China 9, Liberty 37 (1978)

When the spaghetti genre was all but dead in the late 1970s, the last gasps brought some of the most interesting examples of the genre, including this one. Actually, I am not sure if it qualifies as being a "spaghetti western" because it was helmed by an American director (Monte Hellman) instead of an Italian. It's probably because of this that the end results don't always play out like a typical spaghetti western. It's quite slow at times, and its atmosphere, instead of being action-packed, is pretty serious. In fact, it's almost arty at times. The movie is also interesting in that the main character of the movie, played by Fabio Testi, is not all that sympathetic. Speaking of Testi, his thick accent makes some of his dialogue difficult to understand. But the movie has some strengths as well as weaknesses. There's not much action, but what there is is fairly exciting. There's a good musical score (kind of a mix between European and American western music). And while the movie is slow, it does get you interested in sticking around to see what will happen in the end. If you are into Italian westerns and want to see something a little different - and have some patience to sit through some slow and/or clunky moments - this movie does have some interest.

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 is a Western that, as another poster mentioned, has sex as its driving force.Spoilers It's basic Western cliché story line is hired gun Clayton Jones (Fabio Testi) is about to hang for some offense in the town of China, Texas. We see him in a jail cell and out in the town square we see a hanging platform with three nooses, a Chinaman and a China woman are bound and lined up below it we cut back to Clayton who is removed from his cell apparently to join the condemned. We cut to Clayton in the offices of a railroad company where some officials hand him a pardon with the stipulation that he is to go kill Matthew Sebanek, who won't sell out his land at the cheap price offered to the RR. He has become a small obstacle to the tracks. We see two corpses hanging from the gallows as Clayton rides out of town.Matthew Sebenek (Warren Oates) is sort of a hardscrabble squatter/homesteader, he is sitting upon land that has oil beneath it and knows it, oldest of the Sebenek brothers he looks to be between 45-55 years old, his comparatively child bride wife Catherine (Jenny Agutter) looks between 20-25, Matthew treats Catherine more like a slave than a partner, she is unhappy and shows it. There are no children present that, in most Hollywood Westerns, that depicted these types of May-December relationships would cement the couple together with a common cause.Into this situation rides reluctant hired gun Clayton Jones and he gets his first eyeful of Catherine as she is bathing in the stream near the road to the homestead, she doesn't hear him coming while she reclines in the water and is surprised when Clayton's voice asks which way to the Sebenek's but not embarrassed and she does not try to cover up in any way. In subsequent scenes we learn that Matthew who was a former hired gun of the railroad has Clayton pretty much pegged for what he truly is, but that sort of binds him into a wary friendship with him that blossoms. We also see that love starved Catherine is attracted to Clayton by her demeanor and it is she who makes the first move to consummate an affair. Clayton who has come to like Matthew decides not to kill him and that he best get away from the dicey situation but Catherine gives it away on the day Clayton leaves and she and Matthew come to blows in the kitchen and she stabs Matthew and leaves him for dead.Catherine rides away to follow Clayton, and Matthew and his brothers take off after them.Now this is an adult treatment of situations that are real, I've know real life stories that have played out exactly so and have had similar ends. It's refreshing to see a Western with more mature themes that still has enough Western elements to keep it in Genre and interesting enough to keep you watching.There are some nice stylistic camera shot touches in a later whorehouse confrontation. If I have any complaint about the film it would be the overly intrusive soundtrack that in some scenes plays annoyingly over the dialog, it doesn't help that it has a 70's sound to it. Other music is provided by the actors themselves and gratefully its recorded live (not sound studio looping) and sounds very realistic.Sam Peckinpah has a nice cameo as a seedy pulp novelist.Check it out if you can find it. The version I saw was almost full wide screen though it still had some side cropping where you could tell so when the credits were rolling. For the most part you wouldn't notice it however there is one scene where when Catherine is coming on to Clayton, she stands in a open doorway in a nightgown back lit by a kerosene lantern and you can see she is plainly naked, she is half cut off by the cropping which makes me suspect that there may be a few more scenes where we are not seeing the full potential of the cinematography.

A rancher standing in the way of the railroad getting his property is slated for killing by a convict who will escape the hangman's noose if he does the job. Instead of doing the hit, the con takes off with the rancher's wife, creating a big manhunt and many deaths. There was a big shoot-out at the end of the picture and a few high points along the way, but overall this film was a loser. Too many pointless sex and nudity scenes, not enough action. Slow and dull.