China 9, Liberty 37 falls halfway between the Hollywood backlot-western school and the Italian "spaghetti" western genre, borrowing the best elements from both. Fabio Testi plays a gunfighter who is saved at the last moment from a hangman's noose. His liberators are a cartel of railroad men who want Testi to kill farmer (and former hired gun) Warren Oates, who has refused all entreaties to sell his land. As part of the scheme, Testi befriends Oates; on his own volition, he sleeps with Oates' wife Jenny Agutter. When the railroad barons insist that Testi go through with his mission, he refuses, and helps the farmer fight off the train moguls' hired thugs. Also known as Gunfire, China 9 Liberty 37 features a cameo by director Monte Hellman's role model, Sam Peckinpah, who plays a bombastic Ned Buntline-style novelist. And the significance of the title? It's the location of Warren Oates' spread: Nine miles from the town of China, 37 miles from the town of Liberty.

China 9, Liberty 37 (Italian: Amore, piombo e furore) is an Italian-Spanish 1978 western film directed by Monte Hellman, starring Warren Oates, Jenny Agutter, and Fabio Testi. The film was shot in locations in Spain and Italy by cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno. Pino Donaggio composed the musical score. The film had a very sparse theatrical release in the United States, and did not play in some cities until as late as 1984.

Gunslinger Clayton Drumm (Testi) is about to be hanged when railroad company men offer him 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. Matthew’s refusal is a major obstacle to the railroad’s plans for expansion.

Although he naturally accepts the assignment, Clayton has become weary of killing and wants to try to build a new life for himself. The would-be killer and his potential victim meet and quickly become close friends. Matthew is married to the beautiful Catherine (Agutter), who greatly complicates matters by promptly falling in love with Clayton. Clayton, despite his growing loyalty to Matthew, gives in to lust and sleeps with his new friend’s wife. When Matthew discovers his wife’s infidelity, he becomes infuriated and beats her. While defending herself, she stabs him in the back and then hits him in the head with a rolling pin. Believing that she has killed her husband, she runs off with Clayton. Matthew recovers from his wounds and asks his mentally unstable brothers to help him track down his wife and her lover.

Meanwhile, the railroad men haven't failed to notice that Clayton has not lived up to his part of the bargain. Consequently, they’ve changed their plans and now want everybody who gets in their way dead, including Clayton.
Condemned gunman Clayton is given a last minute reprieve on condition he murders rancher Matthew for a railway company. Visiting Matthew's ranch, Clayton is unable to bring himself to kill Matthew and leaves, but Matthew's wife, Catherine, believing she has killed Matthew during an argument joins Clayton. Matthew, still alive, and mad as hell joins Clayton's equally angered employers to hunt down the pair

Release Date: November 30, 1984

Distrib: Lorimar