Gianfranco Parolini's "Adios, Sabata" ranks as one of the top 10 Spaghetti westerns of all time. Its' scenic photography, clever dialogue, marvelously choreographed gunfights, fantastic music, and harsh rugged scenery make this outlandish Yul Brynner horse opera worth watching. No, it has nothing to do with the Lee Van Cleef movies oaters "Sabata" (1969) and "Return of Sabata" (1971). The original title for this exhilarating Yul Brynner shoot'em up was "Indio Black." Like most successful Spaghetti westerns, it adopted the name of a profitable screen hero. Scores of westerns were named after "Django," "Sartana," and "Trinity." Indeed, where Lee Van Cleef's Sabata is elegant and well-dressed, Indio adopts the garb of a cavalry scout. He wears a fringed buckskin outfit. Unlike Sabata, who relied primarily on a derringer, Indio wields a sawed-off, lever-action, repeating carbine with a sideways ammunition magazine. He reserves the last chamber in the magazine to a cheroot. After he kills them, he likes to enjoy his tobacco. Black brandishes a derringer, too, but rarely uses it to kill. In fact, "Indio Black" was the only Spaghetti western that Brynner made, but it qualifies as a superior sagebrusher with provocative characters, a larger-than-life plot with loads of narrative foreshadowing, and one of composer Bruno Nicolai's liveliest orchestral scores. Parolini lacks the baroque visual artistry of Sergio Leone. However, he knew how to tell a good story and he could arrange interesting set-pieces. Parolini co-authored the screenplay with Renato Izzo who had penned "Kill and Pray" and "A Man Called Amen."
Yul Brynner plays a sympathetic, sharp-shooting, American soldier-of-fortune in black. He supports the Mexican revolutionaries in their cause to expel the Austrians from their country during the post American Civil War period. Hollywood hasn't made that many westerns about Emperor Maximilian's rule in Mexico. The best of the bunch is Robert Aldrich's "Vera Cruz," rivaled only by Don Siegel's "Two Mules for Sister Sara." As the villain, Austrian Colonel Skimmel dresses as elegantly as he shoots straight, and he behaves like an egotist. Indeed, he has commissioned a portrait of himself, apparently for himself, since he has nobody living with him. Skimmel has no qualms about killing and makes an excellent villain. He detests informers, uses their information, and then kills them. Half-way between Sabata and Skimmel is Ballantine. This soldier-of-fortune (Dean Reed of "God Made Them... I Kill Them") is an opportunists who throws his lot in with Sabata. Actually, he has no qualms about getting whatever there is for himself and nobody else. ("Three Crosses of Death" lenser Sandro Mancori captures the arid Spanish landscape in all its eternal grandeur and the vistas are beautiful. Mancori and Parolini hail from the school of film-making that relied heavily on zoom shots. "Indio Black" has more than its share of zoom-out shots and zoom-in shots. "Indio Black" is a hugely entertaining, late 1860s epic that boasts the usual ritualistic duels and gunfights, intrigue, situations, and surprises.
The action opens at a Catholic mission in the wilderness as the priest Father Mike addresses a young Mexican village boy, Juanito (Luciano Casamonica of "Tepepa") laments the descent of mankind into savagery. "There is too much violence in the world." Juanito reminds him that the Murdock brothers who stole everything from them and they deserve punishment. Ever gentle Father Mike replies, "You must try to forgive. Not sink into revenge." Colonel Skimmel, a manacled, bewhiskered, autocrat in a crisp uniform. He likes to demonstrate his marksmanship with a rifle. Skimmel's favorite practice is to turn loose prisoners below on the drill grounds and let them see if they can outrun him without being shot down. Colonel Skimmel never misses. Meanwhile, in Texas, the Murdock brothers show up at the County Hunter Agency and shoot it out with Sabata. Mind you, they don't stand a chance against Sabata. Sabata wipes them out without getting a scratch. Parolini does an excellent job orchestrating this opening shoot-out. The three Murdocks ride into the station. One drives a wagon with a coffin on it. "We're all set for you to go out in style," the oldest Murdock brother boasts." A weather vane whirls around in front of the station, and the duelists warm up with each. Before they open fire on each other, Sabata and old man Murdock provide a sample of their deadly marksmanship. They start the vane spinning with their bullets, and they are told that once the vane comes to a stop, they can blast away at each other. Even after Sabata has killed them, he fires more shots at them. A Murdock hanging on a corral fence falls when Sabata's bullets smash into the railing. Sabata shoots the coffin lid so it falls shut on another dead Murdock.
