Sabata the Killer (1970)

Peter Lee Lawrence plays Peter, a bank clerk with a gambling problem and a $2,000 debt to a crooked town leader named Garfield.

Garfield offers a deal. If Peter helps steal a $300,000 payroll, he’ll wipe out that debt.

Instead, Peter does some quick thinking when he recognizes a stranger who walked into his bank as the wanted Mexican bandit named Pancho Mangosta.

Peter quickly stashes $4,000 from his bank drawer in his own pocket, knowing the outlaws about to rob the bank will be suspected of stealing that money.

It works, allowing him to pay off his debt and have plenty left over. Ah, but it also leads to another card game. And this time, Peter’s left owing Garfield $10,000.

So he takes Garfield’s offer and agrees to help steal the payroll. Then outlaw partners Mangosta (Eduardo Fajardo) and Sabata (Anthony Steffen) show up, wanting the rest of the loot from the bank job they pulled.

That prompts Peter to switch sides and help them steal the payroll instead.

Keeping the money might be another matter. The serial numbers on the bills are likely traceable, Peter advises, meaning they can’t spend or split it up immediately.

But can they trust one another with that much money lying about? And how about Garfield, who has plenty of funds to hire paid killers to track them down?

Review:

Spaghetti fans will see Anthony Steffan, Peter Lee Lawrence and Eduardo Fajardo at the top of this cast list and think, “Hmm, this might be pretty good.”

Well, only if you like lots of slapstick comedy in your Westerns. And chases in which our heroes are in a horseless carriage with Garfield and his men trying to track them down from horseback.

Then there’s an extended sequence in which our newly rich partners realize they need horses and dupe two brothers into trading for a vehicle they have no idea how to drive.

Perhaps a bit of that screen time could have been devoted to developing the blossoming romance between Peter and Sartana’s sister Patricia, an affair that supposedly has him thinking of returning all the stolen loot.

Other than that, it’s the old can-you-trust-really-your-partner storyline. Well, Mangosta and Sabata trust one another pretty well. Same for Peter and Sabata. Mangosta and Peter? They never learn how to get along.

It all does lead up to a pretty well staged final showdown, by which time the film has taken a decidedly more serious tone. That’s worth watching, if you can make it that far.

Directed by:
Tulio Demicheli

Cast:
Antonio de Teffe … John / Sabata
as Anthony Steffen
Peter Lee Lawrence … Peter
Eduardo Fajardo … Pancho Mangosta
Alfredo Mayo … Garfield
Rossana Rovere … Patricia
Luis Induni … Charlie McKenzie
Maria Villa … Manolita
Alfonso Rojas … Sheriff
Alfredo Santacruz … Butch Garrett
Cris Huerta … Big Brother Fuller
Tito Garcia … Little Brother Fuller
Jose Canalejas … Chango / Jumbo
Lorenzo Robledo … Deputy
Rafael Albaicin … Jose

Also with: Álvaro de Luna, Miguel Del Castillo, Joaquin Parra, Xan das Bolas, Alfonso de la Vega, Simón Arriaga, Adolfo Thous, Emilio Rodriguez, Guillermo Méndez, José Riesgo, Rafael Vaquero, Ricardo Lilló, Marisa Porcel

Runtime: 91 min

aka:
Arriva Sabata!
Dollars to Die For

Score: Marcello Giombini

Memorable lines:

Garfield’s man: “Ain’t no point in going on. They’ll outrun us in that funny machine of theirs.”

Mangosta, upon opening the stolen payroll box: “I’m afraid to look at so much money. I’m scared I might go blind.”

Sabata, who’s told his sister he’s a traveling salesman: “Mangosta, you’ll get a bullet in the middle of your big mouth if anybody at the ranch finds out about us.”

Sabata, as Garfield and his men descend on Mangosta’s birthday party: “It sure ain’t nice to go around shootin’ up fiestas, is it?”

[feedburner name=”name”][/feedburner]

Trivia:

Yet another Sabata film that wasn’t part of the official trilogy starring Lee Van Cleef and Yul Brynner. In fact, the Sabata character is called Garringo in some versions (and posters) for the film.

Tulio Demicheli directed more than 50 films, including four Spaghetti Westerns. The others were “Gunmen of the Rio Grande” (1964), “Dakota Joe” (1966) and “Fuzzy the Hero” (1973), another Western comedy starring Eduardo Fajarda and Anthony Steffen.

Spanish-born Alfredo Mayo plays the villain here, but was the leading man in several post-World War II films made in his native country.