Amore, piombo e furore

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Amore, piombo e furore (Italy, Spain 1978 / Director: Monte Hellman)

  • Runtime: 98 min
  • Release Date: 4.8.1978
  • Filming Locations: Almería

Also known as

China 9, Liberty 37 (U.S.A.) | Clayton & Catherine | Clayton Drumm (Spain) | Los pistoleros (Spain) | Gunfire (USA) | Love, Bullets and Frenzy (Canada) | Clayton Shaw Med Order Att Doda (Sweden) | Det kom en Revolvermann (Finland) | Silahim ve ben (Turkey) | Clayton, o Cavaleiro da Noite (Portugal)

Cast and crew

  • Cast: Fabio Testi (Clayton Drumm), Jenny Agutter (Catherine Sebanek), Warren Oates (Matthew Sebanek), Sam Peckinpah (Wilbur Olsen), Isabel Mestres (Barbara Sebanek), Gianrico Tondinelli (Johnny Sebanek), Franco Interlenghi (Hank Sebanek), Charly Bravo (as Carlos Bravo)(Duke), Paco Benlloch (Virgil Sebanek), Sydney Lassick (sheriff's friend), Richard C. Adams (sheriff), Natalia Kim (Cassie), Ivonne Sentis (as Yvonne Sentis)(prostitute), Romano Puppo (Zeb), Luis Prendes (Williams), Helga Liné (Cottrell's wife), Mattieu Ettori (Cottrell), David Thomson (as David Thompson)(Jack), Tony Brandt (Jefferson), Piero Fondi (Tanner), Luciano Spadoni (hangman), Frank Clement (Tom), Daniel Panes (Joe), José Murillo (Jimmy), Rafael Albaicín (prison guard), Luis Barboo (Henry), William Redfield (sheriff's henchman)
  • Story and Screenplay: Jerry Harvey, Douglas Venturelli (with the colaboration of Ennio Di Concini, Don Vicente Escrivá)
  • Cinematography: Giuseppe Rotunno [Technicolor, Cinemascope 2,35:1]
  • Music by: Pino Donaggio
  • Song: "China 9 Love Ballad" sung by Ronee Blakely
  • Producers: Gianni Bozzacchi, Valerio De Paolis, Monte Hellman

Synopsis

Gunslinger Clayton Drumm (Testi) is about to be hanged when he is given a chance to live if he will agree to murder Matthew (Oates), a rancher who has steadfastly refused to sell his land to the railroad company. Matthew's refusal is a major obstacle to the railroad's plans for expansion. Although he naturally accepts the assignment, Clayton has become weary of killing and wants to try to build a new life for himself. The would-be killer and his potential victim meet and quickly become close friends. The railroad doesn't fail to notice that Clayton has not lived up to his part of the bargain and now wants everybody who gets in their way, dead, including Clayton.

Comment

China 9, Liberty 37 falls halfway between the Hollywood backlot-western school and the Italian "spaghetti" western genre, borrowing the best elements from both. Fabio Testi plays a gunfighter who is saved at the last moment from a hangman's noose. His liberators are a cartel of railroad men who want Testi to kill farmer (and former hired gun) Warren Oates, who has refused all entreaties to sell his land. As part of the scheme, Testi befriends Oates; on his own volition, he sleeps with Oates' wife Jenny Agutter. When the railroad barons insist that Testi go through with his mission, he refuses, and helps the farmer fight off the train moguls' hired thugs. Also known as Gunfire, China 9 Liberty 37 features a cameo by director Monte Hellman's role model, Sam Peckinpah, who plays a bombastic Ned Buntline-style novelist. And the significance of the title? It's the location of Warren Oates' spread: Nine miles from the town of China, 37 miles from the town of Liberty.

Trivia

  • The title refers to a signpost seen in the film with an arrow leading to "China 9" and another in the opposite direction to "Liberty 37".
  • The film was the last western from both director Hellman (who had previously directed cult westerns The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind) and actor Oates, who had performed in numerous westerns throughout his career.
  • Sam Peckinpah has a small cameo in the film as a writer.
  • Assistant Director Tony Brandt is reportedly credited as co-director on some European prints.
  • There is an actual highway sign that reads "China 9, Liberty 37" on Highway 90 in Beaumont, Texas.
  • The film was written by Jerry Harvey and Douglas Venturelli, both of whom traveled to Spain for the filming and had cameo appearances in the film.
  • The film had a very sparse theatrical release in the United States, and did not play in some cities until as late as 1984.

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