China 9, Liberty 37

This moves at an unhurried pace, and you may feel as if you've seen much of it before, especially if you're a spaghetti western fan. But it's worth seeing for the character played by Warren Oates, a former gunfighter whose behavior swings from the sympathetic to the unforgivable and almost back again. In a modest Western like this, it's a pleasant surprise to see ambiguous characters. So that his conflict with Fabio Testi, a younger gunfighter who steals Oates' wife, is full of uncertainty. For all the familiar trappings, you're uncertain how it will end; and that should keep you watching. As the object of desire, Jenny Agutter is constrained by a mumbling Irish brogue and an under-written part. But you can see why Testi is smitten with her. Bottom line: see this for Oates, a great actor in a worthy role.

Condemned gunman Clayton Drumm (Fabio Testi) , a pistolero in a Tom Mix hat , is given a last minute by a railway company chief (Luis Prendes) for reprieve freedom on condition he kills rancher Matthew (Warren Oates) . Visiting Matthew's ranch, Clayton is really stalked by Matthew , holding out against the advancing railroad with his trusted rifle and his less than trusty Anglo-Irish spouse .Clayton is unable to bring himself to kill Matthew and leaves, but Matthew's wife, Catherine (Jenny Agutter) , believing she has murdered Matthew during an argument joins Clayton. Then , there takes place the deadliest crossroad as Matthew, still alive, and mad as hell joins Clayton's equally angered partners (Franco Interlenghi , Charly Bravo , Romano Puppo) to hunt down Clayton and wife who has escaped with him .

The plot is usual in Spaghetti Western genre : a merciless vendetta , as a killer is contracted to murder , but the assassin fails to deliver, prompting a revenger to go after him instead . It delivers an absurd parallel within the stereotyped framework of the European Western , and revealing the sheer gratuitousness of traditional roles-types and ordinary mechanisms to create an uproarious genre critique . It provides an acceptable main and support cast . Fabio Testi gives a passable acting as a condemned killer who is hired by a railroad boss to murder an uncooperative rancher . While the gorgeous Jenny Agutter shows his beauty and charming face . As always , Warren Oates , Monte Hellman's regular , steals the show as the relentless avenger hubby . Support cast is formed by notorious secondaries as director Sam Peckinpah , SidneyLassick , Isabel Mestres , and familar faces from Spaghetti or Paella Western as Luis Prendes , Charly Bravo , Luis Barboo, Rafael Albaicin , Romano Puppo , and Helga Line .

Colorful and evocative cinematography by prestigious Giuseppe Rotunno , shot on location in desert of Tabernas , Almeria , andalucia , Spain . And sensitive as well as evocative musical score by Pino Donaggio . The picture was professionally directed by Monte Hellman , though it results to be slow-moving and has several flaws and gaps . After a few years directing in summer theater, Hellman hooked up with legendary "B" movie producer Roger Corman in the late 1950s. Corman helped finance Hellman's production of "Waiting For Godot", the the first time that Samuel Beckett's play had been staged in Los Angeles . Hellman made his film directorial debut with Beast from haunted cave (1959), and directed portions of Corman's The terror (1963). Hellman has directed a few films , some of them are deemed cult movies . As Monte has made : Back door to hell (1964) , Flight to fury (1964) , The shooting (1966) , Ride in the whilwind , Two-lane blacktop (1971) , Cockfighter (1974) , The Iguana and this Clayton Drumm or Catherine or China 9 Liberty 37 , among others .

Named after a mysterious signpost in Beaumont, southeast Texas, set between U.S. 90 and the adjacent Southern Pacific railroad tracks, that inexplicably reads "China 9 Liberty 37", with the genre fading quick into obscurity in both sides of the Atlantic, this, Monte Hellman's and Warren Oates' final western, seems to be trying to succeed despite itself, setting pitfalls for itself and falling into them but still somehow remaining a formidable picture, not just worthy of bearing Monte Hellman's name (a vastly under-appreciated American auteur with an incredible run in the early 70's that saddly never took off) but doing justice to it.

