Adiós, Sabata (1970)

Master gunslinger Sabata helps a band of Mexican revolutionaries steal a wagon-load of gold.

Director:

Gianfranco Parolini (as Frank Kramer)

Writers:

Renato Izzo (story), Gianfranco Parolini (story)

Stars:

Yul Brynner, Dean Reed, Ignazio Spalla

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yul Brynner	...	Sabata / Indio Black
Dean Reed	...	Ballantine
Ignazio Spalla	...	Escudo (as Pedro Sanchez)
Gérard Herter	...	Colonel Skimmel
Sal Borgese	...	Septiembre
Franco Fantasia	...	Señor Ocaño
Turam Quibo	...	Gitano (as Joseph Persaud)
Andrea Scotti	...	José
Nieves Navarro	...	Kingsville Saloon Dancer (as Susan Scott)
Luciano Casamonica	...	Juanito, Village Boy
Salvatore Billa	...	Manuel Garcia Otello
Vittorio Fanfoni	...	Barman
Massimo Carocci	...	Juan de los Angeles
Vittorio Caronia	...	1st Lt. Steiner (as Vitti Caronia)
Omar Bonaro	...	Jesus Rivalta

Storyline

In Mexico, during the rule of the self-proclaimed Emperor of Mexico Maximillian (1864-1867), Mexican revolutionaries and Republican forces try to bring former Mexican President Benito Juárez back to power. The United States in neutral and is going through the pains of the American Civil War. Mexican guerrilla leader Señor Ocaño hires gunfighter Sabata to steal a wagon-load of gold from Emperor Maximillian's Austrian and French forces. When Sabata and his friends, Escudo and Ballantine, finally get their hands on a wagon, they discover it's full of sand rather than gold. They suspect that the gold was stolen by Austrian Colonel Skimmel. Therefore, Sabata and his partners set out to find the gold and give it to the Mexican revolutionaries.

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Plot Keywords:

oppression | black | robbery | dust | small village | 

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Taglines:

There is no crossing him twice.

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Genres:

Action | War | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for western violence

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

30 September 1970 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Adiós, Sabata

Filming Locations:

Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Produzioni Europee Associate (PEA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was not originally a Sabata film. The original Italian title translates as "Indio Black, you know what? You're a big son of a...", Indio Black being the character played by Yul Brynner, but the title and Brynner's character name were changed for the American release to cash in on Sabata (1969), the original Sabata film.

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Goofs

In the bar where Sabata and Ballantine meet and they start to play the piano. When Sabata walks to the piano, he lays his gun on the table. In the wide shot of both playing the piano, the gun is missing from the table.

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Quotes

[Sabata catches an Austrian agent in a snare]
Sabata: Hang around, I'll be back.
Austrian agent: [furious] I'll get you when I get down!
[Sabata shoots the rope in two with a small pistol. The agent falls head first onto an accordion, and the instrument produces a sour note]
Sabata: [looks back impassively] You played that *rotten!

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Connections

References Django (1966)

User Reviews

Sabata likes the lying down

The second Sabata film mixes the Mexican Revolution plot with the stolen Gold plot and manages to make it work through an avalanche of stupid characters and the fact that instead of the usual bounty hunters and bandits the bad guys are a bunch of arrogant Austrians up for a killing. One of them even says 'I'll be back!' Yul Bryner plays Sabata this time round, a bounty killer with a good heart and no concept of money. The money he makes from shoot outs goes to the local monastery (they don't approve!), so when he's roped into killing one of the local Austrian senior officers he's all for it, until he realises that this is your usual double crossing gold stealing plot.

All is not lost. Even though this plot is played out like some Western frontier mine, we still get a few quirks to keep our attention, like Sal Borgese's mute bandit character. He doesn't say much, but he has two musket balls that he drops into special pockets in his shoes that he then fires at people's heads. He also has a friend who dances while the head bandit guy prepares to kill someone.

There's also an insanely high body count even for a film like this, where most of Mexico is killed in a barrage of dynamite and bullets, and of course there's the tenuous relationship between Yul and the other good guy that results in gold swapping hands various times which leads to an ending which drags on slightly for those who have witnessed it several times by this point.