China 9, Liberty 37

Jenny Agutter as a bored wife on a remote ranch in west Texas, 1885

The original Italian title translates to “Love, Lead, and Fury,” which, needless to say, is an all-around superior name. For video release in the USA, it was called “Gunfire”; in Spain it was named after the protagonist, “Clayton Drumm.” The official title, “China 9, Liberty 37,” makes it sound like a high school football score between two east Texas towns. Speaking of which, there are two such towns northeast of Houston with just such a mileage sign between them, as shown in the opening of the movie, but the location in the film is obviously supposed to be west Texas since the landscapes of southeastern Spain don’t look anything like southeastern Texas.

The flick was one of the last Spaghetti Westerns, which were produced for fifteen years from 1964-1978. Of course, like a lot of Spaghettis, this isn’t purely an Italian-Spanish production. For instance, director Monte Hellman, cowriter Jerry Harvey and star Warren Oates were all Americans, and Agutter is English, not to mention American Sam Peckinpah, who has a curious acting cameo.

It shoots for eccentricity to distinguish it or try something new, similar to other Westerns from the late 70s: “The Missouri Breaks,” “The Shadow of Chikara,” “Goin' South” and “Eagle’s Wing.” Unlike those, it throws in quite a bit of (tame) nudity, mostly involving Agutter (which was nothing new for her, if you’ve seen “Walkabout”). Peter Fonda’s “The Hired Hand” from the early 70s, which also costars Oates, is a good comparison.

The story revolves around a romantic triangle between Catherine (Agutter), her grizzled husband, who’s twice her age (Oates), and a pardoned young gunfighter named Clayton (Italian Fabio Testi). In the small circus sequence, you’ll catch a glimpse of the beautiful redhead Helga Liné, who was 45 during shooting.

The film drives home the boredom and loneliness of life in the Old West, particularly if you’re living on a smal...