China 9, Liberty 37

1978 "The deadliest crossroad."
6| 1h45m| R| en
Details

Gunslinger Clayton Drumm is about to be hanged when he is given a chance to live if he will agree to murder Matthew (Oates), a miner 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.

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Reviews

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
Donald Seymour This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.
andrewsarchus The fact that this "tuchia" gets 6 stars on the IMDb scale and Two Lane Blacktop rates only 7.2 is proof how meaningless these aggregate scores are. I do sometimes wonder how much is lost in the pan-and-scan releases that these B movies get but I don't think anything could raise this film above bad and pretentious. Whether this is the fault of the producers or the director is usually a tale untold. My guess is that the producers wanted Agutter naked for half the film (bad) and that Hellman thought it would be cool to have Peckinpah mumble a few lines (pretentious). One interesting note is that this is the only screen credit for Jerry Harvey, the ill-fated programming genius behind Z channel in LA during the 1980's.
azjimnson A lot of misinformation in some of the other reviews. The character who began to make the, "As long as I've got a face," remark--which was never finished-- was the the younger brother of Oates' character. The last name of Fabio Testi's character, who was nothing but respectful in his comments to Jenny Agutter's Catherine, was Drumm, not Jones. I do agree the score was not good, and I suspect Hellman had little control over that. He wasn't in a position of power after the brilliant "Two Lane Blacktop" flopped. It was coal, not oil, that Matthew (Oates) was counting on to make him rich. And Drumm did not "constantly drink cocaine laced whiskey." He had one bottle of it given to him by the owner of the circus. If I recall this was before the second lovemaking scene in the hotel, and cocaine, for those who don't know, makes one very amorous. I think it was meant as a joke. All that said, I have to agree this not a great Hellman film, and his approach was probably too contemplative for most fans of spaghetti Westerns. Even though the final shootout is more typical of the genre. I love the chief bad guy saying. "This didn't go so well," just before he attempts to surrender and Oates shoots him. It's a measure of Oates' skill as an actor that he manages to gain our sympathy for Matthew, even after admitting having killed a whole family, "right down to the dogs, the cats, and the chickens," for the railroad. I was surprised by Katherine's decision to stay with Matthew (though she really had little choice), and that final scene must have looked amazing in the original Technovision 235:1 frame. I think it symbolized that Oates was finally cutting his ties with his past completely. I think he was sincere when he told Catherine, "No one will hurt you again," meaning he wouldn't. Fabio Testi's accent was thick, but I give Hellman credit for not dubbing him, and for adding a back story about Drumm coming to the USA after his grandparents' death to explain it.And, yes, I think the West was full of people with nearly indecipherable accents. I've lived in the West for near to 20 years, and still can't understand some of the old timers.
pecknpawpapers Your information is incorrect! I have first hand knowledge that this film, Gunfire, was not a 1978 production but a 1981 production.Gunfire was done in Spain. There was a film festival that was supposedly honoring "Sam" and he went to Spain for that original purpose. They were filming Gunfire with Warren Oates at that time. He visited the set. That's all I am prepared to say about the matter at this time.Sam hated inaccuracy and those who didn't properly "do their homework". Please honor his memory at least with accuracy since the anniversary of his death is upon us on December 28th. That is a day I will never forget.
helpless_dancer 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.