After the gunfight, Señor Ocaño (Franco Fantasia of "The Lion of St. Mark") approaches Sabata about helping them. Sabata agrees to help them and gives the money to Juanito to take back to Father Mike. Basically, our hero has agreed to find out when the gold leaves the fort at Guadalupe. He is also supposed to tell the revolutionaries which road the gold travels and he will make arrangements with the men who will sell the revolution firearms. Ocaño informs his ally, Escudo (Pedro Sanchez of "Any Gun Can Play"), about Sabata, but Escudo hates that the revolution must depend on a foreign soldier-of-fortune. Colonel Skimmel has cooked up some schemes about smuggling a horde of gold out of the fort at Guadalupe.
Writer & director Parolini does an excellent job of setting up and paying off several situations. The opening gunfight is exemplary. Colonel Skimmel's model of a sailing vessel perched atop a dresser is wired to the highest drawer so that when an unsuspecting fool opens the drawer, the movement trips the small canon sticking out of the side of the ship. If you love Spaghetti westerns, you owe it to yourself to watch "Adios, Sabata."
Yul Brynner plays a sympathetic, sharp-shooting, American soldier-of-fortune in black. He supports the Mexican revolutionaries in their cause to expel the Austrians from their country during the post American Civil War period. Hollywood hasn't made that many westerns about Emperor Maximilian's rule in Mexico. The best of the bunch is Robert Aldrich's "Vera Cruz," rivaled only by Don Siegel's "Two Mules for Sister Sara." As the villain, Austrian Colonel Skimmel dresses as elegantly as he shoots straight, and he behaves like an egotist. Indeed, he has commissioned a portrait of himself, apparently for himself, since he has nobody living with him. Skimmel has no qualms about killing and makes an excellent villain. He detests informers, uses their information, and then kills them. Half-way between Sabata and Skimmel is Ballantine. This soldier-of-fortune (Dean Reed of "God Made Them... I Kill Them") is an opportunists who throws his lot in with Sabata. Actually, he has no qualms about getting whatever there is for himself and nobody else. ("Three Crosses of Death" lenser Sandro Mancori captures the arid Spanish landscape in all its eternal grandeur and the vistas are beautiful. Mancori and Parolini hail from the school of film-making that relied heavily on zoom shots. "Indio Black" has more than its share of zoom-out shots and zoom-in shots. "Indio Black" is a hugely entertaining, late 1860s epic that boasts the usual ritualistic duels and gunfights, intrigue, situations, and surprises.
The action opens at a Catholic mission in the wilderness as the priest Father Mike addresses a young Mexican village boy, Juanito (Luciano Casamonica of "Tepepa") laments the descent of mankind into savagery. "There is too much violence in the world." Juanito reminds him that the Murdock brothers who stole everything from them and they deserve punishment. Ever gentle Father Mike replies, "You must try to forgive. Not sink into revenge." Colonel Skimmel, a manacled, bewhiskered, autocrat in a crisp uniform. He likes to demonstrate his marksmanship with a rifle. Skimmel's favorite practice is to turn loose prisoners below on the drill grounds and let them see if they can outrun him without being shot down. Colonel Skimmel never misses. Meanwhile, in Texas, the Murdock brothers show up at the County Hunter Agency and shoot it out with Sabata. Mind you, they don't stand a chance against Sabata. Sabata wipes them out without getting a scratch. Parolini does an excellent job orchestrating this opening shoot-out. The three Murdocks ride into the station. One drives a wagon with a coffin on it. "We're all set for you to go out in style," the oldest Murdock brother boasts." A weather vane whirls around in front of the station, and the duelists warm up with each. Before they open fire on each other, Sabata and old man Murdock provide a sample of their deadly marksmanship. They start the vane spinning with their bullets, and they are told that once the vane comes to a stop, they can blast away at each other. Even after Sabata has killed them, he fires more shots at them. A Murdock hanging on a corral fence falls when Sabata's bullets smash into the railing. Sabata shoots the coffin lid so it falls shut on another dead Murdock.
After the gunfight, Señor Ocaño (Franco Fantasia of "The Lion of St. Mark") approaches Sabata about helping them. Sabata agrees to help them and gives the money to Juanito to take back to Father Mike. Basically, our hero has agreed to find out when the gold leaves the fort at Guadalupe. He is also supposed to tell the revolutionaries which road the gold travels and he will make arrangements with the men who will sell the revolution firearms. Ocaño informs his ally, Escudo (Pedro Sanchez of "Any Gun Can Play"), about Sabata, but Escudo hates that the revolution must depend on a foreign soldier-of-fortune. Colonel Skimmel has cooked up some schemes about smuggling a horde of gold out of the fort at Guadalupe.
Writer & director Parolini does an excellent job of setting up and paying off several situations. The opening gunfight is exemplary. Colonel Skimmel's model of a sailing vessel perched atop a dresser is wired to the highest drawer so that when an unsuspecting fool opens the drawer, the movement trips the small canon sticking out of the side of the ship. If you love Spaghetti westerns, you owe it to yourself to watch "Adios, Sabata."