Sabata

Mostly a supporting player in countless film and TV westerns, Lee Van Cleef had a solid if unspectacular career as an on-screen tough guy through the 1950s and early 1960s. He was given rebirth though with the ever-increasing popularity of the spaghetti western genre, especially working with Italian director Sergio Leone in For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. It was a rejuvenation of sorts with a long line of some classic and near-classic spagettis to the point he was given his own genre iconic character, 1969's Sabata.

A $100,000 Army payroll has been robbed from the bank in Daugherty City, but in the getaway outside of town, a mysterious gunman, Sabata (Van Cleef), guns down seven of the bandits, returning the money to the town and earning himself a $5,000 reward. There's a problem though. Three of the town's most prominent citizens, including local ranch and land owner, Stengel (Franco Ressel), was behind the robbery and are now worried if they can be implicated for the job. Sabata is able to put the pieces together of how the robbery is pulled off and quickly figures out who was behind it, seeing a chance for a huge payday. Stengel and his cohorts are less than convinced paying him off will accomplish anything, sending a litany of hired guns and killers after Sabata. With an unlikely duo backing him, Sabata readies for each and every attack, worrying all the time about a similarly talented hired gun, Banjo (William Berger), who hasn't made his allegiance known just yet.  

This would be the first of three Sabata movies, followed by Adios, Sabata and The Return of Sabata and both released in 1971, all of them directed by Gianfranco Parolini. Where the Sergio Leone westerns are classics above the genre and others are message-oriented with an action shell, the Sabata movies are about as good as they get in terms of pure entertainment. They even border on campy at times. We've got great characters -- good and bad -- with a fun story, a non-stop line of quickly-paced and choreographed gunfights and enough cool guns, gadgets and contraptions to keep everyone interested. It's not so much a story as a series of showdowns and gunfights followed by some negotiations that never amount to much and another series of showdowns and gunfights. If it sounds simple, it is, and it's a lot of fun for all 111 minutes.

Right up there on par with Colonel Douglas Mortimer as his coolest character, Van Cleef nails the part as the mysterious gunman, Sabata. It starts with the style, the gunman in black, his flat-brimmed hat, the impeccable suit, the flowing coat. It continues with his weaponry, Sabata a deadshot with just about anything that shoots. He doesn't wear a gunbelt, favoring an odd four-barrelled derringer and a rifle with an extended barrel. He's ready for anything thrown at him, almost like an other-worldly specter hovering over the town. As far as cool factor goes, Van Cleef has it in spades. It's that ever-present smirk, that quick mocking laugh. He speaks almost solely in one-liners, but it works without being too goofy. Van Cleef found a home in the genre and by 1969 he was a star (the Leone flicks, Day of Anger, Death Rides a Horse, The Big Gundown), but this is one of my favorites for him, and he's cooler than ever.

That's part of the beauty of the weirdness and eccentricity of the spaghetti westerns. We get these bizarre quirky characters that are so goofy it works. Start with Berger's Banjo, a gunman who's seemingly worked with Sabata in the past (in some capacity) and always totes a banjo...with a surprise inside. His long red hair hangs to his shoulder, he wears bells on his pants and around his neck, and he's always ready with a one-liner of his own. His scenes with Van Cleef are pretty perfect, two badass gunfighters going toe to toe. Sabata's crew are gems themselves including Carrincha (Ignazio Spalla), a drunken, knife-throwing Mexican veteran of the Civil War and Alley Cat (Aldo Canti), an athletic, acrobatic Indian. It's the weirdest crew of western characters, but it just works.

Also look for Ressel as the manipulatively evil and combover wearing Stenger, wielding a knife-shooting cane, with Antonio Gradoli and Gianni Rizzo as Ferguson and Judge O'Hara, his two partners in crime. Spaghetti western babe Linda Veras plays Jane, Banjo's dancehall girl with familiar faces Spartaco Conversi, Marco Zuanelli and Claudio Undari as Oswald, a Stengel henchman, rounding out the cast.  

With a character that's seemingly indestructible at the forefront, you'd think it might not be that interesting a flick to watch. You'd be wrong. It becomes a test of how he'll defeat his enemies, not a test of if. As my buddy Steve said as we watched Sabata at the Music Box Theatre, Sabata becomes the MacGyver of westerns. He shoots with a variety of trick shots, well-placed shots, and gimmicks galore. The shootouts are fun throughout, with the finale including Sabata, Carrincha and Alley Cat attacking Stengel's heavily fortified ranch with gunfire, gatling guns, dynamite, acrobatics and explosions galore. I loved the ending too, holding back on the meanness or cynical qualities of the other darker westerns, but still has some great twists.

