Guns for San Sebastian (1968)
Anthony Quinn: Leon Alastray
Photos
Quotes
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Kinita : Where are you going?
Leon Alastray : What difference does it make? A man goes from the place he is born to the place he dies.
-
Father Joseph : My son, here. Put this on - it will protect you from the sun.
[Father hands Leon a cowl with a cross on the back]
Leon Alastray : Ha? Thank you.
Father Joseph : ...and who knows? Perhaps it will bring you a little faith!
Leon Alastray : Faith? Oh, I had plenty of faith the other night. Hey, priest - you wanna hear my confession?
[clasps hands in mock prayer]
Father Joseph : No, thank you!
Leon Alastray : Come on - it'll make you feel 10 years younger!
[laughs lewdly]
Father Joseph : ...or perhaps older!
-
Leon Alastray : [startled by a bell, Leon runs into the church] What the hell are you doing?
Father Joseph : Christians always respond to the sound of a bell.
Leon Alastray : What Christians? Rocks? Lizards, snakes?
Father Joseph : Perhaps someone's still alive. Please - you ring the bell. I am too weak.
Leon Alastray : Here, hold this.
[hands the wine bag to Father Joseph, who stuffs it into the statue of San Sebastian]
Leon Alastray : I feel stupid.
[pulls rope a few times]
Leon Alastray : Oh, that's enough!
[walks to church door]
Leon Alastray : Hey Father! Look! A Christian!
Father Joseph : [looks toward distant horizon for approaching people]
Leon Alastray : No, no.
[points to a scruffy dog in the church yard]
Leon Alastray : There.
[laughs mockingly]
-
Kinita : Would you?
Leon Alastray : Would I what?
Kinita : Hear my confession.
Leon Alastray : Sure. If you will hear mine first.
Kinita : I don't understand.
Leon Alastray : I'll make it quick. I am not a priest. If you ever need money, there's a price on my head.
Kinita : No, it's not true.
Leon Alastray : [looks at her as if to decide how to convince her, then grabs her hair and kisses her roughly] That's my confession! You want to tell me yours?
[laughing]
-
Agueda : So you force us to return. Now, your soldiers are going Priest. How will you hold us?
Leon Alastray : Well, Agueda. I hope you will all stay because... Because you all CHOOSE to stay.
Diego : When your protectors are gone, we will KILL you for this!
Leon Alastray : Diego, you will kill no one. You are a coward like all the rest.
Antonito : Why don't you call for help? Your soldiers can still hear you.
Leon Alastray : I call for no help. YOU are the weaklings always crying for help. For years, you hide behind Teclo and his... And his 17 vaqueros. You run to the hills and you hide like ANIMALS!
[thumps chest defiantly]
Leon Alastray : I fight my OWN battles!
[throws open church doors to reveal the horde of guns & ammo]
-
Leon Alastray : Golden Lance, I have come to talk peace with you. Do you understand?
'Golden Lance' : I understand you very well. You speak much about peace in your language, especially when the other side is stronger.
Leon Alastray : I chose to come alone. No one forced me.
'Golden Lance' : Look at these rocks.
[points to the hills behind his camp]
'Golden Lance' : 5,000 Yaquis were massacred here by your soldiers in the name of your god of peace. I was a child. I saw blood running down these rocks like a river.
Leon Alastray : I come in the name of no god. I come as a man who does not wish to see his village destroyed in the name of your gods.
'Golden Lance' : You LIE! Your village is full of soldiers ready to kill us.
Leon Alastray : There are no soldiers in my village. If, one day, you want to come as a friend, you will be greeted as a friend. If you need food, we will share it with you. Golden Lance, I have...
[turns to white stallion]
Leon Alastray : I have brought you a gift in friendship: this horse. If you accept, there need be no bloodshed. If you refuse, let the first blood be mine.
-
Leon Alastray : [Kinita is crying, and Leon is drunk] I can't stand sniveling - stop your sniveling. I want to tell you something. Have you ever wondered why I stayed here? Was it because of that... that crazy old priest? Was it because of a god I... I don't even BELIEVE in? Was it because... Because for the first time in my life, I... I felt important, and I liked the 'yes, Father'; 'no, Father'; 'God bless you, Father'? Or was it because of you?
[pauses and thinks]
Leon Alastray : I think it was because of you.
Kinita : [realizes he loves her, and lies down beside him]
Leon Alastray : [caressing and kissing her] It's good to feel like a MAN again!
[becomes more aggressive, then sits up, staring down at her]
Leon Alastray : I've been a priest too long. Get out. Come on, GET OUT!
-
Leon Alastray : Thanks for the mule, old man. But remember: you won't see me again. Not in San Sebastian.
Miguel : Perhaps in Heaven?
Leon Alastray : I promise: NOT in Heaven!
[laughing]
-
Col. Calleja : [upon finding the village deserted] The guns go back! Men, dismount! We leave in the morning!
Leon Alastray : [later in Leon's room] Well, goodnight. Happy dreams, my son.
Col. Calleja : Goodnight. Thank you.
Leon Alastray : I suppose we are leaving before sunup?
Col. Calleja : 'We'? We leave?
Leon Alastray : Well, I must face my bishop, and you the governor.... and report OUR failure.
[feigns apathy by thumbing through a Bible]
Col. Calleja : What failure?
Leon Alastray : Our mission.
[goes back to pretending to read a Bible]
Col. Calleja : I didn't fail in my mission! I was told to proceed to the village of San Sebastian with arms & munitions: number 1. Number 2: deliver the guns to the population of San Sebastian. And number 3: return immediately to garrison headquarters upon completion of the mission. Where have I failed?
Leon Alastray : Number 2. We did not deliver the guns to the population.
Col. Calleja : But there is no one here!
Leon Alastray : Oh, that's true.
[pauses as if confused]
Leon Alastray : But the orders do not say that the population is IN the village.
-
Leon Alastray : [Knowing that a battle is imminent, the townspeople, thinking he is a priest, beg Leon to say mass] My friends, you have come to hear mass. I know you want to hear words that will make the coming battle easier. I wish to God I knew the words. I don't. You see, a few months ago I came here with an old man. His name was Father Joseph. He was a real priest. I don't know maybe he was a real saint. Anyway he died for what he believed. And then, well then I put on his robe. I hope I have not brought it dishoner. But I must tell you
[hesitates]
Leon Alastray : I am not a priest.
[Congregation murmors]
Leon Alastray : Now it doesn't matter who I am or what I am. You are not fighting for me, you are not fighting for the robe, you are fighting for yourselves. For the right to believe what you want to believe. Now if you still want to hear mass, we will have it at the wall
[Exits and the townspeople follow and prepare for battle]
Leon Alastray : .
