Django sfida Sartana

The title of this movie is somewhat misleading, for while the eponymous duo do briefly clash ,for they most part they work together against their mutual enemies ,the bad guys.

Django (Tony Kendall) has a brother ,Steve ,who is employed by a frontier bank and has a reputation as a womaniser.He is set up on a false charge of bank robbery ,caught while entertaining a lady of the night and summarily hung without trial despite the best endeavours of the local Sheriff to save him from the lynch mob.His alleged partner in the crime was Sartana-who is equally guiltless of the deed .Django descends on the town but turns away without wreaking vengeance and sets out after Sartana .After a brief but intense fist fight they are made aware of the truth .The criminal was the banker himself(Jose Torres) ,and to compound his villainy he took his own niece captive as a hostage should the need arise .Django and Sartana combine forces to exact revenge and rescue the girl There are some touches of the well nigh obligatory sadism associated with the Spaghetti Western but for the most part this a traditional Western well enough executed without being outstanding .

If you are familiar with the spaghetti western genre, you have probably correctly guessed that "Django Defies Sartana" was a cash-in, naming its protagonists after the heroes of past popular spaghetti westerns. Actually, the Sartana character in this movie does have some resemblance to the original Sartana character, though the Django character does not (no machine gun, among other things.) But I didn't care if the movie was a rip-off or not, I just wanted it to be entertaining. The movie does get to a slow start, with the plot not starting until a quarter of the running time has passed. But when the plot kicks in, the movie does manage to keep some interest in the viewer, with some action and various plot twists. I'm not saying this is a GREAT spaghetti western, but fans of the genre will probably find it decent enough. And it's the closest we'll ever get to uniting Django and Sartana in the same film!

Django (Tony Kendall) returns to his hometown of Tombstone to find his brother, local banker Steve, hanging from a noose. Steve has been executed following accusations that he had teamed up with Sartana (George Ardisson) to empty the safe of the bank, and had assisted his new colleague in the murder of bank manager Mr Singer (Bernard Faber). In reality, Singer had entrusted Steve with the task of confronting Sartana, and paying him to leave Tombstone rather than raiding the bank. A disgusted Sartana refuses this offer.

Believing his brother to be innocent, Django sets out in pursuit of Sartana to discover the truth. The two heavy-weight protagonists stand face to face in combat, before learning that all is not as it seems with Singer's murder, and team up on a quest for justice and revenge.

On locating a copy of "Django Against Sartana" I was immediately convinced that it would be a low budget, fairly average flick, name-checking the established characters in a vain effort to generate interest. But there is no denying that my squinting eyes display the threatening figures of Django and Sartana in front of me. It must be said however, a recent visit to the opticians had highlighted that I have clearly needed glasses for sometime (yet my vanity had prevented it). Reaching for said specs soon confirmed my original expectations - this Django is certainly no Nero (and not even a Hill or Steffen), and Sartana is no Garko. We are talking Z-list Django and Sartana here! Only the vague costume resemblance provides a hint to the identity of these feared gunfighters.

Despite my obvious mickey-taking, I must say that I did really enjoy this film - probably largely because it was such an unintentional parody of the genre to which it belongs (it certainly wasn't for the wooden character acting!). The story did provide some great entertainment though, even if it was fairly predictable. I did also enjoy the effect of the freeze-frame grand entrance of the main characters.

However...... I couldn't hold my hand to my heart and recommend it to anyone. And I guess, truth be told, I never thought I would be able to.

Django (Tony Kendall) is in a search party hunting down the criminal Carlos. Meanwhile, Sartana (George Ardisson) arrives in his town, and the bank owner Philip Singer (Bernard Farber) asks his clerk Steve (John Alvar), who is Django's brother, to offer three thousand dollars to Sartana for him to leave the town. Sartana does not accept the offer and Steve leaves his hotel room and meets a prostitute to party with her. When Singer and his niece are kidnapped on the road and the bank's safe is found empty, the locals believe that Sartana and Steve robbed the bank. A group of vigilantes catch Steve, hang him and leave his corpse in the rain. Then Django returns, he meets his mute friend (José Torres) and finds the body of Steve. Django buries Steve and heads with Mute to seek out Sartana. They fight each other and Django learns that Sartana is innocent and has neither kidnapped Singer and his niece nor robbed the bank. Django, Sartana and Mute team-up and look for the real thief.

"Django sfida Sartana" is a spaghetti western with a simple storyline of revenge, but very entertaining. Like other Italian western from the 70's, the edition is poor, the acting is wooden and the weapons do not need to be recharged. But who cares, the film is not bad and amuses. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Django Desafia Sartana" ("Django Challenges Sartana")

The most dangerous gunman Sartana is in town, everybody expects the worst after he spectacularly taught a young wannabe a lesson. And to nobody's surprise, within a few days the bank has been robbed, Sartana disappears and Django's younger brother Steve as suspected to have helped him. Steve is hanged by the enraged citizens, although he swore he was innocent. Django follows Sartana to avenge his brother and find out the truth about the bank robbery...

This is a rather good movie, not one of the best, but among the upper half of the countless Django flicks. Especially Ardisson impressed me as Sartana - a professional, cold as ice! Django is portrayed more emotional by Kendall. The wild, jazzy music by Umiliani is almost over the top sometimes. "They call him Django" is a rather traditional title song, though.