If the movie can work despite Fabio Testi's unintelligible Italian accent, then it can overcome almost everything. I say almost because Pino Donaggio's score (a jumbled mess of muzak apart from the fitting opening credits theme that seems to be consciously channeling Morricone) defies overcoming and Hellman's inexplicable fixation to not only squeeze a heartfelt romance out of two actors (Testi and Jenny Agutter) who simply don't have it in them to look "in love" but to go ahead and film not one but two long "making love" scenes, y'know, the ones where the two lovers are lost passionately in each other's eyes, kiss like fishes and rock back and forth in a rhythmic staccato all of which is played to horrible "making love" muzak, threaten to throw the whole thing permanently off.

But just when you think he's lost control, all Hellman needs to do to suck the viewer back in is cut to Warren Oates. A man not only made from that late 60's mold of cinematic badass but also a naturally charismatic actor who gave some truly electrifying performances for Hellman (COCKFIGHTER and TWO-LANE BLACKTOP), Oates, as the grizzly homesteader fighting the railroad company he once worked for that is now trying to steal his land, makes the movie, has the gravitational pull to keep everything together. Even in his early 50's he has so much charisma he can spare some for bland hunk Fabio Testi.

With the spaghetti western dead by 1978 (the last major release was MANNAJA the previous year - and the Italian genre industry moving on to a not-so-eclectic mix of MAD MAX and JAWS rip-offs to sustain itself in its waning years, before the advent of home video and movies opening worldwide killed it off) and Clint Eastwood continuing to carry the American western on his shoulders almost single-handedly, China 9 Liberty 37 is more of a throwback to Hellman's previous westerns, a particular niche unto themselves that take from both national western schools but subscribe to neither, than anything contemporary, certainly not as violent and cynic as most 70's westerns. Seen with regards to an overall oeuvre, China takes its proper place somewhere between THE SHOOTING and RIDE THE WHIRLWIND. More the sum of their author's fixations, clearly works bearing a distinct auteurial mark, Hellman's westerns seem like the late 60's equivalent of Budd Boetticher's Ranown westerns. The minimalism of the plot, the isolated settings, the lone female characters... but that's for another post.

This one comes very late in the Spaghetti Western timeline, is directed by an American, and plays out like a love story. It's different to say the least.

Fabio Testi is Clayton, a condemned man who is reprieved at the last minute, as long as he tracks down Warren Oates and kills him. Oates used to work for the Railroad and they don't like loose ends, so Clayton has to take him out. A problem arises in the form of Jenny Agutter, Warren's much younger, hot wife whom Clayton first spies skinny dipping. Clayton shacks up at the Oates/Agutter household under the pretence that he's passing through, but Oates is no fool, and Agutter starts making goo-goo eyes at the hunky Clayton.

Not a shot is fired in anger for the first fifty minutes of this film, as Clayton decides he can't kill Oates by he can get it on with Agutter, which leads to Oates attacked her and Agutter retaliating in a surprisingly violent way (she stabs him in the back and brains him with a rolling pin). Clayton and Agutter think Oates is dead and they can be a couple, but Oates wakes up and gathers his numerous brothers for some revenge...as does the Railroad when they find out Oates isn't dead...

As this is a late era Spaghetti Western, the pacing isn't exactly full throttle, but I was surprised to see that the violence was very realistic - people get shot and fall over instead of clutching themselves and spinning around the place, and the violence is very abrupt and sudden, like the accidental shooting of a hooker through a window or two corpses being shot over and over again.

Plus, Testi stands out as the lightening fast Clayton, made weak through his love for Agutter. Apart from her dodgy Irish accent, Agutter does well too and spends a lot of time naked with Testi (I actually gave birth to Testi's child just by watching this film!). Warren Oates stands out too, with his mumbly, tired character.

This must be one of the very last Spaghetti Westerns, and it's worth tracking down if you can find an uncut version of it. Sam Peckinpah makes a surreal cameo too, just to add to the sense of weirdness.

One of the few (only?) westerns where sex is the main motivator, a wonderful spaghetti western with Fabio Testi and Jenny Agutter, with Warren Oates and a rare performance by Sam Peckingpaugh. An important film in the ouvre of Monte Hellman, quintessential 70's cult director; a man who has made more great films than Coppola yet remains mostly unknown in his home country. See "Two-Lane Blacktop," "Cockfighter," and "The Shooting."