Also worth mentioning is the score from Marcello Giombini. The main theme especially is a gem -- listen HERE -- but it works well throughout. Listen to more of the score HERE with some clips in the video. It incorporates everything from Banjo playing his banjo to some lighter touches, like recurring sound effects leading up to gunfights and even some uses of church organ. It all combines to give the movie that lighter touch, that fun touch. That's the movie. It's got can't miss gunmen, a banjo-wielding gunman, an acrobatic Indian who bounces through the movie and never slows down. A real gem of the spaghetti western genre.

Sabata (1969): *** 1/2 /****
Rewrite of October 2009 review

White Fang and the Hunter

Like any successful genre, spaghetti westerns weren't always the most unique, original-idea producing movies. Go with what audiences want to see. Gunfights, epic anti-heroes, despicable villains, and often enough, combinations of characters thrown together into the same movie for no valid reason other than 'Eh, it'll be fun.' Then there's 1975's White Fang and the Hunter. A spaghetti western based off the Jack London novel? Oh, this should be interesting.

Traveling across the snow-covered Canadian(?) mountains, trapper Daniel (Robert Woods) and his loyal wolf-dog, White Fang (Habbash, yes, I'm providing a link to a dog), meet up with a heavily bearded hunter, Dollar (Ignazio Spalla), who would like nothing more than a good, stiff drink. Together the unlikely trio keeps on the move to the nearest town. It is run by a businessman, Ferguson (Claudio Undari), who owns everything with $ for his eyes. With the railroad coming to town, he's trying to scoop up as much land as possible, but a property owned by a young widow, Linda Burton (Malisa Longo), stands in his way, and she won't sell. Stepping in to help, Daniel, White Fang and Dollar aren't going to let Ferguson intimidate the widow out of what's hers.   

Now 11 movies into the set of 44 spaghetti westerns I bought two Christmases back, I'm probably rocking about a 50 percent success rate. Two or three were pretty good, three or four were tolerable, and the rest? Well, I'll be kind and say 'Not good.' That's where 'White Fang' falls, right in that 'not good' territory. Is it even a spaghetti western? Yes, it is an Italian made movie with some familiar faces and a quirky musical score, but I wouldn't say it is a spaghetti western in the traditional sense. Some of the issue here -- fair or unfair -- is that the print of this movie was pretty awful. Pan-n-scan where we don't even see the faces of the people talking as we watch a blank screen. Daniel kisses Linda at one point, and the camera swerves to actually get them in frame. That's just solid work. Kudos to the editors on that.

Because this movie was generally pretty awful, I won't be seeking it out, but it was apparently part of a double feature of sorts, starting two years prior with White Fang and the Gold Diggers. As I've mentioned, cheap is one thing -- it can be a positive in a film -- but there has to be something redeeming about that low budget quality. The acting is uniformly bad, and it features some of the worst dubbing I've ever seen. The worst example is Linda's son, Johnny (Massimo De Cecco in one of his two career roles), who for all we know could be a great actor. What we hear though is a shrill, screeching voice that sounds like nails on a chalkboard every time he speaks. Sorry, kid. It's hard to judge a film based off a bad dubbing, but it is especially notable here. The snow-bound setting is cool if for nothing else than a change of pace from the sand-swept deserts, but even then, the DVD print makes it look like indecipherable clouds. Eh, actually seeing the movie is overrated, right?

What else to criticize? I guess we can talk about the acting. An American actor who found a niche in the European market, Woods is given little to do as the "hero." He walks around a lot with White Fang, meets Dollar, gets into some fistfights, and woos Linda because the story requires something to happen. To quote Seth Rogen's coining the term, his "Jew-fro" looks a tad out of place too. Spalla does what he did best in the Sabata trilogy, mug for the camera, overact, and drink a ton of whiskey. Where there was some charm in the Sabata movies, the attempts at humor fall flat here for him as he tries to woo an Indian woman, Luna (Linda Sini), who can similarly drink a whole lot of booze. Undari is a pretty standard weak villain, not imposing or intimidating in the least although his main sidekick and henchman, Mr. Slider (Franco Lantieri, I think?), could have the coolest name ever.These villains shoot dogs by the way. Any question they're killed gruesomely?

