Sabata (film)

Sabata (Ehi amico ... c'è Sabata, hai chiuso!)
File:Sabata DVD cover.jpg The DVD cover.
Directed by	Gianfranco Parolini
Written by	Renato Izzo Gianfranco Parolini
Produced by	Alberto Grimaldi
Starring	Lee Van Cleef William Berger
Cinematography	Sandro Mancori
Edited by	Edmond Lozzi
Music by	Marcello Giombini
Distributed by	MGM/UA
Release dates	1969 September 2, 1970
Running time	111 min.
Country	Italy
Languages	English Italian

Sabata (Template:Lang-it, roughly translated as Hey buddy ... that's Sabata, you're finished!), is a 1969 Italian Spaghetti Western directed by Gianfranco Parolini. It is the first film in The Sabata Trilogy by Parolini, and stars Lee Van Cleef as the title character.

Synopsis

Sabata, a man-of-few-words gunhand, arrives in a small Texas town to foil a bank robbery, and discovers that it was a plot by the town's leaders, who want to sell the town to the railroad. Sabata blackmails the leader, Stengel, who then sends various thugs to try and kill him, among them a conflicted killer named Banjo, so named for the musical instrument he carries that conceals a rifle.

Characters

Sabata- A gunman of almost superhuman accuracy and questionable morals, he solves the majority of his problems with a combination of superior firepower and accuracy. His weapon of choice is a peculiar four-barreled derringer, alongside a rifle with an extended barrel.

Banjo- The only man in the film who is almost on par with Sabata gunfighting-wise. Hiding out in the town after some unnamed trouble in Denver, he seems to know everything that is going on in the town, and tries to make money off both Sabata and Stengel. He carries a banjo everywhere.

Carrincha- A fat, eccentric, alcoholic, Civil War veteran who hurls knives at people between rants about the dullness of civilian life and the worthlessness of medals. The majority of his sentences end in insane laughter.

Alley Cat- Carrincha's only "friend", Alley Cat is a silent Indian who performs amazing acrobatics and can escape any pursuer.

Stengel- The effeminate villain of the story, he engineered the robbery which set the whole plot in motion. Very smug in the belief that he is superior to the rest of humanity, he kills people with a dart gun concealed in a cane.

Ferguson and Judge O'Hara- Stengel's increasingly reluctant partners in crime.

Plot

The Virginia Brothers, a team of acrobats, along with a dozen of Stengel's henchmen, rob the town bank. The acrobat are able to jump into the banks uppermost window and kill all the guards. The robbers then load the town safe into a wagon and escape with 100,000 dollars.

Just as they leave the town, Sabata (Lee Van Cleef) rides in. Outside the town saloon, Carrincha has been tossed into the street for not having any money. Seeing his friend Alley Cat, Carrincha yells at him, and starts to rant about how dull civilian life is, then seeing Sabata (whom he does not know), continues about how his Civil War medal couldn't even be traded for a bottle of whiskey.

Sabata, sympathetic, takes out a silver dollar and tosses it into Carrincha's hand. Carrincha happily re-enters the saloon and buys a drink. Sabata enters the saloon, and notices that an old man is being cheated out of his money in a dice game. Drawing his pistol, he blows apart the dice, saying that they are loaded. A man, eating dinner across the saloon starts to stand up, but Sabata aims at him and orders him to sit down.

Turning back to the dice game, Sabata reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pair of non loaded dice, which he uses to win the old man his money back.

The man whom Sabata ordered to sit down starts to surreptitiously draw a gun, but Sabata quick-draws and blasts out the front legs of the chair which the man was sitting on, causing him to fall face first into his food. At that moment, Banjo starts to play a melody on his banjo. The man screams at him to stop, and Banjo complies, saying (with feigned innocence) that he thought the man liked music with his supper. Carrincha starts to boast that he once saw Sabata kill twenty men in ten seconds on a pitch black night.

A mortally wounded bank guard bursts into the saloon, tells everyone the bank's been robbed, and dies. Everyone panics, running to the bank. The local military commander will have to be told, and posse formed in the morning.

The robbers (minus the Virginian Brother acrobats) are riding away from the town, when they notice Sabata is standing in their path, 6-700 yards ahead of them. Aiming a rifle at the robbers, Sabata yells at them to go back to the town. One of the robbers turns to a friend and says "There isn't a Winchester going that can shoot half that distance." before being shot and killed by Sabata. Sabata uses his rifle to kill six more robbers. He takes the wagon back to town.

In the morning, just as the military and posse are planning how to go about the manhunt, Sabata rolls in with the safe and the bodies of the robbers. Carrincha is impressed that Sabata killed seven people, but is dismayed that he accepted a lousy 5,000 dollars when he could have taken the entire 100,000 from the safe. Sabata replies that although it is lousy, it's legal.

Later, Sabata walks into the town's hotel and rents a room, tossing a coin onto the front desk. He encounters Banjo, whom he apparently knows. Banjo says that he can barely recognize Sabata, because he returned the safe.

