Com Sartana Cada Bala é Uma Cruz

(1970) I Am Sartana, Trade Your Guns For A Coffin/ C'è Sartana... vendi la pistola e comprati la bara!

DUBBED SPAGHETTI WESTERN

The first 20 minutes was kind of too over the top and ridiculous. I could not get into the movie until after I had to make sense to what I just saw, which it was not until after the second or third viewing is when I was able to grasp in terms of events. Bounty hunter, Sartana (George Hilton) is watching from a distance with a telescope of some men traveling with a wagon until he spots someone he recognizes. And it appears one of the wanted men happens to be on one of the posters. But just as he was about to make his move, a group of bandits then show up and kill all of the men there. And just as soon as the bandits finish their business when one of them threw a stick of dynamite. Sartana is seeing all of this, and he manages to put it out by throwing his water pale a mile from where he is standing up at the mountains, shooting the pale of water to put the dynamite out. He then grabs one of the sand bags that is supposed to be filled with gold dust, and he sees that it is filled with nothing but sand. After he collects his bounty award, he then goes to an almost desolate Mexican village or area. As Sartana attempt to ride through the town someone then tries to stop him, and he manages to shoot the sign over the bandit to knock him out. And he then walks into a Mexican saloon, where there is no one other than a bandit on the table stuffing himself and the bar owner, he stirs trouble with the bandit, and he lets him run out. And where is bandit runs off to, he grabs other bandits. Three of them show up to confront Sartana as he is about to eat something sitting exactly at the same spot where the bandit was sitting. As they see Sartana's holster hung on the hanger, they think he is unarmed. But as they draw their guns at him, he shoots all three of them through the round loaf of bread placed on front of him. The other bandits are looking through the window as the young child of a mother held against her will escapes and runs into the saloon. The little child then offers his savings to save his mother, but he refuses. While the bandits are waiting, sticks of dynamite are seen coming through the fire place, and they all run out. Sartana succeeds shooting all of them, for it was obvious the sticks of dynamite are actually candles. He then gives the mother and her child some money before they on their way, and asks for some information regarding gold shipments.

This is a fun movie with interesting characters, and lots of spaghetti western style. I found it very entertaining, although it has some story elements that don't seem to make a lot of sense.

George Hilton does a fine job of portraying "Sartana," the bounty hunter/detective/vigilante more often played by Gianni Garko. Hilton's style is slightly different, but he plays the part equally as well as Garko. The real show-stealer here is Charles Southwood as "Sabbath," a bounty hunter who dresses in all-white, carries a white parasol, and lives by the values taught to him by his mother. Sartana and Sabbath are both oddballs, each in his own way, but Sabbath is so eccentric he makes Sartana look normal. One of the many amusing parts of the film is when Sabbath comes riding into town with his parasol, and one of the townsfolk sees him and says "what's the west coming to?" Sartana and Sabbath play off of each other quite well, and their interactions are fun to watch, especially when they square off near the end of the film.

A great music score by Francesco DeMasi, along with some excellent camera work, help make this euro-western above average in the style department, but the somewhat muddy plot doesn't do it justice. It's basically about how a crooked town boss is taking gold from the local mines and replacing it with sand before it is shipped. Then he hires Mexican bandits to "rob" the shipments so that nobody will know that they were ever replaced with sand. In comes Sartana to save the day, though his motives for wanting to find the gold are selfish. A little while later, Sabbath shows up, supposedly for the same reason. That much is pretty cut and dry, but the problem is with the details. While the basic idea of the scam going on with the gold is easy to understand, some of the actions of the characters in the story don't make any sense, or perhaps aren't explained very well. Maybe the American version is poorly edited. That would explain a lot, but I don't know if it's the case.

The best way to watch it is to sit back, relax and enjoy the cool characters and style of this spaghetti western without trying to make sense out of everything that happens. When viewed with that attitude, it's actually one of the more memorable and entertaining films of the genre.

There's so much insane gun play in this film I was hardly in need of a plot. At one point, there's a bandit lighting matches stuffed between his toes for a laugh, and then along comes Sartana, knocks the guy out by shooting a sign that falls on the guy's head, then Sartana lights the last match by shooting it, then sparks up a cigar using the match! Why didn't this film win dozens of Oscars?

You've got Sartana after gold, the bandits after gold, some shady businessmen after gold, the gold miners after their own gold (how dare they!), and a bar owning chick...after gold. Oh, and another gunslinger called Sabbath after gold. He carries a white parasol, reads Shakespeare's sonnets, and constantly refers to his mother. Again, why no Oscars?

There's also a running gag where the bandits constantly try to get the drop on Sartana, but Sartana's always got a pistol hidden somewhere. I can't think of a single slow spot in this film at all, and Stelvio Massi's hyperactive camera-work coupled with Carnimeo's direction make for one of the more entertaining Italian Westerns.

Sartana (George Hilton) is a freelance gunman who at the initiation of the film works as a bounty killer . After that , he helps a Mexican family against a ¨posse¨ of cruel bandits (whose leader is Nello Pazzafini) who try to kill and reckoning him . He , subsequently , is hired by a wealthy landowner (Piero Lulli) to guard the miners's payroll that is continuously robbed . Another cocky gunman (Charles Southwood) appears in the city and the confrontation will be inevitable .

The first movie on Sartana is made by Frank Kramer (Gianfranco Parolini) interpreted by John Garco (or Gianni Garco) , besides it was starred by Klaus Kinski and William Berger . After being continued by Alfonso Balcazar (Sartana non perdona or Sonora). Miles Deem (Demofilo Fidani) directed two Sartanas which are considered as awful . Anthony Ascott(Giuliano Carmineo) realized several movies with George Hilton who replaces Garco . Hilton plays more natural and roguish than Garco who was cold and peculiar . In this one Sartana has a partner (Charles Southwood) called Sabbath but he isn't the hero named Sabata created by Frank Kramer with Lee Van Cleef . The movie has typical Spaghetti characters , as the violent facing off , greedy antiheroes , bloody and spectacular showdowns , quick zooms , extreme baddies, and musical score with Ennio Morricone influence . In the picture there are the ordinary Western's secondaries as Folco Lulli , Nello Pazzafini (also usual in Peplum), and the Eurotrash Goddess , the babe Erika Blanc . The Francesco De Masi's soundtrack is nice and atmospheric , he's a good Western musician with enough scores . The movie was regularly directed , but is entertaining.

So the third entry to the Sartana anthology gets a new - Sartana. It seems to be the only one with a different actor and it is even simpler than the other ones. But that might not make it worth less than the other movies. A lot of shootouts, big body count and so forth. So all the pillars for a successful Spaghetti Western one might think.

Then again, there is repetition. And not just repetition from other movies, but repetition in the shootouts. While they may come up with some nice ideas (a hole here, a hole there, hidden gun there, hidden gun there and a slapstick "rifle"/knife combo towards the end), it may not be enough to convey others. Whatever floats your boat ... or rides your horse I guess ...