Se incontri Sartana prega per la tua morte (1968)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Gianfranco Parolini

Writers:

Adolfo Cagnacci (story)
Luigi De Santis (story)

Release Date:

14 August 1968 (Italy)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

After a stagecoach is robbed and the passengers murdered, a long and tangled series of surprise attacks...

Plot Keywords:

Robbery | Stagecoach | Killing | Death | Mass Murder

Cast

Gianni Garko	...	Sartana (as John Garko)
Klaus Kinski	...	Morgan
Fernando Sancho	...	Jose Manuel Mendoza
William Berger	...	Lasky
Sydney Chaplin	...	Jeff Stewal
Gianni Rizzo	...	Alman
Andrea Scotti	...	Perdido (as Andrew Scott)
Carlo Tamberlani	...	Pastor on stagecoach
Franco Pesce	...	Dusty
Heidi Fischer	...	Evelyn
Maria Pia Conte	...	Jane
Sabine Sun	...	Girl at the saloon ) (as Sabine (III)
Gianfranco Parolini	...	Gambler (as John Francis Littlewords)
Sergio Jossa
Rossella Bergamonti		(as Patricia Carr)

Also Known As:

Gunfighters Die Harder (USA)
If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death
Sartana (France)
Sartana - Bete um Deinen Tod

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

Italy | France | West Germany

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:(Banned) (1969) | UK:15 (1986) | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16

Company:

Paris Etolie Films

Movie Connections:

Featured in Denn sie kennen kein Erbarmen - Der Italowestern (2006) (TV)

He is your Pallbearer

Sartana (played superbly by John Garko) has one of the greatest entrances on screen of all the Spaghetti protagonists. When accused of looking like a scarecrow, he utters the classic line "I am your pallbearer" before gunning down all the bandits facing him. A classic moment, with the black clad Sartana setting the scene perfectly for this Gothic tinged western.

The story itself is a very complicated affair, and one which I'm not completely sure I followed from beginning to end (I blame the wine consumption). In simple terms, the story evolves around a stagecoach robbery and murder (with the culprits themselves hijacked and massacred by Lasky - played by the ever brilliant William Berger - and his gang). Enter Sartana, in the midst of further double crossing and more double crossing. And cue bloodshed aplenty!

Sartana combines the gadgetry of Parolini's later Sabata movies, with the darkness and brutality of Django. There are classic performances from Garko and Berger together with the familiar faces of Fernando Sancho and Klaus Kinski.

The success of Sartana is clearly demonstrated by the string of sequels (and name-checks) that followed. And rightly so, the character is in equal parts cool, mysterious and deadly. Much like the film. I just wish I understood it better (time to put away the bottle, and rewind the video perhaps).