While this occurs, Stengel discusses the robbery with Ferguson and O'Hara. O'Hara is scared that the dead robbers will be linked to them. He accuses Stengel of foolishness, revealing that the reason Stengel engineered the robbery was to get money to buy land, which will vastly increase in value when the railroad has to pay him for permission to lay tracks over it. O'Hara continues by saying that he is leaving the town for good. Stengel points his dart gun (concealed in a cane) at O'Hara and threatens to kill him if he leaves town. After O'Hara leaves, Stengel tells Ferguson that he sent his top henchman, Oswald, and some men to take care of the Virginian Brothers, who can be witnesses against him.

Oswald meets with the Virginian Brothers at their hideout so that he can pay them. However this a ruse, Oswald and his men double-crosses the Virginian brothers and kills them. One of Oswalds underling's ask him what they should do about the Virginian Brother's wagon, which was still in the town. Oswald said that he sent three men to take care of it.

In the town, Sabata is talking with Carrincha. He has deduced that acrobats were involved in the robbery (to get into the top window). The only acrobats in town are the Virginian Brothers, and they've mysteriously disappeared, leaving their wagon behind. As they discuss it, the three men come into town and start to leave with the wagon. Realizing that they are involved, Sabata yells at them to get away from the wagon. They resist, and Sabata kills them. Carrincha recognizes them as Stengel's men, which makes it all clear to Sabata.

Later that night, Oswald returns to Stengel's ranch (which is more akin to a military fort with guard everywhere) to tell him that the job is done. They meet in the Stengel's main room, which is a large room decorated with historical items. On both sides of the room, there are metal shields shaped to look like people, except with a hole where the heart should be.

Stengel, after being briefed, tells Oswald that now only he can link him to the robbery. Watching Stengel load a dueling pistol, Oswald realizes that he is going to be murdered. Drawing his revolver, Oswald retreats to one of the shields, while Stengel retreats to the other. Oswald fires a couple rounds into Stengel's shield, but none of them go into the hole where the heart is. Stengel, on the other hand, fires one shot which goes through Oswald's hole, and into his chest, killing him.

Sabata, who had been watching the whole thing, fires a couple rounds near him and then rides off into the night. Stengel, with a bunch of men, runs off onto his porch. Sabata, hidden in the night, calls out that he has the Virginian Brother's wagon, which is evidence against him, and that if Stengel wants it back, it will cost 10,000 dollars.

Stengel tells Sabata that if he comes over, he'll get the money. Sabata has a separate wagon with a record player on it, ride into the Stengel ranch unmanned. The record player gives off Sabata's voice prerecorded. Thinking that Sabata is in the wagon, Stengel and his men fire into it. However, the only thing inside is dynamite. When the wagon explodes, Sabata, still hidden in the night, calls out to Stengel and says that now the price is 20,000.

Sabata returns to the town and sits out on a porch, acting like he was there the entire time. Banjo comes out and commends Sabata on giving Stengel a run for his money. Sabata claims that he hasn't moved from his spot the whole night. Banjo replies that then he'd better keep his horse tied up, lest anyone think otherwise.

The next day, Banjo tells Sabata (for 200 dollars) that he has learned that Stengel has no intention of paying the 20,000.

Later that day, four gunman raid Sabata's room. They fire Sabata's reflection in a mirror. Sabata guns down three of the killers, allowing the fourth to live. Sabata tells Stengel that the price now is 30,000.

Stengel tells Ferguson that Sabata will never stop blackmailing them now, and that they need an outsider. Ferguson then hires a hitman named Sharky (whom Sabata kills).

In the saloon, Carrincha is attempting to pawn off his Civil War medal to Banjo, who won't take it (as worthless). Two more hitmen enter the saloon. While one holds the saloon patrons captive, the other goes up into Sabata's room. Sabata kills the first hitman, and the second is killed by Carrincha, for having called him a "lice-breeder".

The town's Catholic priest, Father Brown, has Sabata meet him and discuss his recent killing spree. In reality, he is an assassin hired by Stengel. During their conversation, he attempts to surreptitiously draw a gun hidden in a handkerchief. He stops, however, when Sabata offers him a bag of money in donation. When Father Brown pulls the bag away, a string connecting Sabata's hand to the trigger of Sabata's gun (which is hidden in the bag) pulls tight. The gun goes off, killing Father Brown. Sabata promptly get Stengel and tells him that now the price is 60,000. Stengel tells him that he'll have it tomorrow.

As Sabata walks away, Stengel desperately aims a rifle at Sabata's back, but stops when he notices that Banjo is watching him across the street.

Five men from Denver come into town looking for Banjo, who kills them with a rifle concealed in his banjo.

The next day, at the meeting place, Banjo attempts to kill Sabata, but Sabata shoots the rifle out of Banjo's hands. He demands to know how much Banjo was paid, and when Banjo doesn't answer, he fires three warning shots. Thinking that Sabata is out of bullets, Banjo dives for his rifle, which Sabata shoots away with a barrel hidden in the grip of his pistol.

Cast

• Lee Van Cleef as Sabata
• William Berger as Banjo
• Ignazio Spalla as Carrincha
• Aldo Canti as Indio/Alley Cat
• Franco Ressel as Stengel
• Antonio Gradoli as Ferguson
• Linda Veras as Jane
• Claudio Undari as Oswald
• Gianni Rizzo as Judge O'Hara

External links

• Ehi amico... c'è Sabata, hai chiuso! at IMDb
• Template:Amg movie
• Sabata at Shobary's Spaghetti Westerns