Overlooked Films: LIght the Fuse ... Sartana is Coming! (1970)

Hey, I don’t know much about Spaghetti westerns, but I know what I like, and I DO like this Sartana character. This particular entry in the series wasn’t too bad, either, but left me thinking there are probably better ones.

Light the Fuse … Sartana is Coming! Opens with three scumbags in badges getting their jollies by pistolwhipping - and then killing - the town judge. In rides a man in black, who they mistake for a preacher. And it’s a rather big mistake. He blasts all three and totes their bodies away on a horse. Why? It’s his subtle way of gaining entry - as a prisoner - to a prison where a sometime friend is being held. This sometime friend, you see, is suspected of having made off with half a million in gold, and the loot is still missing.

The rest of the film is about Sartana and a flock of less-admirable villains hunting for the gold. As Sartana, Gianni Garko looks like a cross between Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef. And he’s fond of James Bond (or James West) tricks like a blowgun hidden in the heel of his shoe, or a pipe organ that doubles as a cannon/machine gun.

The movie’s plot is overly complicated, and - aside from Sartana - there are at least four factions hunting the gold. Two of those factions have large crews of gunmen, so Mr. S uses the time-honored tactic of pitting them against each other, while he sits by to pick off the survivors.

On the plus side, there are plenty of good shootouts and an astronomical body count. There’s even a brief homage to The Three Stooges: At a poker table, one player says, “I see you. I see you.” Another gives him Moe’s trademark two-finger poke in the eyes and says, “You won’t anymore.”

Near as I can tell, Garko was the first actor to assume the Sartana role, and returned at least three times, this being the last. The series was popular enough to spawn a dozen or so ripoff sequels. Garko also made one flick as Django, and appeared in a whole lot of other mostly-Italian productions. Just for variety, he also once had a guest shot on Space: 1999.

More Forgotten Flicks at Sweet Freedom.