La Bataille de San Sebastian
| Guns for San Sebastian | |
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French film poster
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| Directed by | Henri Verneuil |
| Produced by | Jacques Bar Ernesto Enríquez |
| Written by | Serge Gance Miguel Morayta Ennio De Concini James R. Webb (English screenplay) |
| Based on |
A Wall for San Sebastian by William Barby Faherty |
| Starring |
Anthony Quinn Anjanette Comer Charles Bronson Sam Jaffe Silvia Pinal |
| Music by |
Ennio Morricone Laurie Johnson |
| Cinematography | Armand Thirard |
| Edited by | Françoise Bonnot |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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111 minutes ([US) |
Guns for San Sebastian (French: La Bataille de San Sebastian) is an 1968 French action-adventure film based on the 1962 novel A Wall for San Sebastian, written by Rev. Fr. William Barnaby "Barby" Faherty, S.J. The film is directed by Frenchman Henri Verneuil, it stars Anthony Quinn and Charles Bronson. The score is by Ennio Morricone.
It is a rare instance of a spaghetti western actually being shot in Mexico instead of substituting Spain or some similar European location.
In 1743 Mexico, a womanizing outlaw, the army deserter Leon Alastray (Anthony Quinn) is wounded and pursued by the Spanish military into a church. He is given sanctuary by a sympathetic priest (Sam Jaffe), who will not turn Alastray over to the military. The church authorities side with the army, and when the priest still refuses to hand Alastray over they send him to minister to a remote village, San Sebastian. The priest smuggles Alastray, who is proudly atheistic and anti-clerical, past the soldiers surrounding the church. Alastray feels guilty for what has happened to the priest, so accompanies him to the village to ensure he gets there safely. However he is angry and embittered throughout the trip.
They arrive at San Sebastian to find the church barely stands and the village apparently abandoned. The priest is killed by a marauding vaquero, but his ringing of the church bell brings the villagers out from their hiding places in the surrounding hills. They hide there because they are regularly terrorized by Yaqui Indians. The villagers mistake Alastray for a priest. He at first denies it and is scornful of them, but, guided by a persistent village woman, Kinita (Anjanette Comer), to whom he is attracted, decides to take on the role and organize the villagers. They are aided by the persuasive power of an accident the villagers think is a miracle.
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Wikipedia