Guns for San Sebastian
1968 film by Henri Verneuil
Guns for San Sebastian (French: La bataille de San Sebastian) is a 1968 French Western 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, and stars Anthony Quinn, Anjanette Comer and Charles Bronson. The score is by Ennio Morricone, who would then use his work in this film as an inspiration for the main theme in The Mercenary. Filming took place in Sierra de Órganos National Park in the town of Sombrerete, Mexico. It was made as a co-production between France, Italy, and Mexico.
It is a rare instance of a French Western actually being shot in Mexico, instead of substituting Spain or some similar European location.
Plot
In 1746, on the lawless northern frontier of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, womanizing Mestizo outlaw and Spanish Royal Army deserter Leon Alastray (Anthony Quinn) is wounded and pursued into a church by a posse of soldiers. He is granted sanctuary by a sympathetic priest (Sam Jaffe), who refuses to turn Alastray over to the military. The Bishop sides with the army, and when the priest still refuses to hand Alastray over he is reassigned as pastor of a remote village, San Sebastian.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Guns for San Sebastian” as 1968 film by Henri Verneuil. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1968 film by Henri Verneuil. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1754647. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1968, 1962 and 1746.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Guns for San Sebastian” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.