautifully and professionally made.

It doesn't seem like it at first but the movie becomes surprisingly action filled toward the ending, with some quite big scale battles. Also the ending most certainly does not disappoint.

The movie has some good actors that help to flesh out the flat characters. Anthony Quinn is a good main lead and he makes the moral change his character goes through seem believable. Charles Bronson plays a good movie villain, though his character is perhaps a bit underused. Further more the movie features Sam Jaffe, once again in the role of a Christian.

The directing isn't much good, since the story-flow of the movie is quite poor at times, which is also due to some bad editing. Nevertheless the movie is filled with some memorable and great looking sequences, although it's also definitely true that most of those sequences are being uplifted by the musical score by Ennio Morricone.

Definitely worth seeing if you get the chance.

7/10

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This exciting picture deals with an outlaw disguising himself as priest who helps defend tribal land ,(people living on the edges of themselves and their resourcefulness and limited supplies) from a gang of mean bandits and rebel Indians that want tribe's crop . ¨Two hundred years ago Mexico was ruled by a King in far-off Spain who was attempting to impose an alien religion and system of law upon a proud but diverse people . They ranged from simple villagers , torn between old and new , to the most warlike of the Indian tribes : the Yaquis who were determined to resist all change . This is the story of Astray who chose to fight both the king and the Yaquis ¨ . Leon Alastray (Anthony Quinn) is a bandit who has been given sanctuary in a church by Father John (Sam Jaffe), whom he then accompanies to the village of San Sebastian (Mexico) . The village is deserted, with its cowardly residents hiding in the ridges from Yaquis, who ordinarily attack the little town and rob all their food . When Father John is killed, the villagers mistakenly believe the bandit is a parish priest . Alastray at first tell them he is not a priest, but they don't believe it, and an apparent miracle on a San Sebastian sculpture seems to demonstrate they are correct . After that , the priest train them to kill and defending themselves when the village is besieged by the violent Yaquis . Meanwhile , the Indian war party (commanded by Jaime Fernandez as Golden Lance) and a rebel group (led by Charles Bronson) then head out to conquer the Mexican village held in an impregnable fortress that the villagers have built and the priest assists them in regaining their confidence.

This Western movie produced by Jacques Bar is a Franco-Mexican-Italian co-production,; it packs thrills, emotion, romance, action packed , extraordinary performances and spectacular finale battle . This Western-drama is an interesting story that carries a genuine charge of intelligence with exciting battle of wits between an upright outlaw and a nasty mestizo . Sensational acting by two big star names, Anthony Quinn and Charles Bronson . Strong secondary cast plenty of Mexican actors as Silvia Pinal, Pedro Armendariz Jr , Enrique Lucero, Jaime Fernandez, Chano Urueta and special mention to Sam Jaffe as kind old priest and Leon Askin as Vicar General . Interesting and thrilling screenplay by the prestigious James R Webb . Very good cinematography filmed in Metrocolor by Armand Thirard and on location in Durango, El Saltito, Durango, San Miguel de Allende, and Guanajuato, Mexico . Sensible musical score by the maestro Ennio Morricone in one of his best scores , including particular style and sound . The picture is splendidly directed by Henry Verneuil, a Turkish director working in France from the 40s. Although not a director of great reputation among the critics, his movies have almost all been aimed squarely at the commercial market. Verneuil is an expert on heist-genre such as he proved in ¨The Sicilians clan(68)¨ also with Gabin and Delon, ¨The burglars(1971)¨with Omar Shariff and Jean Paul Belmondo , furthermore on Warlike genre : ¨Weekend at Dunkirk¨and ¨The 25th hour¨and only one Western : Guns of San Sebastian(68)¨. He seemed to have dropped out of the film-making after 1976, but in 1981 unexpectedly reappeared with yet another of his caper film : ¨Thousand millions of dollars¨. Rating : Good movie and above average, a must see for Western lovers and Quinn and Bronson fans.