Light the Fuse… Sartana Is Coming

"Cloud of dust… Cry of death… Sartana is coming"

1970 1h 36m IT

😐

6.3

MID

★6.3TMDB · 43

Western

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Wily roving gunslinger Sartana arrives in a small town and tries to find a hidden fortune of half a million dollars in gold and two million dollars in counterfeit money. Naturally, a bunch of other treacherous folks who include conniving widow Senora Manassas, shrewd fellow gunslinger Grand Full, and the vicious and unhinged General Monk are also looking to get their greedy hands on said fortune.

“Cloud of dust… Cry of death… Sartana is coming”

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Cast

Gianni Garko
Sartana
Nieves Navarro
Belle Manassas
Massimo Serato
Sheriff Manassas
Piero Lulli
'Grande Full' / Grandville Fuller
Bruno Corazzari
Heinz
Renato Baldini
'Nobody'
Frank Braña
Sam Puttnam / One-Eye
Franco Pesce
Professor Pon Pon

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Giuliano Carnimeo
Writers: Eduardo Manzanos, Eduardo Manzanos, Tito Carpi
Languages: Italian
Countries: Italy, Spain

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

56 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Italy, Spain.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Sartana Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Giuliano Carnimeo, shot by Julio Ortas. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Bruno Nicolai. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ornella Micheli shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Gianni Garko and Nieves Navarro and Massimo Serato carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Cloud of dust… Cry of death… Sartana is coming".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Giuliano Carnimeo directs. Julio Ortas behind the camera. Bruno Nicolai scores. Ornella Micheli cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Italy, Spain. Dialogue in Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

156 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2International production across 2 countries: Italy, Spain.
3Part of the "Sartana Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Giuliano Carnimeo, shot by Julio Ortas. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Bruno Nicolai. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Ornella Micheli shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Gianni Garko and Nieves Navarro and Massimo Serato carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Cloud of dust… Cry of death… Sartana is coming".
9IMDB entry: tt0066167 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Only 43 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
11Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Julio Ortas
Original score: Bruno Nicolai
Editing: Ornella Micheli
Production design: Jaime Pérez Cubero
Costume design: Luciano Sagoni
Makeup / hair: Angelo Roncaioli
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: IT
Certification (US): 16
IMDB: Light the Fuse… Sartana Is Coming (1970)

Part of

Sartana Collection

Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name spawned imitations, variations and shameless rip-offs keen to emulate his success at the box office. Within months of A Fistful of Dollars release, Giuliano Gemma was playing Ringo, who was then followed by Franco Nero's Django, Tony Anthony's The Stranger and Gianni Garko's Sartana each providing their own twist on the Eastwood antihero, and each of them then subject to their own spate of unofficial sequels, spoofs and cash-ins. Sartana tapped into more than just his Spaghetti Western predecessors a mysterious figure, he has a spectral quality, aided by his Count Dracula-like cloak which also nods towards comic strip figure Mandrake the Magician, with whom he shares a penchant for card tricks. He takes pride in his appearance unlike the Eastwood s dusty wanderer or Nero's mud-caked drifter. And there's a dose of James Bond too in his fondness for gadgetry and the droll sense of humor.