''Return of Sabata'' ( it, È tornato Sabata ... hai chiuso un'altra volta, lit=Sabata is back ... you're finished again) is a 1971 Spaghetti Western film directed by

Gianfranco Parolini Gianfranco Parolini (20 February 1925 in Rome, Italy – 26 April 2018 in Rome, Italy) was an Italian film director. He is often credited as Frank Kramer. Among his films are '' The Sabata Trilogy'', several sword and sandal films, most of the Ko ...

. The third film in ''

The Sabata Trilogy ''The Sabata Trilogy'' is a series of Spaghetti Western films released between 1969 and 1971, directed by Gianfranco Parolini, and starring Lee Van Cleef in the first, '' Sabata'', Yul Brynner in the second, ''Adiós, Sabata'', and Van Cleef retu ...

'', it features the return of

Lee Van Cleef Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, parti ...

as the title character, which he had played in the first film, '' Sabata'', but was replaced by

Yul Brynner Yuliy Borisovich Briner (russian: link=no, Юлий Борисович Бринер; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985), known professionally as Yul Brynner, was a Russian-born actor. He was best known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in th ...

in the second film, ''

Adiós, Sabata ''Adiós, Sabata'' ( it, Indio Black, sai che ti dico: Sei un gran figlio di..., lit. "Indio Black, you know what I'm going to tell you... You're a big son of a...") is a 1970 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Gianfranco Parolini. It is ...

'', due to a scheduling conflict. ''Return of Sabata'' was listed in the 1978 book ''

The Fifty Worst Films of All Time ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''.

Plot

Sabata, a former

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

army officer and steely eyed, quick-drawing, impossibly accurate gunman with a trick gun, is working for a travelling circus as a stunt marksman. The circus comes to a small

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

town, where a former subordinate officer, a lieutenant from the army is running a crooked casino. The man owes Sabata $5,000 from sometime ago. Then the circus manager runs off with the circus funds, so Sabata decides to stay in town and try to collect on the debt from his friend. Sabata then runs into conflict with the town's land baron, McIntock, who imposes high taxes on gambling, drinking and prostitution with the supposed idea of building the town up, using the money. Sabata, who is after the money himself, finds out that the townspeople's money in McIntock's safe is counterfeit and that he and the priest have hidden it elsewhere, in the form of gold coins. After a few attempts on his life and many badmen dying under his guns, Sabata and the lieutenant are apparently killed so McIntock goes for the money, only to find them both still alive. Sabata is helped throughout by his friends; the acrobat, his partner and a fat, pompous man who is anything but what he seems.

Cast

as Sabata *

Reiner Schöne Reiner Schöne (born 19 January 1942) is a German actor, known for such roles as Dukhat in the ''Babylon 5'' series, Shinnok in '' Mortal Kombat: Annihilation'', Esoqq in the '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' episode "Allegiance", Kolitar i ...

as Clyde *

Giampiero Albertini Giampiero Albertini (20 December 1927 – 14 May 1991) was an Italian film, television and voice actor. Biography Born in Muggiò, Albertini started his career as stage actor at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, under the guidance of Giorgio Strehle ...

as Joe McIntock *

Ignazio Spalla Ignazio Spalla (best known as Pedro Sanchez; 5 May 1924 – 9 February 1995) was an Italian film actor. Born in Siena, Spalla was mainly active in Spaghetti Westerns, usually playing roles of Mexicans, gunfighters and outlaws. His first roles ...

as Bronco * Annabella Incontrera as Maggie * Jacqueline Alexandre as Jackie McIntock *

Vassili Karis Vassili Karis (born Vassilis Karamesinis on 22 September 1938) is a Greek-born Italian actor, mainly active in the Spaghetti Western film genre. Life and career Born in Patras, Karis was first active in the sword-and-sandal, peplum genre, in ...

as Bionda the acrobat * Aldo Canti (as Nick Jordan) as Angel the acrobat *

Gianni Rizzo Gianni Rizzo (1925–1992) was an Italian film actor. Between 1944 and 1986 he appeared in over seventy films and television productions, in a variety of supporting roles. His screen roles included parts in a number of Peplum film, peplum films, ...

as Jeremy Sweeney *

Steffen Zacharias Steffen Zacharias (April 11, 1927 – June 6, 1989) was a German-born Greek American character actor known for his roles in films and television in America and Italy. Biography Born in Germany to Greek parents, Zacharias grew up in the Unite ...

as Donovan *

Pia Giancaro Pia Giancaro (born 12 March 1950) is an Italian former actress and television personality. Life and career Born Maria Pia Gianporcaro in Palermo, the daughter of a Sicilian railroad worker and a Slavic mother, Giancaro in 1968 won the Miss Sic ...

as Diane *

John Bartha János Bartha (6 February 1915 – 1991), better known as John Bartha, was a Hungarian film actor who appeared primarily in Spaghetti Westerns in the 1960s and 1970s. He is probably most recognizable in western cinema for his role as the Sheriff ...

as Sheriff * Günther Stoll as Circus Showman * Carmelo Reale as Chuck *

Franco Fantasia Franco Fantasia (5 March 1924 – 10 November 2002) was an Italian film actor, stuntman and fencing master. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1951 to 2002. He was the brother of actor Andrea Fantasia. Illness and Death Septemb ...

as Circus Owner

Release

''Return of Sabata'' was released in Italy on 3 September 1971.

Reception

From a retrospective review, Donald Guarisco of AllMovie stated that the film "falls prey to the principle of diminishing returns" noting that it followed the plot of the original ''Sabata'' films too closely and that it had "erratic pacing" and was too long.

References

External links

* * {{The Sabata Trilogy Films directed by Gianfranco Parolini Italian sequel films West German films French Western (genre) films German Western (genre) films Spaghetti Western films United Artists films 1971 Western (genre) films 1971 films Films produced by Alberto Grimaldi Films scored by Marcello Giombini Films set in Texas Films shot in Croatia 1970s Italian films 1970s French films 1970s German films