Meandering along for 89 minutes without much going on, 'White Fang' just doesn't have much going for it. The link below will include a brief sample of a whistle-worthy theme (definitely out of place, catchy nonetheless). Daniel and Dollar do have a cool scene with a small army of wolves attacking them, and a late brawling fistfight is cool. Really though? There's no link at all to London's works or characters other than the fact he did write about a bad-ass wolf-dog. The sad thing though is that White Fang is the coolest character here. During that fistfight, he removes the pistols from all the thugs' belts and piles them nicely behind the bar out of harm's way. Earlier, he wipes his paws before entering a bar because he's seen Daniel do the same. This movie was bad, no doubt about it. An 89-minute movie following White Fang around and not the semi-handicapped humans? I'd watch that one. The link below is the movie condensed into 10 minutes.

White Fang and the Hunter <---Youtube clip (1975): * 1/2 /****

Adios, Sabata

Spaghetti westerns had any number of popular characters from Eastwood's Man With No Name to Franco Nero's Django and even Giani Garko's Sartana. Their popularity and success often led to a series of movies that tried to capitalize on the name only. Like 1971's Adios, Sabata which was originally titled Indio Black during filming. But following the big-time success of 1969's Sabata starring Lee Van Cleef, the title got changed, and we get the 2nd movie in the Sabata trilogy.

With Yul Brynner taking over the role of Sabata (Van Cleef was making Magnificent Seven Ride!), this is one of the more eccentric spaghetti westerns with any number of weird little oddities sprinkled throughout the story from director Gianfranco Parolini. Following in the footsteps of the first Sabata, there's lots of acrobatics, characters/stunt men jumping off of hidden trampolines into action. It looks ridiculous, but at the same time it's a lot of fun. Usually, I hate it when people bring up gay subtexts in movies, but this one had it's fair share too, more on that later.

It's 1867 and French emperor Maximilian is still ruling over Mexico. Near the border, one of his officers, Austrian colonel Skimmel (Gerard Herter) is trying to put down the revolution in his district, keeping his keen eye by shooting Mexican prisoners as they attempt to escape his walled fortress. Skimmel is sending a large gold shipment north across the border into the U.S., but the Mexican revolutionaries catch wind of the plan and send a team, led by the portly Escudo (Ignazio Spalla), to attack the convoy and take the shipment. Joining him is gun for hire and soldier of fortune, Sabata (Brynner). But everything with the gold shipment is not what it seems, and there's double-crossings and betrayals at work, not to mention the slippery Ballantine (Dean Reed), a good source of info who's joined up for a crack at the gold.

It's a shame the character was changed to Sabata because Brynner is a cool enough actor/presence to pull off a new western gunfighter. His outfit is a little flamboyant with leather bellbottom pants with fringes, tight shirt cut low with fringes, and a red serape hanging over his shoulder, but otherwise Brynner's Sabata is a worthy addition to the list of supremely cool spaghetti western anti-heroes. Using an odd sawed-off rifle that loads from the side, Sabata must pick off about 50 people alone. His reward? A cigar that's at the end of every cartridge magazine.

As for some other eccentricities, let's start with the cast. Reed's Ballantine is a bit of a foppish westerner with his ruffled shirts and generally out of place wardrode, his painting prowess, his ability to play the piano, and his desire to always write everything down in his journal. Maybe I'm overanalyzing the character, but if there was ever a gay caballero in a western, this is it. The only link to the first Sabata is Spalla, who plays a similar character and gets to ham it up, including one great last line 'Why you son of a....I mean, I never knew your mother.' Escudo's men include Septiembre (Sal Borgese) -- maybe the coolest sidekick to come out of a spaghetti --, a mute who dispatches enemies with tiny metal spheres he flings from his shoetops, and Gitano (Joseph Persaud), a revolutionary who dances the 'flamenco of death' before a showdown. Odd little touches like that with characters is what makes these spaghetti westerns so crazy and so fun to watch.

Thinking of Leone's Dollars trilogy, he took a lot of criticism for the amount and type of violence in his movies, but in reality, there isn't a ton of actual violence. It was always in the build-up and the tension. Not so here with Adios, Sabata racking up an impressive kill count as revolutionaries and henchmen and Austrian and French soldiers are mowed down by the dozen. This western is action-packed with barely five minutes going by without a gunfight of some sort, and good action too thanks to some strong stunt work. Helping things out is composer Bruno Nicolai's musical score which is about as good as any other spaghetti score you'll hear made by someone not named Morricone. Listen to the music in the opening credits in that link, and try not to whistle along.

