The Fighting Fist of Shanghai Joe

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. It was released under alternate titles in the United States, including To Kill or to Die and The Dragon Strikes Back.^[1]

The Fighting Fist of Shanghai Joe
Directed by	Mario Caiano
Screenplay by	Mario Caiano Fabrizio Trifone Trecca
Story by	Carlo Alberto Alfieri Mario Caiano Fabrizio Trifone Trecca (as T.F. Karter)
Produced by	Renato Angiolini Roberto Bessi
Starring	Chen Lee Carla Romanelli Gordon Mitchell Piero Lulli Katsutoshi Mikuriya Giacomo Rossi-Stuart Robert Hundar Klaus Kinski
Cinematography	Guglielmo Mancori
Edited by	Amedeo Giomini
Music by	Bruno Nicolai
Production companies	C.B.A. Produttori e Distributori Associati Compagnia Cinematografica Champion
Distributed by	Jumbo Cinematografica
Release date	28 December 1973 (1973-12-28)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	Italy
Language	Italian

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]