My Name is Shanghai Joe
(aka Il Mio Nome E Shangai Joe, The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe, The Fighting Fist of Shangai Joe, The Dragon Strikes Back, To Kill or to Die)
1972; directed by Mario Caiano

Though considered by some to be a Bruceploitation movie, My Name is Shanghai Joe (aka The Dragon Strikes Back) doesn't fit the strict interpretation of the genre, since it was actually filmed before Bruce Lee's death. But, hey, this is a Italian spaghetti western that stars a Japanese actor playing a Chinese fighter, so that has to count for something in the oddity department, right?

The Japanese actor in question here is Sessue Hayakawa, who is going under the name of Chen Lee here. Hayakawa/Lee plays Chin Ho, a Chinese man who travels to Texas in the late 1800's with dreams of becoming a cowboy. As you might expect, the local rednecks don't cotton to the "chinaman", and so Chin must beat down the racists with his fists of fury. This attracts the attention of a land baron named Spencer, who sees Chin as a threat to his lucrative trade of selling Mexicans into indentured slavery. On the run with a huge price on his head, Chin must try to stay one step ahead of Spencer while at the same time freeing the captive Mexicans.

Many Asian film-makers were quite influenced by the classic US western films and directors, probably most notably John Ford's oeuvre. This becomes clear with releases like Yojimbo, which itself became a linchpin for Italian directors like Sergio Leone, who did his own tribute to the film with Fistful of Dollars. Despite this fairly straight-forward lineage, for the most part, Asian characters in these movies (when they were present) were often regulated to small supporting roles, with productions like this one, where an Asian character is the lead, being notable exceptions.

The end result, at least here, is surprisingly fun. Sure, when you boil things down, the whole "Asian in the Old West" thing is just a gimmick that films before and since have tried to pull off and failed. But it works here, mostly because Chin Ho actually ends up becoming a fairly well-rounded and developed character. Chen Lee isn't the greatest actor, but he manages to infuse Chin Ho with things like a sense of humor and compassion, which goes a long way into making the viewer develop some interest for what happens to him. Combined with strong supporting work from other members of the cast, including the deliciously over-the-top Klaus Kinski, and action scenes that have more than their fair share of severed limbs, My Name is Shanghai Joe is definitely worth watching, especially if you want to check out a different take on the martial arts genre.

RATING: 7