The Fighting Fist of Shanghai Joe

1973 film

28 December 1973 (1973-12-28)

Running time

98 minutesCountryItalyLanguageItalian

The Fighting Fist of Shanghai Joe (Italian: Il mio nome è Shanghai Joe, lit. "My name is Shanghai Joe") is a 1973 spaghetti Western kung fu film directed by Mario Caiano and starring Chen Lee as Shanghai Joe. The film was released in a number of alternate titles in the United States, including To Kill or to Die and The Dragon Strikes Back.^[1]

Plot

A Chinese immigrant skilled in martial arts arrives in America and travels to Texas looking for honest work. Wherever he goes he encounters racism. He soon impinges on the interests of a slave trader called Spencer, which results in a price being put on his head. "Shanghai Joe" uses his martial arts expertise to free the Mexican slaves from their cruel master. Spencer and his friends then hire the four most terrifying bounty hunters of the West, among them a cannibal, a scalp hunter, a killer who skins his victims, and another martial arts champion, his old friend Mikuja.

Cast

Chen Lee (Myoshin Hayakawa)^[2] - Shanghai Joe
Carla Romanelli - Cristina
Gordon Mitchell - Buryin' Sam
Klaus Kinski - Scalper Jack
Katsutoshi Mikuriya - Mikuja
Robert Hundar - Pedro, the Cannibal
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart - Triky, the gamber
Piero Lulli - Spencer
Carla Mancini - Conchita
George Wang - Yang
Rick Boyd - Slim
Umberto D'Orsi - Poker player
Dante Maggio - Doctor
Francisco Sanz - Cristina's Father

DVD release

On May 26, 2009, a Region 0 DVD of the movie was released by Alpha Video.^[3]

References

^ Robert Firsching (2011). "New York Times: My Name Is Shanghai Joe". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2011-05-21. Retrieved 2008-10-25.
^ "The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe Review (Scherpschutter) - the Spaghetti Western Database".
^ Euro-Western Double Feature: The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe (1972) / Any Gun Can Play (1967) DVD info, Oldies.com