Il mio nome è Shangai Joe (1972)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Mario Caiano

Writers:

Carlo Alberto Alfieri (writer)
Mario Caiano (screenplay)

Release Date:

January 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Western

Tagline:

One Man Stands Alone In His Fight For Justice

Plot:

A Chinese immigrant, recently arrived in America, fights to free Mexican slaves from their cruel master.

Plot Keywords:

Cowboy | Fight | Death | Bullet | Fork

Cast

Chen Lee	...	Shanghai Joe
Klaus Kinski	...	Scalper Jack
Gordon Mitchell	...	Burying Sam
Claudio Undari	...	Pedro, The Cannibal (as Robert Hundar)
Katsutoshi Mikuriya	...	Mikuja
Carla Romanelli	...	Cristina
Carla Mancini	...	Conchita
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart	...	Tricky
George Wang	...	Yang
Federico Boido	...	Slim (as Rick Boyd)
Piero Lulli	...	Spencer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Andrea Aureli	...	Sheriff Corrotto
Buxx Banner
Giorgio Bixio
Lars Bloch	...	Racist
Aldo Cecconi	...	Racist
Dante Cleri	...	Manuel, Barman
Alfonso de la Vega	...	Craig
Roberto Dell'Acqua	...	Smitty
Umberto D'Orsi	...	Poker player
Lorenzo Fineschi	...	Cowboy
Tito García	...	Jesus, Slave Trader
Veriano Genesi	...	Blacksmith
Luigi Antonio Guerra	...	Spencer Friend
Dante Maggio	...	Doctor
Enrico Marciani	...	Spencer Friend
Osiride Pevarello	...	False Teeth - Ranch Hand
Claudio Ruffini	...	Tricky's Partner
Giovanni Sabbatini	...	Old Man
Francisco Sanz	...	Cristina's Father
Angelo Susani	...	Stagecoach Driver
Sergio Testori	...	Ranch Hand
Pietro Torrisi	...	Ranch Hand
Franco Ukmar	...	Ranch Hand

Also Known As:

Mezzogiorno di fuoco per Han-Hao
My Name Is Shanghai Joe
Shanghai Joe (USA)
The Dragon Strikes Back (International: English title)
The Fighting Fists of Shangai Joe (International: English title)
To Kill or to Die

Runtime:

Germany:94 min (DVD version) | USA:98 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Norway:18 (video) (1982) | Finland:(Banned) (1976) | USA:R | West Germany:18

Company:

C.B.A. Produttori e Distributori Associati

Trivia:

The scene in which Gordon Mitchell's character sings "Chin-Chin Chinaman" while carrying a shovel was improvised on the spot by Mitchell. He also created the song.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Squadra volante (1974)

fun film of its type & date

very weird European take on the Spaghetti western-Kung fu connection that has haunted Hong Kong cinema since Shaw Bros. started using borrowed Ennio Morricone music for their films in the later '60s.

There is much to be said of this weird connection; but for now, let's remark that while "Shanghai Joe" shows really very little understanding of Kung Fu, it shows considerable savvy about Spaghetti Westerns; the action rarely lags, and the heros are heroic, the villains are villainous - yep, a good B-movie all around, perfect Saturday Matinée fare from its era.

(Cinephiles - note the tribute to Sergoi Leone at the end - a definite plus for me.) I agree -fun film of its type & date.