| The Stranger and the Gunfighter | |
|---|---|
American film poster for The Stranger and the Gunfighter |
|
| Directed by | Antonio Margheriti |
| Produced by | Gustave M. Berne Run Run Shaw |
| Written by | Miguel De Echarri Barth Jules Sussman |
| Starring | Lee Van Cleef Lo Lieh Femi Benussi |
| Music by | Carlo Savina |
| Cinematography | Alejandro Ulloa |
| Editing by | Giorgio Serrallonga |
| Distributed by | Champion Films(Italy) Shaw Brothers Studio(Hong Kong) Columbia Pictures(USA)(dubbed) |
| Release date(s) | 1974 |
| Running time | 105 min |
| Country | Spain/Italy/Hong Kong/USA |
The Stranger and the Gunfighter is a 1974 kung fu Spaghetti Western produced by the Shaw Brothers in collaboration with an Italian company, and filmed on location in Hong Kong and Spain. It was directed by Antonio Margheriti.
The film stars Lo Lieh (at the time one of Hong Kong's most famous action stars) as Ho Chiang, a martial artist who journeys to America's Wild West in order to recover his late uncle Wang's missing fortune. Ho must free his uncle's murderer, Dakota (frequent Spaghetti Western star Lee Van Cleef), the only man who knows Wang's final resting place. Upon recovering the body, the pair discovers clues pointing to buried treasure. Notes on the dead man's body promise that the location of the treasure will be illuminated by a map, divided for security into four segments, each one tattooed on the buttocks of one of the uncle's four mistresses. Armed with photographs of the women, Ho and Dakota form an uneasy alliance and set out in search of the map tattoos and the promised riches.
El kárate, el Colt y el impostor was produced at a time when the Shaw Brothers were attempting to branch into more international co-productions, often genre-bending. The same year also saw the Shaw Brothers Studio teaming with the UK's Hammer Studios to produce The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, a kung fu gothic horror film.
For English-language release, the film was retitled The Stranger and the Gunfighter and Blood Money.