About as mindless as a spaghetti western can get, Adios, Sabata is near the top of my list when it comes to the genre. It's stupid and ridiculous with more crazy touches than I could even cover here, but that's the fun of it all. Shut the 'ole brain off for 2 hours and watch Yul Brynner throw one-liners left and right and mow down waves of bad guys in the process.

Adios, Sabata <---trailer (1971): ***/****

Any Gun Can Play

Most moviegoers will agree, Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is the most well-known, and depending on how you ask, best spaghetti western around. With its huge success came a flurry of westerns with similar storylines, including one, 1967's Any Gun Can Play, that is almost an exact duplicate except played more for laughs. Lack of originality aside, director Enzo Castellari's action-heavy western is a good one.

A heavily guarded train carrying $300,000 is attacked by a group of bandits led by the infamous Monetero (Gilbert Roland). But in the aftermath of the robbery, one of Monetero's men doublecrosses him and makes off with all the money. He's tracked down, but before he is shot and killed, the bandit gives a clue to Monetero, a medallion with the location of the gold hidden somewhere in its meaning. Joining the hunt for the gold coins is Clayton (Edd Byrnes), a representative from the bank hoping to get his money back, and a mysterious bounty hunter, known simply as the Stranger (George Hilton). What follows is a series of uneasy alliances with more double-crosses than I could keep track of.

Director Castellari adds some nice touches to his take on GBU without any epic touches that Leone's classic had. For one, the opening is great, check it out here. Three gunslingers dressed as the Man With No Name, Django, and Col. Mortimer ride into a town, passing an undertaker moving three coffins with a lone man, the Stranger, walking behind. They stop to ask who died, the man answering by reading off 3 names, their names. He guns them down in a flash and collects the bounty. Call it a myth/legend, but Leone supposedly wanted to film the opening to Once Upon a Time in the West with Bronson gunning down Eastwood, Wallach, and Van Cleef, similar to the opening here. It's a nice touch by Castellari and sets the tone immediately for the rest of the movie.

Throughout his career, Castellari was the master of action, especially over-the-top action like in the original Inglorious Bastards or Franco Nero movies Street Law and Keoma. This movie never goes too long without a fistfight or a gun battle which keeps the pace going at a breakneck speed. This was also one of the first spaghettis to have acrobatic fights, like Sabata, with stunt men jumping from heights, hitting a trampoline and flipping across a street. Is it ridiculous and completely unnecessary to the movie? Of course, but it's fun to watch.

Three scenes jump out, one the finale in a rundown mission where our three anti-heroes have traced the gold to with the former members of Monetero's gang also showing up, and two and three, extended fistfights between Clayton, the Stranger, and a group of nameless henchmen there to get beaten up. Both fights almost outstay their welcome, but with the right mix of acrobatics, punches, and henchmen flying through the air, they hit the right note.

While the cast may not have the name recognition of GBU, the three leads are perfect for the jokey, over-the-top feel of the movie. With Byrnes as Clayton, you just know the character isn't exactly what he's letting on to be because, well, it's Edd Byrnes and every character he ever played seemed to have some ulterior motives. George Hilton adds a bit of a humorous edge to the Stranger, a mix of any number of Eastwood and Nero characters. When it comes down to it though, the Stranger can shoot with the best of them. And late in his career when he made a handful of spaghettis, 62-year old Gilbert Roland has the Tuco-role except with a little more extravagance. The three find a good mix and stick with it.

There's a fair share of recognizable faces in the supporting cast, including Ignazio Spalla as Pajondo, Monetero's double-crossing gangmember who was in all three Sabata movies, and Gerard Herter as Blackman, the insurance investigator trying to figure everything out as everyone tries to get their hands on $300,000 in gold. Not as polished as some of the better spaghettis, but definitely worth a watch for fans of the genre. If you're just getting into spaghetti westerns, I'd recommend starting with the Leone Dollars trilogy first.

The VCI Entertainment DVD has some issues, but nothing that should stop you from purchasing it if interested. The movie is shown in widescreen, but it seems at times to be a pan-n-scan version pushed down for the widescreen bars. It's also a grainy feature, but compared to a lot of the low-budget, cheapie DVDs released of spaghetti westerns, it's a godsend. The picture's good but not great, and the sound comes through clear at all times. Special features include a trailer, and a trailer for A Bullet for Sandoval, which I reviewed in April.

Any Gun Can Play (1967): ***/****